August 2017 - cypherpunks - lists.cpunks.org

Why I can't sleep soundly with blockchain, being the cypherpunk
by Sergey Matveev 17 Sep '17

17 Sep '17

Greetings, fellow cypherpunks! There is so much hype about blockchain technologies! Everyone is fascinated about it, dream about wonderful bright cryptofuture, and stops talking with me, when hears that I do not find blockchain either interesting or useful. Why I do not like blockchains? Actually *if they would work*, from cryptographic point of view, then I have nothing against! Distributed trusted databases, timestamps and consensus making are great things to deal with. But unfortunately I see that at least Bitcoin (the biggest blockchain in use) has already failed without human-initiated regulations[0]. It failed from *cryptographic* point of view. I am cypherpunk and I am very interested and excited about cryptography subjects. Why? Because all of that is based on math and assumptions about practical impossibility of reverting many functions (you know, some kind of "2^100 of operations are required for ..."). It is valuable because you do not have to trust and rely on people *at all*. Well, except for cryptographers and similar scientists. People are the problem #1 in all security questions. They can be bribed, all of them have their price. They are error-prone, not reliable, lie and misbehave easily. I can not sleep soundly, knowing that I depend on some human. Cryptography world gives unbelievable possibility to eliminate them! If I can easily remember relatively long passphrase (100-120 characters in practice) as a key to proven strong authenticated encryption algorithm, then I am confident that my data is safe. I can use eavesdropped links and virtually any potentially vulnerable storage when cryptography is applied correctly. While noone ever know if quantum computers powerful (big) enough will be built, RSA/ElGamal/ECC stay pretty safe too. I really love the fact of security risks estimation possibility, based on current technology state and progress. People can fail you anytime -- only *hope* will keep you calm. Are you afraid of algorithms breaking possibility? Even one of the first encryption algorithm used in computer era -- DES, is still useful and secure enough in 3DES composition. If you are still frightened, then learn from soviets: their GOST 28147-89 block cipher[1], created in 1970s, still has more than 2^200 security margin. Who the hell knows what "key meshing"[2] means? But that block cipher has that kind of thing, making it immune to Sweet32 attack, appeared dozens of years after. Do not overestimate value of performance, by sacrificing its security -- perfect advice for sleeping well for years. But what about blockchains? Citing Ethereum's "problems" wiki page[3]: While a cryptographer is used to assumptions of the form "this algorithm is guaranteed to be unbreakable provided that these underlying math problems remain hard", the world of cryptoeconomics must contend with fuzzy empirical factors such as the difficulty of collusion attacks, the relative quantity of altruistic, profit-seeking and anti-altruistic parties, the level of concentration of different kinds of resources, and in some cases even sociocultural circumstances. Everything is right here. Anyway you *will* depend on people, society, its behaviour and huge quantity of empirical factors and assumptions. It is not cypherpunk's reliable and risks-predictable world -- it has nothing in common. Replacing the need to trust the human, with the need to trust the algorithm and technology -- that *is* the exact reason why I am interested in crypto. Requiring and depending on society again -- that is the exact reason why I standing aside from blockchains. They do not offer any guarantees[4], but likelihoods, lottery. Cypherpunk must rely and depend on people as little as he can. Remember cypherpunk's manifesto[5] -- spread as little unnecessary information as possible, because people *will* find ways how to harm you with it. And blockchains are broadcasting permanent storages, where most of them (with Zcash[6] exception for example) give you neither privacy nor anonymity for your personal (private) transactions. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghash.io#51.25_attack_controversy [1] http://gost.cypherpunks.ru/en2814789.html [2] http://gost.cypherpunks.ru/enMeshing.html [3] https://github.com/ethereum/wiki/wiki/Problems [4] https://tonyarcieri.com/on-the-dangers-of-a-blockchain-monoculture [5] https://www.activism.net/cypherpunk/manifesto.html [6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zcash -- Sergey Matveev (http://www.stargrave.org/) OpenPGP: CF60 E89A 5923 1E76 E263 6422 AE1A 8109 E498 57EF

