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NIST Post-Quantum Cryptography Round 1 Submissions Posted
by grarpamp 28 Dec '17

28 Dec '17

https://csrc.nist.gov/Projects/Post-Quantum-Cryptography ~93 zipfiles Background In recent years, there has been a substantial amount of research on quantum computers – machines that exploit quantum mechanical phenomena to solve mathematical problems that are difficult or intractable for conventional computers. If large-scale quantum computers are ever built, they will be able to break many of the public-key cryptosystems currently in use. This would seriously compromise the confidentiality and integrity of digital communications on the Internet and elsewhere. The goal of post-quantum cryptography (also called quantum-resistant cryptography) is to develop cryptographic systems that are secure against both quantum and classical computers, and can interoperate with existing communications protocols and networks. The question of when a large-scale quantum computer will be built is a complicated one. While in the past it was less clear that large quantum computers are a physical possibility, many scientists now believe it to be merely a significant engineering challenge. Some engineers even predict that within the next twenty or so years sufficiently large quantum computers will be built to break essentially all public key schemes currently in use. Historically, it has taken almost two decades to deploy our modern public key cryptography infrastructure. Therefore, regardless of whether we can estimate the exact time of the arrival of the quantum computing era, we must begin now to prepare our information security systems to be able to resist quantum computing.

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JTRIG GCHQ: Uncovering British spies web of sockpuppet social media personas
by grarpamp 28 Dec '17

28 Dec '17

https://media.ccc.de/v/34c3-9233-uncovering_british_spies_web_of_sockpuppet… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9YhFiZnHkE The Joint Threat Research Intelligence Group (JTRIG), a unit in one of Britain’s intelligence agencies, is tasked with creating sockpuppet accounts and fake content on social media, in order to use "dirty tricks" to "destroy, deny, degrade [and] disrupt" enemies by "discrediting" them. In this talk, we reveal some of that content, in relation to infiltrating activists groups around the world, including during the Arab spring and Iranian revolution.

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Secret Things: Bohemian Grove
by grarpamp 28 Dec '17

28 Dec '17

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=bohemian+grove https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohemian_Grove >From secret UFO's to secret clubs, they're out there ;)

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[WAR] Ron Paul: “I’m just hoping our [USA govt.] system comes apart as gracefully as the Soviet system.”
by Zenaan Harkness 28 Dec '17

28 Dec '17

Those who observe are in no doubt about, significant, changes very approaching - already past the horizon and staring at us down the barrel. Good luck, Ron Paul: US On Verge Of Soviet Style Collapse http://yournewswire.com/ron-paul-us-on-verge-of-soviet-style-collapse/ Ron Paul says a year of apparent economic growth under President Donald Trump is “a bit of an illusion” and that the American political system is on the verge of coming apart in a way that is similar to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989. … “We’re on the verge of something like what happened in ‘89 when the Soviet system just collapsed,” he said. “I’m just hoping our system comes apart as gracefully as the Soviet system.” Press TV reports http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2017/12/27/547001/Ron-Paul-Libertarian-Soviet… : The former Republican lawmaker from Texas said he does not necessarily believe the US will break into separate countries, but instead forecasts a complete overhaul of US monetary policy and an end to what he considers the US “empire” overseas. “We have ownership of these countries, but it’s not quite like the Soviets did,” he said. “I think our stature in the world and our empire will end, and that’s when, hopefully, the doors will be open and [people will] say, ‘Hey, maybe these libertarians have some answers to this.’” Paul said “the country’s feeling a lot better, but it’s all on borrowed money” and that “the whole system’s an illusion” built on corporate, personal, and governmental debt. “It’s a bubble economy in many many different ways and it’s going to come unglued.” …

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[Free E-Book] Essays on Bitcoin
by Cecilia Tanaka 28 Dec '17

28 Dec '17

https://www.essaysonbitcoin.com Well, being sincere, I didn't read it yet. Sorry, received the references of this book only a few minutes ago... :P Good night kisses and sweet dreams, dear all. <3 c. ---------- "Don't let anyone rob you of your imagination, your creativity, or your curiosity. It's your place in the world; it's your life. Go on and do all you can with it, and make it the life you want to live." - Mae Jemison

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Current State of Mailing Lists / Forums about Internet Freedom, Security and Privacy?
by BM-2cXCAVedtJwvdVXg9HeMPZp8k5UAakzTMs＠bitmessage.ch 28 Dec '17

28 Dec '17

Hello. I was originally writing this post for tor-talk mailing list, which is a general mailing list hosted by Tor Project to discuss online anonymity and cryptography technology, I later realized it was probably a good idea to seek feedback from other lists so I crossposted it to many of them. It's all my humble options and please forgive if it's inappropriate. In the history of the Internet, there were always some communities who found themselves (or placed themselves) in the center of the storm on cutting edge development related to Internet freedom, security and privacy in the past 30 years. Back in the 80s, sci.crypto and a handful of newsgroups were prominent and widely read by everyone in the field of security and cryptography. In the 90s, there were comp.risks and the Cypherpunk mailing list, and they are probably everything you need for resources and discussions. In 2000s, Bugtraq and the Full Disclosure movement started, where all the security holes were debated and exposed. Those communities were center of the mass, brought all the talent people together, to conduct free discussions and research about everything ongoing in the field, no matter it was news, debate, designs, programs, rumors or personal argument, with light or no moderation, where ideas crashed on each other and produced fruitful new approaches. Unfortunately, it looks like that this kind of communities is becoming endangered species. It's hard to find anything similar after 2008 (or ~2005)? All the existing lists are dead pools now with few threads, some newsgroups still exist, but are toxic now since only narcissists are posting, and no other existent members to stop them since, they were all gone. The remaining lists are becoming project-centric, only discuss specific technical issues and not a general platform of discussion, such as this tor-talk (historically, mailing lists named as "-talk" were usually popular, like a party). seclists.org still has some historically famous lists but they are not very active, comp.risks only has news digest now! No posters! The Cryptography mailing list on metzdowd.com is still moving, but only 3 or 4 topics are discussed monthly (but in-depth, which is good), with strict on-topic policy. Other popular forums, like HackerNews or Reddit, functions more like a brief digest instead of a general purpose online forum. Where are all the hackers, developers, cryptographers, activists, researchers, etc gone? 1. It seems that the arise of social media, like Facebook and especially Twitter, is partially responsible for the current state of deterioration of online forums, as now all the latest and interesting information are tweets, and everyone's on Twitter. They are turning the Internet communities to be less and less formal and sophisticated people, Have a new project? Instead of writing a 1000 words short essay and debating with all the experts in the mailing list, just send a 50-word tweet and post the code to GitHub! 2. It seems that the scope of Internet freedom, security and privacy has expanded infinitely, it's infeasible to talk to everyone on Earth in this field by posting in two or three mailing lists, everyone moved to their personal (physical and online) social network to talk is a natural result of it. This is how the Cypherpunk list dead according to some, I believe the same thing is going on everywhere. (sorry if Cypherpunks found it's offensive, no intention to insult, but just no longer the center of mass according to John Gilmore in 2002). 3. It seems that the Internet is no longer an academic thing and compared to popular culture online, the research community becomes almost invisible and finally led to the collapse of many of them. 4. It seems that the Internet is no longer an utopian "cyberspace", but now with lots of threats, such as doxxing and mass surveillance. 20 years ago it's normal for a hacker or activist to post a controversial research, with the phone number and personal address attached in a mailing list, and joining monthly offline meetings. But now, many of them, or perhaps even you, the one who is reading this post, would prefer a low profile in the community, or proactively separate different works. Many are also prefer a private Off-the-record talk over a public debate, prefer small private groups with encryption over big open space. Some even proactively obscure or erase online records. This has two consequences, first, the Big Brother has to work harder and it's good. But it also means the community as a whore becomes harder to communicate with each other, there are always time when someone discovered something which is unnoticed to others, or comes up with an exceptionally good idea. But a fragmented community is more difficult to promote them. (It's also difficult to conduct a historical research in the future, which can be a problem. In contrast the Usenet posts from the 80s are still here and it's good for history and research, but bad for privacy, but it's another topic). Look! Number 1, 2, 3, 4 actually goes together, towards the same end! Does anyone have an option about how the things going on today? Any explanations of the current state of the Internet communities? And what is your recommendation of a good online fourm for general discussion of freedom, security and privacy? Cheers, John Random

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Re: [Cryptography] Bitcoin theft and the future of cryptocurrencies
by grarpamp 28 Dec '17

28 Dec '17

On Wed, Dec 27, 2017 at 4:28 PM, Howard Chu <hyc(a)symas.com> wrote: > The paper's author has no connection to any particular coin > project. Didn't say they were connected. The btcmanager article's author is though by disclaimer... "The author owns monero but does not own any zcash." Rephrasing what that prefixed... Is it *possible* to use whichever coin in a way such that an analysis paper against it becomes mitigated / moot? If no, then add the paper to the stack of breaks, and documented design inapplicabilities / oversights / cantfixes / wontfixes and so on, that will weigh upon its validity as a coin, and choices made as to its use cases. "Goes to zero" breaks are obviously included in this. If yes, then simply bashing the coin as broken, is crap rhetoric, when the issue may really be better usage, documentation, knowledge, and design therein so that such footshooting is harder or more obvious. Given the usage caveats and potential mitigations noted in the below, perhaps this is really a case of the latter yes condition. https://z.cash/blog/transaction-linkability.html http://jeffq.com/blog/on-the-linkability-of-zcash-transactions/ http://arxiv.org/pdf/1712.01210.pdf http://jeffq.com/zcash-rtts.htm https://z.cash/blog/new-research-on-shielded-ecosystem.html https://btcmanager.com/linkability-zcash-transactions-study-precipitates-de… A Traceability Analysis of Monero’s Blockchain https://eprint.iacr.org/2017/338.pdf In sum, all the purported privacy coins have years of analysis and improvements to go before the word private can truly be considered to apply to any of them. Further, it may be that newer privacy tech and privacy coins will surpass any that exist today. Communities getting embattled aren't productive way to address design / tech, accept obsolescense, and improve with new. Change is part of the nature of cryptocurrencies. The old rules of fiat should not be expected to apply. There will *never* be one coin to rule them all, but many happy families. And every one will be far different than whatever random stack of fiat notes might fill the purse of a globetrotter. Ps: DPRK, China, "criminals", etc supposedly print US money in bulk just like the US itself does... interesting to compare that to potential outcomes of any compromised ceremonies, inadequate coin architectures, early heights of flawed blockchains still affecting their own subsequent fixes and so on...

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Re: [Cryptography] Zcash 2nd Ceremony Call for Review / Participation, @Snowden EFF ACLU Privacy Updates
by grarpamp 27 Dec '17

27 Dec '17

> What specifically are you claiming was incorrect about my writeup? No claims, just noting that news outlets, competing coins, etc often cite / claim posts on the internet as saying this or that or whatever, when oftentimes a more detailed reading of the posts alongside their cite / claim shows their error. "Zcash 2nd Ceremony Call for Review / Participation" Because... if Z / privacy tech (or any coin tech) is to become more trusted and used in multitude of applications, or even just for $B's to $T's worth of simple monetary holdings and flow, wide review of the crypto and so on is part of that. The necessity of critical writeups where due (by many people) along the way should be obvious. Linking the easier to read unstriked version for those reviewing or working coins, now and in the future, such that anything noted therein might be considered in that process... https://web.archive.org/web/20171010030051/https://petertodd.org/2016/cyphe… And some links collated from it... https://moderncrypto.org/mail-archive/curves/2016/000742.html http://www.weboftrust.info/ https://www.cloudflare.com/dns/dnssec/root-signing-ceremony/ https://www.iana.org/dnssec/ceremonies

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[dave@horsfall.org: [TUHS] Happy birthday, Charles Babbage!]
by John Newman 27 Dec '17

27 Dec '17

Interesting - I didn't know Babbage dabbled in crypto.. Apparently the "Vigenere Cipher" was considered unbreakable for ~3 centuries, although Babbage and others broke it and variants of it at various times up to and in the 19th century... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vigen%C3%A8re_cipher ----- Forwarded message from Dave Horsfall <dave(a)horsfall.org> ----- Date: Tue, 26 Dec 2017 10:58:47 +1100 (EST) From: Dave Horsfall <dave(a)horsfall.org> To: The Eunuchs Hysterical Society <tuhs(a)tuhs.org> Subject: [TUHS] Happy birthday, Charles Babbage! User-Agent: Alpine 2.21 (BSF 202 2017-01-01) Charles Babbage KH FRS was born on this day in 1791; pretty much the father of the computer, a model of his "difference engine" built to the standards of the day worked, complete with its printer. What is not so well known about him was that he dabbled in cryptography, and broke the Vigenère cipher; unfortunately for him it was classified as a military secret, so one Friedrich Kasiski got the credit instead. -- Dave Horsfall DTM (VK2KFU) "Those who don't understand security will suffer." ----- End forwarded message ----- -- GPG fingerprint: 17FD 615A D20D AFE8 B3E4 C9D2 E324 20BE D47A 78C7

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Re: [WAR] - Re: (53) Gaddafi's Prophecy, 2011 - "Europe will turn black" - YouTube
by Zenaan Harkness 26 Dec '17

26 Dec '17

On Tue, Dec 26, 2017 at 01:28:51PM -0500, Ric Moore wrote: > On 12/26/2017 04:04 AM, Zenaan Harkness wrote: > > > Gaddafi nationalised the oil producing industry. > > He promised that the huge profits would be fairly distributed across > > the entire country. > > All Libyans began to receive their share of the Libyan oil trade. > > > > "When the people can see that a certain leader is raising the > > standard of living, of course he will have a lot of support." > > > Gaddafi committed the one sin that could not be abided. He proposed to put Libya's currency to a gold standard, and > further planned to accept gold only as payment for their oil exports. The Hillary Mafia smelled blood in the water. He > had to die. > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DXDU48RHLU Indeed.

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