February 2022 - cypherpunks - lists.cpunks.org

Notebookcheck.net: Scientists estimate that quantum computers may become powerful enough to crack the Bitcoin encryption in a decade
by jim bell 04 Feb '22

04 Feb '22

Notebookcheck.net: Scientists estimate that quantum computers may become powerful enough to crack the Bitcoin encryption in a decade. https://www.notebookcheck.net/Scientists-estimate-that-quantum-computers-ma… Mark Webber and a group of scientists from the University of Sussex calculated that it would take a quantum processor with 1.9 billion qubits to effectively crack the Bitcoin encryption, and this is most likely not going to happen in the next 10 years, giving Bitcoin core developers enough time to make the code quantum-resistant.Bogdan Solca, 02/03/2022 🇮🇹 🇪🇸 ...Cryptocurrency Science Security Quantum computers are now a thing and many research teams across the world are competing to constantly improve the efficiency and computing power of this new breed of number crunching machines. Back in the mid-2010s, when most researchers were pushing for quantum supremacy over traditional computers, some pointed out that qubits may eventually be used to crack the most sophisticated encryption algorithms in existence, including the SHA-256 one used by cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. This realization was recently reinforced by Mark Webber and the Ion Quantum Technology team of scientists from the University of Sussex, who calculated what it really takes to break the Bitcoin encryption system and a ballpark estimate of when that could happen. The SHA (Secure Hash Algorithm) cluster of cryptographic functions was created by the US NSA in the early 2000s. Bitcoin uses the 256-bit version to encrypt all transactions that need to be verified by the mining network before their addition to the blockchain. This is also called proof-of-work consensus because the miners essentially validate how the bitcoin amounts coming from each block are distributed based on the contribution to cracking the cryptographic key assigned to each transaction. The miner or group of miners who succeeds in cracking the key first claims the majority of the bitcoin rewarded per block. Webber and his team calculated that the fastest quantum computer currently online deployed by IBM with a processing power of 127 qubits is still far from cracking the SHA-256 algorithm in a reasonable time frame. In order to lower the time frame to around 1 hour, the quantum computer would need to harness the power of 317 million qubits, but that will still not be nearly enough to fully crack the code. As Webber puts it, “the transactions get announced and there’s a key associated with that transaction. There’s a finite window of time when that key is vulnerable and that varies, but it’s usually around 10 minutes to an hour, maybe a day.” Cracking the code in a 10-minute window actually requires a processor with 1.9 billion qubits.

2 1

Documentary: Crossfire (2020, Southern)
by grarpamp 04 Feb '22

04 Feb '22

https://laurensouthern.net/documentaries/crossfire/ Crossfire analyzes issues around policing, brutality, race, law and order in a time when America is ablaze and divided. Half the nation rallies to support demoralized officers, and the other half demands reform and even calls for disbanding the police. Indeed, many in the latter group don’t join the debate at all, but instead violently riot in the streets. Lost in this cacophany are some very real questions: What is the actual data around crime and policing? Does poverty cause crime? Are police really responsible for mass abuses of minorities? Who are these radicals rioting in the streets and what do they want? Watch Crossfire Watch Trailer Get Crossfire DVD

1 0

The revolution will be televised
by professor rat 04 Feb '22

04 Feb '22

The distributed Pollen Mobile network https://techcrunch.com/2022/02/02/anthony-levandowskis-latest-moonshot-is-a… Welcome to the revolution!

1 0

Big-Tent crypto-anarchism
by professor rat 04 Feb '22

04 Feb '22

Just cos this list revolves ( and rapidly-evolves ) around anarchism doesn't mean all contributors here have to be anarchists. The only folks we don't want here are known-fascists. At least that's the way I see it. Yr mileage may vary.

1 0

277,000 routers exposed to Eternal Silence attacks via UPnP
by jim bell 04 Feb '22

04 Feb '22

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/277-000-routers-exposed-to-e… "A malicious campaign known as 'Eternal Silence' is abusing Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) turns your router into a proxy server used to launch malicious attacks while hiding the location of the threat actors." "UPnP is a connectivity protocol optionally available in most modern routers that allows other devices on a network to create port forwarding rules on a router automatically. This allows remote devices to access a particular software feature or device as necessary, with little configuration required by a user."

