December 2019 - cypherpunks - lists.cpunks.org

Cryptocurrency: Bitcoin on EconTalk Podcast March 2011
by grarpamp 15 Dec '19

15 Dec '19

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umlF4z_rpHM

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Fwd: [nncp-devel] [EN] NNCP 5.2.1 release announcement
by Shawn K. Quinn 15 Dec '19

15 Dec '19

ICYMI -------- Forwarded Message -------- Subject: [nncp-devel] [EN] NNCP 5.2.1 release announcement Date: Sun, 15 Dec 2019 12:29:40 +0300 From: Sergey Matveev <stargrave(a)stargrave.org> To: nncp-devel(a)lists.cypherpunks.ru I am pleased to announce NNCP 5.2.1 release availability! NNCP (Node to Node copy) is a collection of utilities simplifying secure store-and-forward files and mail exchanging. This utilities are intended to help build up small size (dozens of nodes) ad-hoc friend-to-friend (F2F) statically routed darknet delay-tolerant networks for fire-and-forget secure reliable files, file requests, Internet mail and commands transmission. All packets are integrity checked, end-to-end encrypted (E2EE), explicitly authenticated by known participants public keys. Onion encryption is applied to relayed packets. Each node acts both as a client and server, can use push and poll behaviour model. Out-of-box offline sneakernet/floppynet, dead drops, sequential and append-only CD-ROM/tape storages, air-gapped computers support. But online TCP daemon with full-duplex resumable data transmission exists. ------------------------ >8 ------------------------ The main improvement for that release is: Fixed SP protocol error handling, sometimes causing program panic. ------------------------ >8 ------------------------ NNCP's home page is: http://www.nncpgo.org/ Source code and its signature for that version can be found here: http://www.nncpgo.org/download/nncp-5.2.1.tar.xz (1109 KiB) http://www.nncpgo.org/download/nncp-5.2.1.tar.xz.sig SHA256 hash: 983D1A8A 4398C281 76356AE1 C5541124 B0755555 D115063B D1388F85 9C4A6B3E GPG key ID: 0x2B25868E75A1A953 NNCP releases <releases(a)nncpgo.org> Fingerprint: 92C2 F0AE FE73 208E 46BF F3DE 2B25 868E 75A1 A953 Please send questions regarding the use of NNCP, bug reports and patches to mailing list: https://lists.cypherpunks.ru/pipermail/nncp-devel/ -- Sergey Matveev (http://www.stargrave.org/) OpenPGP: CF60 E89A 5923 1E76 E263 6422 AE1A 8109 E498 57EF -- Shawn K. Quinn <skquinn(a)rushpost.com> http://www.rantroulette.com http://www.skqrecordquest.com

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Quality Time, Sweetheart: Some Principles on Dangerous Crypto
by Spirit of Nikopol 15 Dec '19