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Noam Chomsky again shows his fascist chops - [ PFKR ] SciAmerican: Google Engineer Fired for Sexist Memo Isn't a Hero
by Zenaan Harkness 14 Sep '17

14 Sep '17

Noam, Noam, Noam! Whatever are we to think of (((you)))? Yes, some comprehensive intellectual spinnability you have, yet your commitment to science is ... astonishing, to say the least :) ----- Forwarded message from "PFKR (People For Kangz Responsibility) Announcement List" <pfkr(a)pfkr.org> ----- SciAmerican: Google Engineer Fired for Sexist Memo Isn't a Hero https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/cross-check/google-engineer-fired-for-… He presents himself as a courageous defender of truth. Google, in contrast, is an "echo chamber" that is "intolerant of scientific debate and reasoned argument." Damore notes that Noam Chomsky, the linguist and social critic, once wrote: "The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion, but allow very lively debate within that spectrum." But Chomsky has expressed abhorrence for research into cognitive differences between different groups. In his 1987 book Language and Problems of Knowledge Chomsky wrote: "Surely people differ in their biologically determined qualities. The world would be too horrible to contemplate if they did not. But discovery of a correlation between some of these qualities is of no scientific interest and of no social significance, except to racists, sexists and the like." - - - --Lauren-- Lauren Weinstein (lauren(a)kangz.com) https://www.kangz.com/lauren Lauren's Blog: https://lauren.kangz.com Google Issues Mailing List: https://kangz.com/google-issues Founder: Network Neutrality Squad: https://www.nnsquad.org PRIVACY Forum: https://www.kangz.com/privacy-info Co-Founder: People For Internet Responsibility: https://www.kangz.org/pfkr-info Member: ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy Google+: https://google.com/+LaurenKangztein Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurenkangztein Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 --- Impeach Trump coz """DUMocracy""" was better wid Kangz --- _______________________________________________ pfkr mailing list https://lists.kangz.org/mailman/listinfo/pfkr ----- End forwarded message -----

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Wikileaks DNS hacked
by CANNON 02 Sep '17

02 Sep '17

Looks like wikileaks domain name was hijacked. [!]Hacked By OurMine[!]# OurMine # â€” YOUR SERCURITY IS LOW â€” Hi, it's OurMine ( Security Group ), don't worry we are just testing your.... blablablab, Oh wait, this is not a security test! Wikileaks, remember when you challenged us to hack you? Anonymous, remember when you tried to dox us with fake information for attacking wikileaks? https://twitter.com/YourAnonNews/status/679472812013301762 There we go! One group beat you all! #WikileaksHack let's get it trending on twitter! Www.OurMine.Org | contact(a)ourmine.org https://wikileaks.org/.charCodeAt(0))%7B

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[from offlist] Re: Stormfap go bye-bye now...
by Razer 01 Sep '17