1 0

Anti-gaming laws are an ass
by professor rat 04 Feb '22

04 Feb '22

Alligator blood trumps political posturing Who’s Using the Metaverse? - Poker Players in Decentraland Decentral Games’ casino has made $7.5 million in revenue over the past three months with daily-user counts topping 5,000. https://www.coindesk.com

1 0

Fwd: xNY.io | Coin Greenlist (Waiting Period)
by Gunnar Larson 04 Feb '22

04 Feb '22

This seems strange. - Why would a direct message be something that is forbidden? - Who is accountable for innovation if direct virtual currency messages in New York are forbidden? - Sounds like passing the buck is in play, the Superintendent should hold accountability rather than suggesting any and all messages be directed to some anonymous attention. What on Earth could be the problem? ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: dfs.sm.VirtualCurrency <VirtualCurrency(a)dfs.ny.gov> Date: Mon, Jan 31, 2022 at 1:38 PM Subject: RE: xNY.io | Coin Greenlist (Waiting Period) To: g(a)xny.io <g(a)xny.io> Dear Mr. Larson, As previously noted, please direct any virtual currency-related questions or comments to virtualcurrency(a)dfs.ny.gov. Please do not direct such questions or comments to the email addresses or phone numbers of individual employees of DFS. Thank you for your cooperation, DFS Virtual Currency Staff *New York State Department of Financial Services* One State Street, New York, NY 10004 VirtualCurrency(a)dfs.ny.gov www.dfs.ny.gov

1 0

The pharmaceutical-medical mafia and the US govt - one and the same
by Punk-BatSoup-Stasi 2.0 04 Feb '22

04 Feb '22

quote from kennedy's book : "Dr. Fishbein[an 'aids' whistleblower] told me that despite his nominal victory, Dr. Fauci continued to punish him from afar with reverberations reaching far beyond NIAID. “I couldn’t get a job in public health for five years,” Dr. Fishbein says of Dr. Fauci’s vendetta. “Everyone in science is terrified of crossing him. He’s like a mafia kingpin. He controls everything and everyone in public health.” Dr. Fishbein added, “He spreads so much money around and everyone knows he is vindictive. I had one friend tell me, ‘I can’t risk hiring you because I can’t afford to anger Fauci.’” Says Dr. Fishbein, “This was my first exposure to the cancel culture.” He further reminisced: “I left the private sector and took the NIH job because I wanted to do public service. But I was very naive. I believed the government could find solutions, and that justice always prevailed. My experience at the Division of AIDS really opened my eyes about how the system really operated. The federal budget is a big trough to feed special interest groups. But if you become wise to it, open your mouth, and get on the wrong side of someone really powerful, they are out for blood. The government lawyers up, and they have unlimited resources to burn you. Truth may not be on their side, but they can throw every obstacle in your way to getting a fair hearing of your grievance. And you can’t get justice because litigation will drain you to your last penny. The system isn’t designed to help the aggrieved party. I couldn’t coerce Fauci for a deposition. He was too busy doing interviews and accepting awards. There were never any consequences for the perpetrators. They continued merrily in their careers. I had to start all over again. If they are determined to ruin your life, they can do it.”

1 0

NSA broke its own rules to spy on Americans, new IG report finds
by jim bell 03 Feb '22

03 Feb '22

NSA broke its own rules to spy on Americans, new IG report finds https://americanmilitarynews.com/2022/02/nsa-broke-its-own-rules-to-spy-on-… The National Security Agency (NSA) didn’t follow some of its own required procedures meant to protect the privacy of U.S. citizens, a new report by the NSA’s Inspector General revealed Monday. In its semi-annual report to Congress, the Office of the Inspector General for the NSA found failures in the agency’s procedures under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence and Surveillance ction 702 of FISA describes how U.S. intelligence agencies may conduct warrantless surveillance of the communications of suspicious non-citizens on foreign soil. The section also describes how intelligence officials may access the sensitive information and communications of U.S. persons (USPs), if there is probable cause they are working for or in contact with suspicious non-citizens.

1 0

Batshit-Crazy in Holland?
by professor rat 03 Feb '22

03 Feb '22

Probably Russia - but you never really know A Highly Virulent Variant of HIV Has Been Discovered in the Netherlands Gizmodo 1 hour ago New HIV variant discovered in the Netherlands Financial Times 1 hour ago

1 0