Crypto 96 is coming up in about a month. This looks like a more interesting program than last year, IMO. According to the preliminary program, here are some presentations which could be of interest to cypherpunks: Anonymous Communication and Anonymous Cash Daniel Simon, Microsoft, USA Microsoft has had an increasing presence at the crypto conferences so it will be interesting to hear what their take is on anonymity. Any Microsofties on the list want to comment? Export Controls: Past, Present, and Future Andy Clark, Independent consultant This is an invited lecture just before lunch. I don't know who Andy Clark is, can anyone identify him? The Dark Side of 'Black-Box' Cryptography, or: Why Should We Trust Capstone? Adam Young, Columbia Univ., USA Moti Yung, IBM, USA It's not clear what the technical content will be of this, maybe ways to embed trap doors when black boxes are used. Generally the crypto conference attendees have varied views on our issues and there are often presentations about great new forms of key escrow, etc. So it is always nice to see some which sound like they favor privacy. Timing Attacks on Implementations of Diffie-Hellman, RSA, DSS, and Other Systems Paul Kocher, Stanford, USA This is the famous Kocher timing attack which got so much attention a few months ago. [title to be announced] Cliff Stoll Another invited lecture. Stoll is famous for being skeptical about the value of the net. I think his politics are old- fashioned liberal. So it will be interesting to hear what his take is on the encryption debates. Relation of Theory to Practice in Cryptography [exact title to be announced] Ron Rivest, MIT, USA Yet another invited lecture. I didn't remember there being so many before. Actually I thought Rivest gave one last year. This working title doesn't sound too informative. Family Crypto led by Michael Fellows This takes up the Tuesday afternoon session, and is supposed to be suitable for kids, lay people, etc., to teach them something about crypto. I am lucky enough to live very near the site of the conference so I will bring my kids to check this out. It is something new. Key-Schedule Cryptanalysis of IDEA, G-DES, GOST, SAFER, and Triple-DES John Kelsey, Counterpane Systems, USA Bruce Schneier, Counterpane Systems, USA David Wagner, Univ. California at Berkeley, USA There are actually several cryptanalysis type papers for which I can't tell from the title whether they will be big new results or not. Anybody know what "key schedule" cryptanalysis is? Cryptographic applications in electronic commerce Ernest Brickell An invited lecture. Interesting to see so many practically oriented talks. Cryptology, Technology, and Politics Whitfield Diffie Invited lecture. Diffie is of course strongly dedicated to our views. At the same time he presents himself very well and is always thoughtful. Quantum Cryptography over Underground Optical Fibers R. J. Hughes, Los Alamos National Labs, USA G. G. Luther, Los Alamos National Labs, USA G. L. Morgan, Los Alamos National Labs, USA C. G. Peterson, Los Alamos National Labs, USA C. Simmons, Los Alamos National Labs, USA I don't particularly think quantum crypto is that relevant to us but it will be interesting to hear about progress. There is actually a session on QC with this paper and another. New Results on Visual Cryptography Stefan Droste, Univ. Dortmund, Germany Visual cryptography is another novel idea involving non electronic encryption done by putting transparencies together in various ways. Maybe it could have some stego applications. Overall this conference looks very exciting, with possibly a more political and practical orientation than some. I am looking forward to seeing other cypherpunks there. Hal