15 Dec '19

- Underkill or overkill: which is more secure? Quality time, sweetheart. - Cryptographic security rests on time. This is why the strength of a cipher is measured in "polynomial time" or "exponential time." Quality time, sweetheart. - Quantum time is a theory at this point. It is a lame conjecture. Do not trust theories and conjectures. Trust quality time. - Obscurity is a time buffer. Until the obscure is unobscured, time is working effortlessly against the effort of attack. (!blasphemy!) - Ciphertext, keys, and digests are like toothpase: whiten, whiten, whiten. Use separate whitening vectors for all. - Industry standard crypto is always insufficient for dangerous messages. There must be a time-to-generate bottleneck. - One-time pad injects a time bottleneck approaching functional infinity. - Industry standard crypto gets bugged and broken regularly. Using it can produce a secure, self-signed death warrant. - The longer a decipherment key takes to generate the more secure the ciphertext will be. (time-to-generate delay) - The longer the bottleneck the longer it takes for your adversary to drink your beer. - The longer the bottleneck the less of your bit-booze the enemy can drink. - The hassle of exchanging one-time pads is much less than the hassle of digitally signing your own death warrant. - With random one-time pads you run zero risk of secretly borked crypto algorithms. - If doubt is bad, use the one-time pad. Otherwise, bottleneck, bottleneck, whiten, whiten, obscure, obscure. - If it has not been 100% proven secure, why would you assume it is secure? - The prophetess of Delphi is not your human shield. Standard assumptions in the oracle don't stop bullets. - When borked 'standard crypto assumptions' buy you a ticket to the gangplank will the academic researchers be there to sell you shark repellant? - Just because you don't know that anyone has broken a cryptography scheme, does not mean it hasn't been broken. - Why would your adversary publish the fact that he has broken your cryptography? - Rather it may mean your adversary is practicing security through obscurity, which has won many battles. (!blasphemy!) - When you are using anything besides OTP then time is your only friend. Your scheme must tack on the time. - Security through obscurity worked for dozens of historical military commanders (who were not sitting in ivory towers.) - If security through obscurity is always bad then why do trade secrets generate billions in profits? - If security through obscurity is always bad then why do armies and governments use it every day? - What was said about casting pearls before pigs? - The more obscure your means of communication, the more time your adversary must invest to uncover it. - An exponential increase in required key attack time is often an exponential increase in safety, if your scheme is secure. - University cryptographers are smart. But who signs their paychecks? Is it the same Sam who signs NSA paychecks? - Does the academic who pumps a certain unobscure cryptosystem have a life insurance policy on you? Is your cryptography advisor invested in noose stocks? - Will the pumpers of a certain cryptosystem support your family when you are doxed or dead or disappeared? - Provable security of a dangerous cryptosystem does not make it safe or secure. It must also be deeply obscured from view. - Web site crypto keys are vouched for by state-licensed actors. Need we say more? Dangerous crypto should also be obscured by quality time. - Generally the more time you take to secure your communications the more time your adversary needs to attack. - Why settle for 2 ^ 256 when 2 ^ 256 million is a clear winner? - Why settle for one algorithm when you can cascade many? - Envelope Superencryption of many algorithms is not necessarily limited to strength of its weakest algorithm. (!blasphemy!) - Basket encryption and stacking pancakes: If 16 superencryptions are used with 16 different algorithms then the attacker must spend time to correctly guess each algorithm in the correct order with the correct keys or breaks. 16 pow 16 = 18446744073709551616 combinations, before we've even addressed possible keys. If your basket of available algorithms is larger than 16, this time injection can get unwieldy for attackers, even if the attacker has a quantum 'flux capacitor.' - When your life or liberty is at stake, to hell with efficiency. Churn, baby, churn! - Peer review and public availability of a cryptosystem are not magic guarantees that weaknesses or flaws will be found. Remember, if a cryptosystem is broken, bad actors who borked it are not going to tell you. That obscurity is their advantage. The counter to this advantage is polymorphism, chains of superencryptions, and using as much obscurity as you can to inject all the time delay you reasonably can. ------------------------------------------------- S P I R I T O F N I K O P O L Don't swap synthetic brains for your real brains. broadcast on BitMessage (https://bitmessage.org) subscribe: BM-NBEz3C1WktcyMZwVRWgDNGpU5gMRZ2iT

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Le Cirque du Demoncracy continues - Anti-Impeachment Democrat Jeff Van Drew Defects To GOP - [PEACE]
by Zenaan Harkness 14 Dec '19

14 Dec '19

Amazing stuff, now we have "Democratic" party MPs jumping ship to join the Republican party: Anti-Impeachment Democrat Jeff Van Drew Defects To GOP https://www.zerohedge.com/political/anti-impeachment-democrat-jeff-van-drew… https://www.politico.com/news/2019/12/14/jeff-van-drew-change-parties-085036 ... On Saturday, Van Drew's congressional and campaign staff were notified of the expected switch, Democratic sources tell Politico. The only question which remains is when he will make the move official given next week's House impeachment vote expected for Wednesday. ... Interdasting times...