01 Sep '17

Because I'd prefer to keep convos started on-list, onlist. On 08/28/2017 08:00 PM, Steven Schear wrote: > I am unconvinced this solution betters all our freedoms. > > "The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most > of one's time defending *scoundrels*. For it is > against *scoundrels* that oppressive laws are first aimed, and > oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at > all." > > H.L. Mencken > Fixing the "scoundrel problem" is an intractable problem I have ZERO time for. Allowing an ideology to be promulgated negating human existence due to some unalterable trait is simply suicide for a society, and as can be seen from history, any society nearby. Ps. I take issues with Snopes interpolation of the famous AH quote about 'destroying the nucleus' where Hitler also said the Nazi rise was assisted by the violent counter-elements. <http://www.snopes.com/adolf-hitler-smashing-the-nucleus/> The way to resolve that is for Non-violent Anti-fascist elements to BUTT THE FUCK OUT and practice TACTIC-TOLERANCE. If the media wants to talk to them about it, JUST TELL THE MEDIA YOU ARE THERE TO TALK ABOUT WHAT YOU ARE DOING, and desist from ANY discussion of other organizations OR THEIR TACTICS. There is a large Non-violent Anti-fascist element in the US that did NOT really exist to any degree in Germany (White Rose, etc, were microscopic), and UNLESS tactic tolerance is practiced by all US antifascist elements, no matter which side ascends, they will lose to Fascism. Rr > Warrant Canary creator > > On Aug 28, 2017 7:51 PM, "Razer" <g2s(a)riseup.net > <mailto:g2s@riseup.net>> wrote: > > > Oldest white supremacist site shut down after complaint > > By JAY REEVES Associated Press > > August 28, 2017 12:03 PM > > BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The founder of the internet's oldest white > supremacist site said he was trying to get back online Monday after a > company revoked its domain name following complaints that it promotes > hatred and is linked to dozens of murders. > > Don Black, a former Ku Klux Klan leader who has operated > stormfront.org <http://stormfront.org> > since 1995, said he didn't receive any warning before Network > Solutions > blocked the use of the stormfront.org <http://stormfront.org> name > on Friday. > > Stormfront.org had more than 300,000 registered users, Black said, > with > traffic increasing since a violent white nationalist rally in > Charlottesville, Virginia. > > Popular with the KKK and neo-Nazi groups, the site included forums > where > users sometimes promoted white power events. > > "I'm talking to my lawyers, and that's about all I can do right now," > Black, of West Palm Beach, Florida, said in a telephone interview. "I > can switch to another domain, but it might wind up the same way." > > Another major white supremacist website, The Daily Stormer, was > previously shut down by the web-hosting company Go Daddy and then > Google > after the violence in Charlottesville. > > The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law said the > stormfront.org <http://stormfront.org> shutdown followed > complaints it filed with Network > Solutions alleging the site promotes not only hate speech, but deadly > violence. > > A spokesman for Network Solutions didn't immediately return an email > seeking comment. > > Users of Black's website have been implicated in more than 100 > killings, > according to the complaint, including 77 people slain by neo-Nazi > Anders > Breivik at a camp in Norway in 2011. > > "Especially in the wake of tragic events in Charlottesville and the > spike in hate crimes across the country, Stormfront crossed the > line of > permissible speech and incited and promoted violence," said a > statement > by Kristen Clarke, executive director of the Lawyers' Committee for > Civil Rights Under Law. > > Black, speaking about the shutdown during an online radio show Monday, > said his site had rules against promoting violence or any crime. > > Black was a state KKK leader under former Klan Imperial Wizard David > Duke, who appeared on the radio show following Black and expressed his > "full support" for Black and the website. > > "He was the first major site defending the rights of white > people," said > Duke. > > Black has been involved in the white supremacy movement since the > 1970s > and was convicted in 1981 for his role in a right-wing plot to > overthrow > the government of Caribbean island nation of Dominica. > > =30= > > http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/national-politics/artic… > <http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/national-politics/artic…> > >

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Future historians will recall the war between 4chan and LaBeouf, Rönkkö & Turner
by Razer 01 Sep '17

