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DMCA Attacks: NAI Tells Sites To Remove PGP (Updated)

daecabhir writes: "I am on Declan McCullough's excellent policy and technology mailing list, and received this article on Declan's Politech web site. Basically, Network Associates now appears to be using the DMCA to force sites that provide access to the "free" versions of PGP to cease and desist, if this is any indication. Unfortunately, I think that Network Associates may well be within their rights with regards to 'their' intellectual property, even if I disagree with the manner in which they are going about things." Update: 05/22 13:55 GMT by T : Looks like this wasn't the whole story, and in fact NAI was only objecting to a site with the commercial version of its software -- read below for more. Grant Bayley writes: "The hype being generated by the "NAI pulls out the DMCA stick" postings and the spectre of PGP being "removed from the Internet" is entirely bogus, and provably so with a little bit of fact checking.

Looking through the Google cache, it becomes very clear very quickly that crypto.radiusnet.net was hosting a copy of the commercial version of the software - not a copy of the PGPi (aka freeware) version of the PGP product. Given that this is the case, NAI is well within their rights to demand the removal of the files.

You can confirm this in the Google Cache.

101 of 254 comments (clear)

  1. Are older versions theirs? by edisk1353 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    What is the DMCA's policy on older software?

    Does this mean that older versions of PGP now belong to Network Associates and are subject to the company's will? Even if they were free?

    1. Re:Are older versions theirs? by homer_ca · · Score: 5, Informative

      PGP versions 6 and 7 had both Freeware (free beer, for noncommercial use only) and Professional versions. If NA is trying to shut down PGP Freeware downloads, it's bogus. This is sections 1 and 3 from the PGP Freeware 6.5.8 license. Section 1.b grants the right to distribute unmodified copies. Section 3 states the term of the agreement, forever as long as the user violates the license. I was half expecting to find it, but they do NOT say "We reserve the right to change these licensing terms at any time without notice".

      1. License Grant. Subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement, Network Associates hereby grants to you a non-exclusive, non-transferable right to use, copy and distribute solely for Non-Commercial Purposes (as defined below) the specified version of the Software and the accompanying documentation (the "Documentation").
      a. For purposes of the foregoing, "non-commercial purposes" means non-commercial, non-governmental use, including, without limitation, home use for personal correspondence, student or academic use, or use by non-profit human rights organizations. The Software is "in use" when it is loaded into the temporary memory (i.e., RAM) or installed into the permanent memory (e.g., hard disk, CD ROM, or other storage device) of a computer for the purpose of being accessible in client-mode by an end user.
      b. You may make exact, unmodified copies of the Software and distribute such copies solely (i) by electronic means; (ii) for Non-Commercial Purposes; and (iii) with all proprietary notices (including without limitation all copyright notices and this End User License Agreement) intact and unmodified or obscured.
      3. Term. This Agreement is effective unless and until earlier terminated as set forth herein. This Agreement will terminate automatically if you fail to comply with any of the limitations or other requirements described herein. Upon any termination or expiration of this Agreement, you must destroy all copies of the Software and the Documentation.

  2. Hm. by Wakko+Warner · · Score: 4, Informative

    Good thing there's GPG...

    - A.P.

    --
    "Remember when the U.S. had a drug problem, and then we declared a War On Drugs, and now you can't buy drugs anymore?"
    1. Re:Hm. by Clue4All · · Score: 4, Informative

      The problem with GPG is that it lacks an easy-to-use interface and Windows plugins. This was the selling point of NAI's PGP: it was easy point-and-click encryption for the common person. It's a shame they're ditching it, it really had a good chance for encouraging the widespread use of encryption.

      --

      Is your browser retarded?
    2. Re:Hm. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      You profess to be worried about security .. and you admit to using Outlook?

      I'm not snickering, it's the guy beside me, honest.

    3. Re:Hm. by malice95 · · Score: 2

      I just investigated this as well for my company. While GPG seems to be technically superior from a command line point of view it sucks from a gui point of view on windows. The NAI version has a very good gui config tool, and great integration into outlook. I found this site http://www3.gdata.de/gpg/ which offers similar gui integration into outlook and a gui config tool, but the NAI version works and looks better IMHO.