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Spirit of Nikopol - Ten Rules of Resistance for the Reluctant Revolutionary
by Spirit of Nikopol 14 Dec '19

14 Dec '19

Announcing the anonymous Bitmessage broadcast: S P I R I T O F N I K O P O L Don't swap synthetic brains for your real brains. broadcast on BitMessage (https://bitmessage.org) subscribe: BM-NBEz3C1WktcyMZwVRWgDNGpU5gMRZ2iT copy and paste this address in the BitMessage 'Subscriptions' tab Ten Rules of Resistance for the Reluctant Revolutionary -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0. Don't swap synthetic brains for your real brains. 1. Don't get prosthetic foreheads for your real heads. 2. Don't get a rock to wind a piece of string around. 3. Do not follow a multitude to do evil. 4. When they put you in the machine then you have a fighting chance to escape. 5. When you put the machine in yourself then you are dead. 6. There is no bionic man - only bionic slaves. 7. Oppose synthetic parts. Remain digitally pure. Safeguard electronic purity. 8. If they might be giants then we might be shepherds with slingshots. 9. Remember robots' rules: disallow harming humans. 10. Hack the machines (to death). ------------------------------------------------- S P I R I T O F N I K O P O L Don't swap synthetic brains for your real brains. broadcast on BitMessage (https://bitmessage.org) subscribe: BM-NBEz3C1WktcyMZwVRWgDNGpU5gMRZ2iT

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Rubbernose / Rubberfuse - Continuation of Rubberhose-FS
by grarpamp 14 Dec '19

14 Dec '19

https://hetgrotebos.org/wiki/rubbernose https://wizzup.org/ Rubbernose - Rubberfuse is a continuation of the work done on Rubberhose-FS by Julian Assange et al. We're still in the planning phase. (status since 2013, just a reference)

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open borders - diversity strength - EU rape statistics - [PEACE]
by Zenaan Harkness 14 Dec '19

14 Dec '19

Diversity remains our greatest strength ... or something. Government "welfare" handouts to "illegal migrants" could possibly encourage migration/immigration/invasion, to those countries handing out such shekels. A bunch of stats on rape in the EU, from Italy to Sweden: Italian Government Numbers Show 42% Of Rapes Are Carried Out By Migrants https://www.zerohedge.com/health/italian-government-numbers-show-42-rapes-a… https://summit.news/2019/12/10/italian-government-numbers-show-42-of-rapes-… New figures released by Italy’s Interior Ministry have revealed that 42 per cent of rapes in the country are carried out by migrants. The numbers show that Italian women are more likely to be victims of sexual harassment or so-called “minor sexual assaults” than foreign women are, but that migrant women are slightly more likely to experience major sex crimes like violent rape. “The rapes were committed in 62.7% of cases by partners, in 3.6% by relatives and in 9.4% by friends,” reports Il Giornale. http://www.ilgiornale.it/news/napoli/sequestra-e-violenta-17enne-arrestato-… [Lots more stats in original Italian article] The numbers are similar in many other European countries that have accepted large numbers of migrants from North Africa and the Middle East. Figures released last year https://www.svt.se/nyheter/granskning/ug/ny-kartlaggning-av-valdtaktsdomar-… found that 58 per cent of convicted rapists and 85 per cent of all convicted assault rapists in Sweden were born outside of Europe. In cases where the victim did not know the attacker, the proportion of foreign offenders was more than 80 per cent. Nearly 40 per cent of the convicted rapists are from the Middle East or from Africa. A study by the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet found https://www.infowars.com/sweden-88-per-cent-of-gang-rapists-have-a-migrant-… that 88 per cent of gang rapists in the Scandinavian country over the last six years have had a migrant background. Diversity is Our Strength http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyAwCJaC2uY

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Re: Some people have unbelievable lives
by Ryan Carboni 14 Dec '19

14 Dec '19

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superdollar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiasso_financial_smuggling_case https://powerbase.info/index.php/Rogue_Agents_-_1981-1991_-_Forward_to_Vict… In contrast to the public conception of "conspiracy theory", the links uncovered by parapolitical research are rarely lines of command. Parapolitical activity is not pyramidal like a government hierarchy; it is connective, a network of nodes like a circle of friends. The links between the nodes are lines of support arising not from a command structure, but from a community of interest, shared objectives and interlocking memberships. Individual groups do not so much set the agenda or run the show as act within their own sphere of influence or speciality, occasionally supporting actions taken by others. Many are isolated and have little impact outside their own country, and here the Cercle came into its own as a group with a world-wide agenda, connecting and, to some extent, coordinating the activities of groups in many different countries. The Cercle complex stands almost alone as an active international network linking intelligence veterans and their media manipulators to top right-wing politicians. As to its significance, one can do no better than to quote Ramsay and Dorril: "One of the conclusions to be drawn from this essay is about networks. One common response to the delineation of a network is to say, 'Yes, all that is interesting, but where is the actual transmission of power?' To which we would argue - and this is the only claim we make which might be called theoretical - that the network is the power. A network of people who are, elsewhere, powerful, is per se a powerful network." Through its network of private-sector spies and their disinformation outlets, the Cercle complex could promote or denigrate public figures not only in their own country, but throughout Europe and America. Its activities during the Cold War - covert funding, black propaganda, smear campaigns and, at least, connections to planned coups d'état - were those of any intelligence agency, and, in many ways, that is what the Cercle complex has been: the rogue agents of the international Right.