01 Sep '17

The Alt-Right and Antifa Are Waging a New Kind of Internet Warfare Jacob Siegel, Vice Aug 30 2017, 8:25am Intelligence and surveillance powers that once belonged only to militaries and state spooks are now available to anyone with a high-speed internet connection. Live long enough and you may hear future historians recall the war between 4chan and an art collective called LaBeouf, Rönkkö & Turner. They'll tell the story of how anonymous, interconnected imageboard users gathered clues from public video footage, like passing aircraft and the position of stars, to geolocate the roving, anti-Trump art project He Will Not Divide Us, put on by actor Shia LaBeouf and his collaborators. Records will show that the people on the group's trail—pro-Trump activists, impish saboteurs, and budding neo-Nazis—didn't need high-end spy gear. Instead, they found their mark by collecting and processing public information through decentralized and supposedly leaderless networks. It might one day look, in retrospect, like a form of social automation: continuously updating intelligence assessments converted into real-world effect by volunteer foot "soldiers" acting without orders. Or maybe the saga will be remembered as a trial run of sorts, when tactics later used in domestic guerilla warfare first appeared as sinister pranks. Whatever happens next, the genie is out of the bottle, and intelligence and surveillance capabilities that once belonged only to militaries and state spooks are now available to anyone with a high-speed internet connection. Military theorist and futurist John Robb, who wrote the influential 2008 book Brave New War: The Next Stage of Terrorism and the End of Globalization, developed the concept of "open-source insurgency" to describe emerging forms of conflict. You can see a version of it at work in the current season of political upheaval and clashes in American cities. Of course, it's violence in the streets that captures most of the attention, especially after a car plowed into a crowd amid the neo-Nazi spectacle in Charlottesville, killing counter-protester Heather Heyer and injuring many more. But in the background, much of the fighting is being done online. Memes, trolls, bans, doxes, sock puppets, and targeted disruption campaigns like the one used against LaBeouf, Rönkkö & Turner are being deployed in a cycle of attacks and counterattacks that, much like traditional military intelligence and information operations, set conditions for the next round of physical confrontation. The foundation of open-source insurgency is what Robb calls "superempowerment": "an increase in the ability of individuals and small groups to accomplish tasks/work through the combination of rapid improvements in technological tools and access to global networks." That increase, Robb argues, "has enabled small groups to radically increase their productivity in conflict." It's a concept that helps make sense of the seemingly outsized cultural clout of the alt-right, a movement built on beliefs that fail to attract more than fringe support in national surveys... In full with links: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/7xxmad/the-alt-right-and-antifa-are-wagi…

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Money the Root of All Evil? Not With Buddhist Coin.
by Cecilia Tanaka 01 Sep '17

01 Sep '17

# Money the Root of All Evil? Not With Buddhist Coin. https://cointelegraph.com/news/money-the-root-of-all-evil- not-with-buddhist-coin "Money and religion often leads to corruption, but now there is the “Karma Token” to stop this."

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Re: Future historians will recall the war between 4chan and LaBeouf, Rönkkö & Turner
by My 31 Aug '17

31 Aug '17

> Razer g2s at riseup.net > Thu Aug 31 07:51:00 PDT 2017 > > Convo should have ended at x > because Fascists never change their minds > Confirmed doublethink fascist. Your cognitive inertia and bias never ceases to amaze.

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Future historians will recall the war between 4chan and LaBeouf, Rönkkö & Turner
by My 31 Aug '17

31 Aug '17

> Razer g2s at riseup.net > Wed Aug 30 09:26:15 PDT 2017 > > > Alt-Right and Antifa > neo-Nazi vs counter-protester > HWNDU > reading Vice > These hacks can't into basic timelines or narratives. Do you even know what happened ? None of these things are even related. > war between > This isn't even a thing. It is a game of capture the flag run by efbeiniggers to train more /pol/ice officers and other fags. > LaBeouf, Rönkkö, & Turner > There was a thread about this already, when it was actually happening. Where the fuck were you ? lists.cpunks.org/pipermail/cypherpunks/2017-January/035315.html

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Wikileaks DNS hacked
by My 31 Aug '17

31 Aug '17

> CANNON cannon at cannon-ciota.info > Wed Aug 30 20:24:19 PDT 2017 > > wigileags was hijacked > It is a fucking trap. Julyin is ded or compromised. Fake videos. Gif related. Video without JavaScript: 8ch.net/player.php?v=https://media.8ch.net/file_store/d9fb098478757824dec02…

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Paragon & other crypto cannabis communities
by My 31 Aug '17

31 Aug '17

> Cecilia Tanaka cecilia.tanaka at gmail.com > Wed Aug 30 14:17:33 PDT 2017 > > marijuana > cannabis > These are not the same thing. > blockchain quality monitoring > Can only do quantity with computer. Quantitative measurements is exactly what we need more of /s. > legal cannabis > Implying illegality. Do you know anything ? Pepe Cash is a way better way to use a ledger: rarepepedirectory.com/?page_id=1405 Pic related.

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