November 2015 - cypherpunks - lists.cpunks.org

Goldbug = RetroShare?
by grarpamp 23 Nov '15

23 Nov '15

Is RetroShare legit? Not had time to analyze and have felts some similarities / degrees of ties between each at times. Thus asking.

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FCC comes to CCC? "No GSM test network at 32C3"
by coderman 23 Nov '15

23 Nov '15

http://laforge.gnumonks.org/blog/20151115-no_gsm_at_32c3/ No GSM test network at 32C3 Harald Welte 2015-11-15 I currently don't assume that there will be a GSM network at the 32C3. Ever since OpenBSC was created in 2008, the annual CCC congress was a great opportunity to test OpenBSC and related software with thousands of willing participants. In order to do so, we obtained a test licence from the German regulatory authority. This was never any problem, as there was a chunk of spectrum in the 1800 MHz GSM band that was not allocated to any commercial operator, the so-called DECT guard band. It's called that way as it was kept free in order to ensure there is no interference between 1800 MHz GSM and the neighboring DECT cordless telephones. Over the decades, it was determined on a EU level that this guard band might not be necessary, or at least not if certain considerations are taken for BTSs deployed in that band. When the German regulatory authority re-auctioned the GSM spectrum earlier this year, they decided to also auction the frequencies of the former DECT guard band. The DECT guard band was awarded to Vodafone. This is a pity, as this means that people involved with cellular research or development of cellular technology now have it significantly harder to actually test their systems. In some other EU member states it is easier, like in the Netherlands or the UK, where the DECT guard band was not treated like any other chunk of the GSM bands, but put under special rules. Not so in Germany. To make a long story short: Without the explicit permission of any of the commercial mobile operators, it is not possible to run a test/experimental network like we used to ran at the annual CCC congress. Given that the event is held in the city center (where frequencies are typically used and re-used quite densely), and an operator has nothing to gain from permitting us to test our open source GSM/GPRS implementations, I think there is little chance that this will become a reality. If anyone has really good contacts to the radio network planning team of a German mobile operator and wants to prove me wrong: Feel free to contact me by e-mail. Thanks to everyone involved with the GSM team at the CCC events, particularly Holger Freyther, Daniel Willmann, Stefan Schmidt, Jan Luebbe, Peter Stuge, Sylvain Munaut, Kevin Redon, Andreas Eversberg, Ulli (and everyone else whom I may have forgot, my apologies). It's been a pleasure! Thanks also to our friends at the POC (Phone Operation Center) who have provided interfacing to the DECT, ISDN, analog and VoIP network at the events. Thanks to roh for helping with our special patch requests. Thanks also to those entities and people who borrowed equipment (like BTSs) in the pre-sysmocom years. So long, and thanks for all the fish!

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US Congress Vows To Criminalize First Amendment in re Paris
by grarpamp 23 Nov '15

23 Nov '15

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2015/11/17/senators-want-t… Senate Intelligence Committee leaders are vowing to explore ways to grant more government access to secure communications. Intelligence Committee Chair Richard Burr, R-N.C., and his counterpart, ranking Democrat Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., say that encrypted communications should be more easily accessible by the government. http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/11/congressman-to-stop-isis-lets-sh… US Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) has a plan to stop terrorists: shut down websites, including social media networks. Barton today asked Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler if the commission can shut down websites... Barton didn't name any specific sites but said that "we need to do something" because of the terrorist attack in Paris. While criminalizing harmless Crypto and Speech, don't forget yourselves... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NSA_Suite_A_Cryptography https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voice_of_America Keep on rollin out that crypto fellas, more, better, faster... and educate your critters before it's too late.

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Re: [Cryptography] Burner phone == One Time (i)Pad
by grarpamp 23 Nov '15

23 Nov '15

On Fri, Nov 20, 2015 at 5:46 AM, Peter Gutmann <pgut001(a)cs.auckland.ac.nz> wrote: > that burner phones aren't only used by terrorists. A friend of mine works for > a women's shelter and they're a large consumer of burner phones, means of This supposed legitimization stories is fine and all, but it trashes your most basic of rights... to use things because you fucking felt like it, no explanation needed, and anyone else can go jump off a cliff.

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Bitcoin addresses NH Government
by grarpamp 23 Nov '15

23 Nov '15

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQI6dMnIw6w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-S2u85Cib6I

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Re: [Cryptography] WSJ: WH wants to meet Techies in DC re encryption
by grarpamp 23 Nov '15

23 Nov '15

On Sat, Nov 21, 2015 at 12:52 PM, Jerry Leichter <leichter(a)lrw.com> wrote: > the point of the attacks on cryptography have nothing to do with *their* accuracy. Truth and effectiveness in political debate have all too little to do with each other. > > Remember when Microsoft used to attack Linux for being anti-capitalist? Someone - I forget who - proposed using Microsoft marketing techniques against them: Every time anyone who wanted to help the campaign mentioned "the Windows operating system", they should *always* say "the deeply flawed Windows operating system". Repeat a phrase often enough and it becomes part of common knowledge. This is how marketing works; this is how politics works (not that it's easy to draw a line between them any more). > > The fact is, LE *is* trying to get the government to dictate how to build the products sold to you and me and all the liberals and all the civil libertarians and all the NRA members and all the Trump followers and everyone else out there. And they are trying to dictate that they be built in ways that *hurt us as individuals*, in the name of what *they claim* is some greater good. Stopping that isn't going to happen by cryptographers talking to other cryptographers about what a dumb idea "golden keys" are. The most effective way of stopping would be convincing those who are the natural audience for the "help LE stop the bad guys" pitch to instead see the issue the same way they see gun control (also pushed as a way to "help the LE stop the bad guys"). > > This is politics now, hence not really appropriate for this list - though these political decisions will have profound impacts on how we will be allowed to deploy crypto, so *some* discussion is unavoidable. > -- Jerry It's entirely appropriate and relavant because the crypto people and tech / code world in general are too head down at the keyboard and haven't yet figured out how stand up and win (forever), nor how to go AFK for a minute and and partner with various potential armies. There's only so much you can do with a keyboard, the rest awaits in the real world. Subject: Reaching the Sheeple, Building a Cpunk Symbiot Army https://cpunks.org/pipermail/cypherpunks/2015-November/010895.html

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Re: [Cryptography] WSJ: WH wants to meet Techies in DC re encryption
by grarpamp 23 Nov '15

23 Nov '15

On Fri, Nov 20, 2015 at 3:19 PM, Jerry Leichter <leichter(a)lrw.com> wrote: > Let them come for our encrypted phones and they'll be coming for our guns next! Stop them now! > > [Only half a :-) - get that meme spreading and just watch support for legislation on this matter splinter.] Subject: Reaching the Sheeple, Building a Cpunk Symbiot Army https://cpunks.org/pipermail/cypherpunks/2015-November/010895.html

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Re: [Cryptography] WSJ: WH wants to meet Techies in DC re encryption
by grarpamp 23 Nov '15

23 Nov '15

On Fri, Nov 20, 2015 at 1:22 PM, Henry Baker <hbaker1(a)pipeline.com> wrote: > http://www.wsj.com/articles/paris-attacks-fan-encryption-debate-1447987407?… > http://www.wsj.com/articles/fbi-stymied-by-islamic-states-use-of-encryption… > http://www.wsj.com/articles/nsa-apple-chiefs-decode-encryption-views-144531… > http://www.wsj.com/articles/hacker-killed-by-drone-was-secret-weapon-144071… > “There is a solution out there and there’s a way to get to it but this isn’t the month to be starting down that path,” said James Lewis, a cybersecurity expert and former Clinton administration official > He and the Center for Strategic and International Studies, where he is a senior fellow, had planned a forum on encryption policy this fall. After the Paris attacks, he postponed it. Wtf is this, there's no solution, it's all or nothing. > Since Paris, Sens. John McCain, (R, Ariz.), Dianne Feinstein, (D, Calif.) and other lawmakers have said they want to ensure investigators can access the content of encrypted communications. > Mr. McCain has said he wants to pursue legislation. Pretty lame position for a supposedly brave POW Nam Vet to take. > One technology executive acknowledged mixed feelings. “While I continue to feel that outlawing end-to-end encryption would be both ineffective and a slippery slope for society, I’m also aware that I have limited knowledge of all the scary things happening in the world today,” said Ted Livingston, chief executive of Kik Interactive Inc Governments should give full awareness, including most importantly of their own doings. Unfortunately, they refuse to. Because their own doings are far more scary than any ragged band of street thugs. Including creating the thugs in the first place.

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Re: Russia bans purchase of foreign non-niche software in Russian state agencies
by Anton Nesterov 23 Nov '15

23 Nov '15

Ivan Markin: > Anton Nesterov: >> And if you thought that opensource will take place of foreign >> proprietary software, it's not true. Only in the form of proprietary >> Russian product using some GPL/etc. codebase in violation of these >> licenses. > > Hmm. Are you sure about violation? As far as I know legal status is > still unclear in Russia. So in case of violation there will be no > regulation. No regulation no violation. Voilá! > Anyway they would just sell super overpriced Uslugi (installation > services etc.) and it would look like "this software is purchased" (from > "our" company obviously). > GPL doesn't need special regulation, it should work by-design everywhere. Russian civil code even mention free licenses specially (article 1286.1), so there is full legal basis, although I can't remember any cases when that article was used in court (probably there was none). There is semi-opensource GNU/Linux distribution called Astra Linux based on Debian and used by Russian govt that violates GPL by not providing source codes to their KDE3-based DE https://tlhp.cf/astra-linux-violate-gpl/ (funny that Astra Linux was created specially for govt decree about moving state agencies to the free software). There is proprietary OS MSVS based on RedHat used in military which not only violate GPL by not providing source codes, but even removed most of copyright notices. etc., etc. -- https://nesterov.pw GPG key: 0CE8 65F1 9043 2B11 25A5 74A7 1187 6869 67AA 56E4 https://keybase.io/komachi/key.asc

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Whistleblowers: How NSA Created the 'Largest Failure' In Its History
by grarpamp 23 Nov '15

23 Nov '15

http://yro.slashdot.org/story/15/11/22/1359237/whistleblowers-how-nsa-creat… Former NSA whistleblowers contend that the agency shut down a program that could have "absolutely prevented" some of the worst terror attacks in memory. According to the ZDNet story: "Weeks prior to the September 11 terrorist attacks, a test-bed program dubbed ThinThread was shut down in favor of a more expensive, privacy-invasive program that too would see its eventual demise some three years later -- not before wasting billions of Americans' tax dollars. Four whistleblowers, including a congressional senior staffer, came out against the intelligence community they had served, after ThinThread. designed to modernize the agency's intelligence gathering effort, was cancelled. Speaking at the premier of a new documentary film A Good American in New York, which chronicles the rise and demise of the program, the whistleblowers spoke in support of the program, led by former NSA technical director William Binney."

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