Some of you have sardonically written to say "Nihil Est Demonstrandum," N.E.D. because an OTP must be derived from a hardware source, that is, it must be a pure random sequence of limitless entropy. Accordingly, they unbashfully assert that an OTP generated by a computer program is not possible. How do they know that? Does the Bible tell them so, or the Koran, or do they get it from the Torah? Why not cite the source of their certainty instead of advancing an unsupported proposition. I do not mean to be rude, but excuse me, what scientific proof can they offer for that immovable avowal? There is no scientific proof whatsoever, none at all, except for the words and their steadfast, and maybe self serving, postulate. Accordingly, obviously it is they, not us, who are the ones that have "Nihil Est Demonstrandum," in this matter. There is not one scintilla of sustainable evidence to support such a doctrine. While the vast majority of people knowledgeable about cryptography have not heretofore believed that it is possible for software to produce an OTP, that does not make it a scientific fact, but merely means it is the consensus of scientific opinion that it is not possible. With all due respect to Bruce, and his exceptional work, Paul, Roy and many others who obviously know the subject matter of which we speak, I offer that history is replete with scientists supplying proof of the seemingly impossible. In support of their position, some have pointed out that John von Neumann, to paraphrase, stated that ARITHMETIC cannot produce random numbers, a thesis which I agree with; but where is that, in any way inconsistent with IPG's position on EUREKA? IPG has produced a system to generate software OTPs, albeit it within limited but more than ample entropy, not software random numbers. We stipulate the obvious fact that the encryptor stream generated by EUREKA is a PRNG stream, though we do consider it gross denigration to castigate it as ONLY a PRNG stream. It is a PRNG issue that also happens to be an extremely well behaved OTP sequence, with limited but ample entropy, as well. It meets each and every criteria rationally established for an OTP in all reasonable aspects. Subjected to any and all statistical analyses, the EUREKA PRNG stream manifests itself as being random, though we know, as a scientific fact, that it is not. To substantiate that posit, and unlike the consensus of scientific opinion, obviously N.E.D., that believes that software cannot produce an OTP, IPG offers "Quod Erat Demonstrandum," Q.E.D. scientific proof that we can produce a humungous number of software OTPs sufficient to meet any and all current or future requirements. You do not need to be an Einstein, a Hawking, or a von Neumann, to understand the fundamental basis of the IPG EUREKA algorithm. Succinctly as I can , that is, given a truly random key of entropy N, and possibly truly random look up tables of combined entropy M, it is possible to generate up to N streams of characters of a length in this case of approximately 10^223, that manifest themselves as true OTPs. Think about that simple supposition for a moment. What do we mean by an OTP? We mean that an OTP is a stream of characters, or numbers, that cannot be derived in the absence of the key that was used to generate them, or alternately by trying all possibilities of that said key. Thus, when using the resultant as an encryptor stream, the only information derivable from the ciphertext is the determination of the maximum possible length. Furthermore, by using the exclusionary proof, you cannot preclude any possible message of that said length. If you think through that hypothesis, it becomes clear that such is not precluded by von Neumann's proffer, or by fundamental mathematical principles. The question then, is how can you go about doing that? That is all that IPG has done. We have figured out a mathematical certain way, ( Q.E.D.), of generating N number, or rather a number very close to N, of OTPs from a given key of entropy N, and we can prove it. Not only that, but you can prove it to yourself, Q.E.D. We maintain that it is discernible to any knowledgeable person who probes the algorithm, that the only analytical tack that can be mounted against EUREKA is brute force and that is patently impossible. One of your Cpunk colleagues says he uses Triple DES, 168 bits, and he does not believe that it can be brute forced - I agree, 3-DES, 10^50+ possibilities, cannot be brute forced now, or in the foreseeable future - then what about the EUREKA's 10^34322 possibilities, 10^34271+ greater than 3-DES? No way, not now, not ever. Furthermore, EUREKA is an order, or more, magnitude faster than triple DES, easier to use, much more secure, etal. Another has suggested that if the key, and all the variables are hacked, then the system can be compromised. That is true, but again excuse me, does not that apply to any system, whether it be RSA, PGP, IDEA, and yes also a hardware sourced OTP. EUREKA's only edge in that regard is that built in means that facilitate safeguards which minimize such risks. EUREKA is not a panacea for all your encryption needs. RSA, PGP, ENTRUST, and other systems fill very important exigencies. Where EUREKA shines brightest is in two important strategic user applications: 1. To set up a permanent line of Internet/intranet communication privacy between two, or a group of, individuals. As a result, pass phrases, session encryption keys, and other work impediments of that genre can be largely eliminated. While applicable to everyone, this is especially true of newbies, computer novices, technophobes, and other non-techies. It is much faster, easier to use, and more flexible than other systems for this application. As such, it is ideal for intranets, or mixed Internet/intranet systems. 2. To protect your private hard disk files, programs or data, from compromise by hackers and interlopers. In this application it is unsurpassed because differential analysis of changing files is rendered impossible and it is extremely fast. See for yourself. Prove it to yourself, Q.E.D. The IPG algorithm is available at: http://netprivacy.com/algo.html or a condensed version at: http://netprivacy.com/condalgo.html P.S. My resume can also be found there http://www.netprivacy.com/resume.html P.S. Have any of you received the long: Phoenix arisen from the ashes posting that we made on 10-06-96 weird things are happening.

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Donald R. Wood ipgsales@cyberstation.net ====================================================================

Some people are more certain of their own opinions than they are of facts presented by those they disagree with - Aristotle

---------------------- Quod Erat Demonstrandum ----------------------