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Re: On Post-Modern Networks
by Ryan Carboni 14 Dec '19

14 Dec '19

The old networks shall become new, and the new shall become old, despite the ultimate task many have labored for has been quite old: freedom vs slavery. Both sides have shown entrenchment, both sides have shown their vastness, both sides are camouflaged within the other. When will be our Fort Sumter? No one has yet to refuse an order. No one has yet to declare allegiance to parallel authority. Read your histories, how do civil wars happen in the west? There has been an unwillingness to investigate further, believing the evidence to either be fake or the crimes to be exceptions. But crime is deviance, but also deviance is not crime. This is difficult, how are crimes to be investigated if a narrow view is always taken towards them? These are serious crimes, making even the slightest effort towards investigating them will ensure that everyone accepts due process, but if it weren't for the stubbornness and stupidity of men...

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Cryptocurrency: Snowden on Privacy, CoinJoin Wasabi CashShuffle Samourai, War on Cash, Global WiFi Surveillance Systems
by grarpamp 14 Dec '19

14 Dec '19

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7XpI0fRnIg One of Snowden's better treatises on privacy, at Bitcoin 2019. Well worth the watch. End the tribal... renewed joint comms effort urgently needed among all cryptos toward rapid mass adoption... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5vgAKYjs_4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30sjEW70rLE Bitcoin Sucks! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBu_KAp7XKs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VMkNstyvSQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRlM-R7MjtY Massive WiFi Surveillance! - wigle.net, Credit Cards... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXEe2kqiYIM wifi Private Surveillance, Joins https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Up-4rqraMh0 haven https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2Gm5yPFMWY https://www.ccn.com/i-dont-think-bitcoin-will-last-forever-nsa-whistleblowe… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUhFf6K-SU8 NSA whistleblower and privacy advocate Edward Snowden said that he believes Bitcoin will eventually be supplanted by another cryptocurrency that does not utilize a public ledger. Snowden, who made this statement earlier this month at a Blockstack event in Berlin, said that he believes Bitcoin’s chief drawback does not have to do with its ability to scale — as many critics allege — but rather its lack of privacy. “Everybody is focused on the transaction rate limitations of bitcoin being its central flaw, and that is a major one, but I would argue that the much larger structural flaw, the long-lasting flaw, is its public ledger,” he said via webcam. “That is simply incompatible with having an enduring mechanism for trade, because you cannot have a lifelong history of everyone’s purchases, all of their interactions be available to everyone and have that work out well at scale.” “I don’t think Bitcoin will last forever,” added Snowden, who hinted that he had used Bitcoin in 2013 to conceal his identity while preparing to release classified National Security Agency (NSA) documents documenting privacy abuses — including some that showed the NSA was actively spying on Bitcoin users. “Bitcoin does important work and I do think it will have enduring value for a long time, but particularly when we look at the core development team and their rate of improvement to the protocol, they simply need to better or they will not be able to compete,” he continued. Snowden said that he is most interested in privacy-centric cryptocurrencies like Zcash, which obfuscate blockchain data to allow users to verify the integrity of transactions while keeping them private from would-be snoopers. “When we talk about which cryptocurrencies are interesting to me, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Zcash for me is the most interesting right now, because the privacy properties of it are truly unique, but we see more and more projects that are trying to emulate this and I think this is a positive thing.” Snowden added that he had tested Monero and a variety of other privacy-centric coins, though in the past he has said that he feels more comfortable with Zcash since it has been developed by academic cryptographers. Joe Rogan #1368 - Ed Snowden https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efs3QRr8LWw

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