At 5:32 PM -0700 9/26/97, stuey wrote:
What I think they'll do is work on virus software. They can write something which will hack the crypto on your PC and make it weak. If they want to wiretap some drug dealer, they get him to download one of their programs somehow. Maybe they've got a Java bug which lets them hack files when he goes to a certain web page. Or maybe they get him to download some free demo of a game or interaction service (hotchicks.com). Whatever, the program actually looks for PGP and other crypto software and hacks it. Now the FBI can read his stuff.
What we have here is a technology race. Assuming it is legal for a hypothetical government organization to pull a stunt like that, we merely build our own encryption software that is compatible with the current stuff, or failing that have an unreasonable amount of different publically available versions out there.
Well, paranoia can be useful at times, but this is ludicrous. Will the Evil Virii be able to overwrite CD-ROM bits? (I use a CD-R to backup my critical files, which a set of it stored elsewhere.) If viruses are their main means of attack, I'll breathe easy. --Tim May The Feds have shown their hand: they want a ban on domestic cryptography ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, ComSec 3DES: 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Higher Power: 2^1398269 | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."