    4. Re:Hm. by ergo98 · · Score: 3, Informative

      Though because NAI hadn't been keeping it up, with each iteration of Outlook it fell further behind. For it to work with current versions of Outlook you have to specially configure PGP 7.0.3 to have a workable scenario, and even then quirks abound.

      I agree entirely with what you said, however I should point out that it is not so much the common person, or a "lowest common denominator" set of skills, but rather the security versus the convenience ration : I like using encrypted emails simply because it's no one elses business, but if it wasn't as convenient, and if I had to copy/paste between apps in a big time consuming process, I likely wouldn't bother except for messages which have to remain private (and one of the tenets of strong encryption is that encryption shouldn't be limited to only the highly confidential because it gives a very directed target, and can imply guilt to some screwed up types).

    5. Re:Hm. by _Sprocket_ · · Score: 3, Informative


      The problem with GPG is that it lacks an easy-to-use interface and Windows plugins.


      Open Source works by scratching itches. NAI has done a lot to generate an itch for GUI plugins/frontends for GnuPG on Windows. Poke around and you can easily find some good starts.


      This pageprovides a fairly nice listing of some of them. Check them out, kick the tires, see if they work for you. YMMV.


      One thing to note - WinPT is shaping up nicely as a general GnuPG interface (although it doesn't provide a selection of MUA-specific plugins, they do also offer GPGOE, a plugin for Outlook Express). WinPT is Open Source under the GPL license. And unlike other frontends, WinPT is more tightly integrated by using GPGME, GnuPG's new API.

  3. Clarification needed by ergo98 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    So which version was being hosted that led to NAI sending out the copyright violation notice? Was this a commercial version that truly was a `pirate' copy, or was it the same version hosted at pgpi.com? (http://www.pgpi.org/products/pgp/versions/freewar e/) The pgpi site doesn't seem to have any information regarding this, and you would think they would given the impact of it to them.

  4. Re:quick!! by paganizer · · Score: 2, Interesting

    How exactly do they think they are going to profit from this? more like a Nail in the Coffin than anything else, free PGP from MIT is considered a sacred inalienable right, right?

    --
    Why, yes, I AM a Pagan Libertarian.
  5. mit distro center is still up by jnana · · Score: 4, Informative

    at http://web.mit.edu/network/pgp.html, but you can bet that i'm gonna download it again right now and burn the installer onto a CD.

    1. Re:mit distro center is still up by Lord+Squirrel · · Score: 3, Informative

      well, I just tried to download it...no dice. The site is up, but you can't download.

      --

      Lord of the Squirrels, Ambassador to the Moles, Minister of Rodential Information

    2. Re:mit distro center is still up by Dimensio · · Score: 2

      Just downloaded both the Win32 and Linux versions at 00:59EST.

  6. I am not a lawyer by w.p.richardson · · Score: 2
    Can someone else who is not a lawyer explain how the DMCA applies?

    TIA!

    --

    Curb CO2 emissions: Kill yourself today!

    1. Re:I am not a lawyer by Cardhore · · Score: 3, Insightful

      It doesn't, except they included the letters DMCA in the title of their e-mail. This is probably just ordinary copyright law.

    2. Re:I am not a lawyer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      Sure:

      Wealthy Client: I want that stuff down.
      Lawyer: Okay.
      [to host] Take that down. Or else.
      Host: F*ck that. I've got First Amendment rights.
      Lawyer: Ha. [sends obscure legalese email] Here's a ridiculously vague DMCA notice.
      Host: I don't understand this crap.
      Lawyer: Good. You're not supposed to. But I'll be generous and tell you anyway. It says that if you take this stuff down, you won't be liable for [insert Carl Sagan voice] billions and billions of dollars for copyright infringement.
      Host: Oh. Okay.... I guess. [deletes information]
      Lawyer: Muahahaha.

    3. Re:I am not a lawyer by norton_I · · Score: 2

      By invokin the DMCA, they use the safe harbor clause as leverage against the ISP. The ISP is guaranteed no legal liability if the act promptly to remove or block access to the alleged illegal material. If they try and stand up for the rights of their client, they are liable as accomplices to theft.

      I don't know what the particular situation is here, there are dozens of version of PGP and PGP-like programs, and no indication of what the actual supposedly infringing material was. If it was the actual no longer for sale commercial version of PGP, they are regrettably well within their rights to ask it to be removed, otherwise this is nonsense.

  7. NAI - Graduates of the Verisign School of Business by zentec · · Score: 5, Interesting


    I purchased several copies of NAI's PGP for Unix version 5. The CD had a standard license agreement with it. Two years later, I receive a letter from NAI telling me that my license was revoked and I could no longer use the software.

    Somehow, I do not think I received my $1500 worth.

    I should have known, I asked NAI's sales department for a price quote on NAI virus protection products for the "enterprise" and I never did receive a straight answer.

    Thank God for GPG! Works with NAI's PGP plug-ins and it's truly free.

  8. Conspiracy! by Devil's+BSD · · Score: 2, Funny

    I find it interesting how Network Associates bought out PGP, then killed it, and is now trying to shut it down. Although it may be a long shot, could it be that the government is behind this? The government did not want PGP to be released in the first place because they thought it would threaten security...
    and for those still looking for PGP and unwilling to use GPG, there's still KaZaA.

    --
    I'm the Devil the Windows users warned you about.
    1. Re:Conspiracy! by Soko · · Score: 2

      and for those still looking for PGP and unwilling to use GPG, there's still KaZaA.

      OK - do we use that to make sure we have no privacy left and make using any encryption redundant, or do we use it to make sure we get a copy before they all dissapear?

      grokster, bud, grokster. 8-)

      Soko

      --
      "Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm." - Anonymous
  9. Google cache by ergo98 · · Score: 5, Informative

    The google cache of the directory in question (that incited NAI to send the cease and desist) can be found at http://www.google.ca/search?q=cache:2PdJtPM6n0QC:c rypto.radiusnet.net/archive/pgp/+&hl=en. Immediately I see products that were in the NAI distribution of PGP (commercial) but aren't in the freeware version (such as PGP Disk). Is this just a case of a copyright violation (and possible outright piracy to the tune of "warez" sites) being defended as something else? I could be very much mistaken, but not all of PGP was made freeware, and even no longer sold products maintain intellectual property that the company has every right to maintain control of for future use.

  10. Phil Zimmerman? by sludgely · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Has Phil made a comment yet regarding this? PGP is his child and it seems like if anyone has anything useful regarding this to say, he does. Where are you, Phil?

    1. Re:Phil Zimmerman? by PeterClark · · Score: 2

      It's probably too soon for him to have made a comment; all the same, a little Googling turned up some insightful stuff: apparently, Zimmerman dissed GPG. But that was a couple of years ago. I wonder what he thinks of it now, considering that GPG is about the only PGP replacement worth considering.

      :Peter

    2. Re:Phil Zimmerman? by Slashamatic · · Score: 5, Informative
      I am not Phil but I worked on PGP 1.x through 2.x or so, mostly on one of the ports. First a bit of history.

      Theoretically PGP in the early days could use RSAREF from RSA Labs but it needed some calls that were not in the published interface and thus broke RSA Labs non-commercial licence.

      The thing is that Phil requested that none of our software was GPLed as he wanted to try to use parts of it commercially. Fair enough, he would keep the non-commercial version as open as he could. Actually it was pretty open by then because contributors were working in France, Germany, even, I think, Russia.

      When the program was first passed to Viacrypt. They had there own licensed RSA engine and could drop it into PGP. However PGP still used another patented algorithm, IDEA. This had to be licensed (about $15) for commercial users.

      Viacrypt then got swallowed by NAI or at least PGP was transferred with it together with Phil Zimmerman. PGP moved away from algorithms like RSA and IDEA so didn't have so many patent issues. We ended up through Phil's efforts with a version of PGP free for non-commercial use an a licensed version for the corporates. However, many of the platforms were dropped.

      The source code of PGP was printed by MIT in an OCR freindly font and the whole thing was exported legally to Norway, scanned nd put up on the pgpi server. Later, NAI did something similar to get the code to their office in Switzerland and with the availability of commercial PGP in Europe, the free version went non-commercial only.

      NAI stopped publishing source code after 6.5.8 so a lot of people stopped there with that release. Strangely, a commercially licensed user was not allowed to recompile from the free source.

      Ok, history lesson over. PGP always has had a bit of a chequered past because some people don't like it one little bit. It was a difficult product to sell but NAI seemed to have had a steady business with it. That they dropped it after 9/11 came as no suprise to anyone (it may have been making money but not enough to want to compromise sales of other s/w to the US government). However, in the background we have the OpenPGP standard (well, RFC) being developed that gave a chance for other interoperable programs like GnuPG to be developed. This project has the backing of the German government, who seem to believe in strong encryption for the masses. The software is currently far from perfect (try recompiling the Windows version), but it works and without the patented algorithms. There are some front-ends that make it reasonably user friendly. It isn't there yet, but it will be.

      In the mean time, I have seen PGP in use in Central Asia, not by terrorists, but by a Central Bank for interbank money transfers. That terrorists and criminals have used PGP is certain, but so do people like Amnesty and the Red-Cross. The use of PGP to co-ordinate attacks against the US is a massive red-herring to cover up incompetence by the FBI and INS.

  11. careful if you use wget for your websurfing needs by Cardhore · · Score: 3, Interesting

    If your user agent happens to include "wget", watch out! "Any IP/Host seen using wget or any other mirror tool will be banned!

  12. This is a good thing! by bfree · · Score: 2

    Network Associates are quite within their rights to stop people distributing their software unless they had specifically given those rights in an unrevocable way. Why is this a good thing?

    • Even more development should move to GPG as alternative options are required.
    • More people should become aware of the fragile basis of all proprietry software.
    • Network Associates will lose this business forever (they are killing PGP and that's fine by me).
    --

    Never underestimate the dark side of the Source

    1. Re:This is a good thing! by Wintersmute · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Yeah - but can anyone explain why Network Associates wants to orphan their privacy software at a time when online privacy concerns are really coming into focus? Seems like this is a time to be getting into the market, rather than out.

      Any chance they're worried about the implications of widely available privacy software for "bad guys"?

      --
      It may be cold, but at least it's clear.
    2. Re:This is a good thing! by ImaLamer · · Score: 2

      they are killing PGP and that's fine by me

      Fine by you yes, but what about us that use PGP to securly e-mail friends and family on Windows machines? If they can't get copies (legally) then it will die and then I've got to go about maintaining not only a copy of my secret key but now PGP as well.

      There is more to PGP than sending and getting secure e-mails. E-mail signing and even secure data backup.

      The problem is that the freeware version of the license says that anyone can distribute it forever.

  13. It's worth mentioning... by reparteeist · · Score: 3, Informative

    Since GnuPG does not use the patented IDEA algorithm, it is in no danger from NAI.

    --
    If Bill Gates had a nickel for every time Windows crashed... Oh wait, he does.
    1. Re:It's worth mentioning... by _Sprocket_ · · Score: 2


      Since GnuPG does not use the patented IDEA algorithm, it is in no danger from NAI.


      Just to clarify...


      I don't believe the issue is use of the IDEA algorithm - that patent is held by MediaCrypt. However, PGP is owned by NAI. GnuPG is safe from NAI because it does not contain any PGP code. GnuPG is (mostly) compatible with PGP because it implements the OpenPGP standard which was based on PGP.

    2. Re:It's worth mentioning... by _Sprocket_ · · Score: 2

      Ascom is MediaCrypt or something to that effect.

  14. Re:NAI - Graduates of the Verisign School of Busin by malice95 · · Score: 2

    How do you get gpg to work with nai's plugins? I love the outlook plugin from nai but I would love to use gpg on the backend.

  15. GPG frontends by PeterClark · · Score: 5, Informative

    I could be mistaken, but I think that GPG plays just fine with NAI's plug-ins. And as for frontends, I don't think you have looked hard enough. Also, Kmail has effortless integration with GPG, and I hear that Evolution does too, although I've heard that there were a couple of bugs in it. Perhaps they've been fixed by now.

    :Peter

    1. Re:GPG frontends by psychosis · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I use GPG with Evolution daily, and have had no problems in the 1.0.3 release.
      It even handles different keys for different accounts without user intervention (after telling it the key number for a given account, of course).
      It has the handy features like "remember pass phrase for this session" (it's an option for the paranoid), sign-every-message, and verification of a signed message sent to you with a mouse click.
      Check it out - it's the only mail client I use now!

  16. Re:NAI - Graduates of the Verisign School of Busin by acceleriter · · Score: 2, Interesting

    How about a link to a scan of that letter (with your details blanked out, of course)? It'd also be educational to see the original license agreement, to determine if it even contained an out like that for NAI (providing that it's enforcable to begin with, which is probably a stretch in a non-UCITA state anyway). IANAL, etc.

    --

    CEE5210S The signal SIGHUP was received.

  17. Re:wait.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    There is a lot of people who would just love for PGP to just "go away". Like your local friendly FBI, CIA, and other 3 letter agencies one can only just guess at.

    Now they can't snoop on people anymore. And that includes all the other "nasties" out there that want to do harm to us that use it extensively.

    So they have put pressure on all the sites that link to copies of PGP to pull them, so eventually, nobody will know were to find their copy of PGP.

  18. GNU Privacy Guard Anyone? by npsimons · · Score: 2, Informative
    Looks like it's time to switch to GNU Privacy Guard if you haven't already. Does anyone know if it will be immune to this attack?


    And for those that haven't found it yet, enigmail should allow you to use GNU Privacy Guard with Mozilla, even under Windows. Haven't tried it myself yet.

    1. Re:GNU Privacy Guard Anyone? by _Sprocket_ · · Score: 3, Informative


      Looks like it's time to switch to GNU Privacy Guard [gnupg.org] if you haven't already. Does anyone know if it will be immune to this attack?


      You might want to poke around the link you provided. GnuPG is an implementation of RFC2440 (OpenPGP). Since OpenPGP is based on PGP, there is a certain degree of compatability between PGP and GnuPG, however, GnuPG is not based on PGP code. In short, NAI has no ownership over GnuPG in any form. Any attempts to block GnuPG with DMCA claims would be completely outlandish.


      It might be worth noting that GnuPG is also being developed with funding from the German government. Even if NAI were to try and block GnuPG with such a DMCA claim, I suspect it would be entirely futile and wouldn't even cause a hiccup in GnuPG distribution and development.

  19. DMCA... by jmv · · Score: 3, Funny

    Under the DMCA, I ask you to keep your dog from sh... on my lawn!!!

    Has the word DMCA been recently accepted as a synonym for "generic laswuit"?

  20. Comparison of Game 4 losers and dot-com companies by ChazeFroy · · Score: 2

    Seems to me that Network Associates, with their backs to the wall, are playing the part of a losing hockey team facing elimination in Game 4 of a best-of-seven series.

    Play dirty to survive.

  21. it's dead, Jim by g4dget · · Score: 3, Insightful

    What's the point? If it's not open source and if it's not commercially supported, it's dead. Oh, you may still be able to use it for a little while but then operating systems and libraries will drift away.

  22. you know... by kevin+lyda · · Score: 4, Interesting

    it's too bad that people don't pay more attention to rms when he talks about freedom.

    and it's also too bad that people kept doing dev on possibly not free pgp versions instead on truly free implementations of pgp (ie gnupg).
    how many times are we going to learn this lesson?

    --
    US Citizen living abroad? Register to vote!
    1. Re:you know... by bentini · · Score: 2
      how many times are we going to learn this lesson?

      I think we'll only learn it once. The question is when that one time is finally going to happen.
    2. Re:you know... by mccalli · · Score: 2
      and it's also too bad that people kept doing dev on possibly not free pgp versions instead on truly free implementations of pgp

      It's terrible, yes. So...are you going to pay the people a salary to work on the free versions or shall I?

      What? You're not prepared to pay for it? Then how are these coders going to earn their living?

      It's good that free alternatives can be developed by those with the interest and time. However, don't knock the people working on the closed stuff - they're just earning their living like any other coder.

      Cheers,
      Ian

    3. Re:you know... by kevin+lyda · · Score: 2

      uh, moron, i was referring to people contributing code to the non-free versions. not the people paid to do it, just the ones who were contributing code thinking it was free software when it was actually just "free beer" software.

      --
      US Citizen living abroad? Register to vote!
  23. My PGP EULA by SignalFreq · · Score: 5, Informative


    A quick look at the documentation that came with my version of PGP Freeware:

    Network Associates Freeware End User License Agreement
    (Non-Commercial Use and Distribution Only)

    1. License Grant. Subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement, Network Associates hereby grants to you a non-exclusive, non-transferable right to use, copy and distribute solely for Non-Commercial Purposes (as defined below) the specified version of the Software and the accompanying documentation (the "Documentation").

    a. For purposes of the foregoing, "non-commercial purposes" means non-commercial, non-governmental use, including, without limitation, home use for personal correspondence, student or academic use, or use by non-profit human rights organizations. The Software is "in use" when it is loaded into the temporary memory (i.e., RAM) or installed into the permanent memory (e.g., hard disk, CD ROM, or other storage device) of a computer for the purpose of being accessible in client-mode by an end user.

    b. You may make exact, unmodified copies of the Software and distribute such copies solely (i) by electronic means; (ii) for Non-Commercial Purposes; and (iii) with all proprietary notices (including without limitation all copyright notices and this End User License Agreement) intact and unmodified or obscured.

    ... blah, blah, blah...

    3. Term. This Agreement is effective unless and until earlier terminated as set forth herein. This Agreement will terminate automatically if you fail to comply with any of the limitations or other requirements described herein. Upon any termination or expiration of this Agreement, you must destroy all copies of the Software and the Documentation.

    11. Miscellaneous. This Agreement is governed by the laws of the United States and the State of California, without reference to conflict of laws principles. The application of the United Nations Convention of Contracts for the International Sale of Goods is expressly excluded. This Agreement sets forth all rights for the user of the Software and is the entire agreement between the parties. This Agreement supersedes any other communications with respect to the Software and Documentation. This Agreement may not be modified except by a written addendum issued by a duly authorized representative of Network Associates. No provision hereof shall be deemed waived unless such waiver shall be in writing and signed by Network Associates or a duly authorized representative of Network Associates. If any provision of this Agreement is held invalid, the remainder of this Agreement shall continue in full force and effect. The parties confirm that it is their wish that this Agreement has been written in the English language only.

    Quick overview of the sections not included:
    2. Restictions: no renting/leasing/loading/reselling.
    4. Updates: No tech support.
    5. Ownership Rights: They still own all the copyrights.
    6. Warrant Disclaimer: "As is" software.
    7. Limitation of Liability: I can't hold them liable.
    8. US Government:
    9. Export Controls: Don't let it cross a border! oh no!
    10. High Risk Activities: Don't use this inconjunction with life-support, etc.

    So, section 1 grants me the right to use, copy and distribute PGP. Section 3, there is no expressed limit on the amount of time I can use it. The only limiting factor is section 11, which gives them the right to modify by a written addendum.

    Damn. Guess I'll just have to switch to GPG.

    - SignalFreq

    1. Re:My PGP EULA by mindstrm · · Score: 2

      Not binding? Sure it would be. Something the company told you verbally is just a separate contract.

      The EULA does not provide tech support, no, but if the company TELLS you it will, that's another story altogether.

  24. crypto.radiusnet.net is a joke by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Hi all,

    I think we'll all find that this ends up being less of a problem than it seems to be, and certainly one unworthy of Declan's attention. The first thing to consider is that of the couple of security/crypto archives out there (Wiretapped, munitions.vipul.net, the old zedz.net site, Packetstorm), the crypto.radiusnet.net one is the only one of the group that is out of date, disorganised and discourages mirroring. Look over the site, and you'll see what I mean. The second thing to consider is that (as another poster has already mentioned) PGPi.org has the explicitly freeware versions of the software available on a number of mirrors worldwide, and does not appear to have been made a target here.

    Conspiracy theories aside, if they were mirroring commercial versions of the product, NAI is well within their rights to pursue them, and I'm sure the other legitimate crypto/security archive sites will be glad to see crypto.radiusnet.net stop sullying their good names by association.

    1. Re:crypto.radiusnet.net is a joke by Erris · · Score: 2
      GPi.org has the explicitly freeware versions of the software available on a number of mirrors worldwide, and does not appear to have been made a target here.

      It's kind of hard to enforce the DCMA outside the US, isn't it?

      NA is no longer selling PGP, right? It's a cost cutting measure, right? Sure, it's much cheaper to not defy your government and remain in business.

      I've seen a lot of posts here accusing radius of being a Warez site. Sounds like big bullshit to me. That letter would have been sent bye the "anti-piracy" division long ago if this were true. Are these posters telling me that radius really does not know what NA has asked them to remove?

      NA is within their legal rights in anycase. Their goofey EULA explicity alowed this kind of behavior, and US laws back them up. You never really owned it, you just used it. It's unatural, it's wasteful and it's stupid. That's why there is free software.. Drink all the free beer you want, but don't complain about the hangover or the night you spent sobering up in jail, or the little girl you ran over under the influence. The rest of us will tell you how obnoxious you were later.

      --
      DMCA, Hollings, Palladium. What might have sounded like paranoia is now common sense.
  25. That's point by famazza · · Score: 2, Insightful

    That's exactly the point. That's the way it should be. The application does exactly one thing, cryptography, and nothing else. This is the unix way.

    All applications should be responsible for a single task, we have wonderful examples to show us that this modularity is very positive, powerful applications, few bugs, easy customizations.

    OTOH we have only few examples of stable applications that have lots of functionalities, usually hard to customize, adapt to new paradigms and maintaince.

    The idea is keep all development teams independent of each other, by following few, but well defined, standards. That's the way X works, we must choose a window manager, X developers don't need to worry about user interface.

    IMHO this is the way it should be, of course, a tarball/rpm/deb/whatever that packs the application and GUI is a great idea, but much more important then this is the quality of the application

    --

    -=-=-=-=
    I know life isn't fair, but why can't it ever be un-fair in MY favor!?
    1. Re:That's point by Dwonis · · Score: 3, Insightful
      It's still a good philosophy. The problem here is not that the frontend is separate, but that there are few (if any?) frontends.

      That said, using PGP-style crypto properly requires some background knowledge, and I won't be recommending it to the masses until that is addressed (by an interface or otherwise).

    2. Re:That's point by _Sprocket_ · · Score: 3, Insightful


      Grandma doesn't want to have to learn to use cdda2wav, lame, and cdrecord on the command line to "rip, mix, and burn".


      Actually... if Grandma wants to RIP CDs, she uses something like GRIP. This actually continues with the "unix way". GRIP is a GUI frontend that focuses on the interface. It takes advantage of strong components in the background that handle each step well. And Grandma has no idea. She just goes clicky-clicky and everything works. Well.
    3. Re:That's point by ncc74656 · · Score: 2
      Grandma doesn't want to have to learn to use cdda2wav, lame, and cdrecord on the command line to "rip, mix, and burn". She'll just buy a Mac or use Windows.

      She could use EAC and drop a copy of the LAME DLL into the EAC directory. Tweak a few (relatively simple) settings and you have the best Windows-based ripping/encoding setup—and it's dirt-simple to operate. It'd take no more than a page to describe the installation and setup.

      --
      20 January 2017: the End of an Error.
  26. NOT FREE by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    The version hosted on radiusnet was not a freeware version nor public domain, or whatever. It was PGP corporate desktop and other various COPYRIGHTED materials. I visited that sight every month or so for updated versions. Of course, now I use gpgp ;)

  27. Re:careful if you use wget for your websurfing nee by kubrick · · Score: 3, Interesting
    It's unethical. but it's possible to change this. And even if it weren't included in the options, being open source it would be easy enough to change:


    `-U AGENT-STRING'
    `--user-agent=AGENT-STRING'
    Identify as AGENT-STRING to the HTTP server.


    The HTTP protocol allows the clients to identify themselves using a `User-Agent' header field. This enables distinguishing the WWW software, usually for statistical purposes or for tracing of protocol violations. Wget normally identifies as `Wget/VERSION', VERSION being the current version number of Wget.

    However, some sites have been known to impose the policy of tailoring the output according to the `User-Agent'-supplied information. While conceptually this is not such a bad idea, it has been abused by servers denying information to clients other than `Mozilla' or Microsoft `Internet Explorer'. This option allows you to change the `User-Agent' line issued by Wget. Use of this option is discouraged, unless you really know what you are doing.


    --
    deus does not exist but if he does
  28. Re:wait.. by corebreech · · Score: 3, Interesting

    That's the thing. NAI ain't selling PGP anymore.

    Makes you wonder who's running NAI.

  29. I've got it by Apreche · · Score: 2

    I've still got the installer for the newest version of free PGP for windows. If anyone wants it.

    --
    The GeekNights podcast is going strong. Listen!
  30. Ugly reality of proprietary software by Ogerman · · Score: 2

    Well, first off, this really isn't a problem seeing as how the superior (and open) GnuPG is available to all. (And yes, there are GUIs available.)

    On the other hand, it's a scary look at how copyright with regards to software has apparently evolved into 'information control' instead of right to have a copy. How many proprietary software EULA's include a clause that XYZ company may terminate the license at any time? If I'm not mistaken, that means that someone like M$ or Adobe can walk into any office in the US that uses their software and shut them down at their own whim. And is there even a legal framework for forcing a refund? So lawyers or law experts, what you say about this?

    If this is all true, you RMS bashing folks in the crowd ought to give the 'all proprietary is evil' ideology another mental run-around before something else like this comes around and bites you. How long before we need a "War on Proprietary Software"? (-:

    1. Re:Ugly reality of proprietary software by josh+crawley · · Score: 2

      Well, technically, GNU software is proprietary. All that means is someone owns it. Company software (like MSWindows) is Trade secret, proprietary, and liscensed software. GPL stuff is STILL OWNED. By whom, you ask? Anybody who contributes to the code base.

      Say, a company goes to Linus and offers to buy an exclusive linux kernel for X dollars to him for unlimited liscense. OK. All he has to do is get an UNANIMOUS vote from EVERY DEVELOPER(lest that be thousands of lines of code, or a simple 1 liner) a YES to allow that liscense.

      Effectively, GPL locks out companies from using thier code directly.

    2. Re:Ugly reality of proprietary software by MAXOMENOS · · Score: 2

      Effectively, GPL locks out companies from using thier code directly.

      On the contrary: the GPL allows any company to use the licensed code. They just can't re-release it under a non-GPL license.

      As an interesting twist, this means that IBM has a say in whether LInux goes proprietary. I leave as an exercise for the reader to determine whether this could pose a problem later.

  31. To do list by corebreech · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I know gnupg has made some very big strides in this area, but clearly, now is the time to devise a framework upon which popular encryption is allowed to survive PGP.

    The point isn't whether the geeks can do it. The point is whether some poor, persecuted soul in some totalitarian country, like -- um, you know -- can click a button and send an email out of the country or to his best friend, securely.

    Clearly we would like to see front-ends developed for all the popular email applications that can accept code implementing any kind of encryption scheme whatsoever, and encryption algorithms that can fit into any popular email application available.

    If somebody comes up with a new encryption algorithm, they shouldn't have to write code to support Evolution, Eudora, Outlook Express, so forth and so on.

    Likewise, somebody should be able to write a front-end for a email application according to a specific API and expect to see every available encryption algorithm thus far implemented available from within that email application.

    And of course, it all needs to be open source. If anything needs to be open source, it is this.

    gnupg is great, but it presumes a single algorithm, doesn't it? Wouldn't it be much better to make it easier to introduce new algorithms into the mix? