CDR: Re: stego for the censored

[Tim May]

At 4:09 PM -0700 10/6/00, Michael Motyka wrote:
>  >
>>  I'm currently looking for a way to get encrypted data via stego to
>>  people who live in countries where crypto is illegal, and who may be
>>  watched. so just sending them a large graphic would likely arouse
>  > suspicion.
>>
>...
>  >
>Since the amount of information you need to send and the channel/event
>capacity for stego'd information are unspecified maybe you're looking
>for a general solution. Part of a general solution might be a
>scatter-gather mechanism.
>
>XMIT
>
>The information you need to send is broken up into multiple pieces and
>an index. The simplest method would be a flat structure but a tree is
>acceptable. Redundancy via overlapping segments could be introduced.
>Redundancy/error correction might be useful if Mallet is inclined for
>example to mess with whitespace in your e-mail. Anyway, the pieces are
>stego'd into multiple carriers that are made available via any and all
>protocols.

In places where crypto is illegal, this approach would also likely be illegal.

"But, Obergruppenfuhrer Mueller, I am not actually using crypto. 
These hundreds of broken up files I have received are merely unwanted 
messages sent to me. "

BTW, the issue is a lot more than just "plausible deniability." This 
may work in the U.S., until the Constitution is further shredded. But 
"plausibility deniability" is not enough when dealing with the 
Staasi, or SAVAK, or Shin Bet, or the Ayotollahs. Mere suspicion is 
enough.

--Tim May

-- 
---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:----
Timothy C. May              | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
ComSec 3DES:   831-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA  | knowledge, reputations, information markets,
"Cyphernomicon"             | black markets, collapse of governments.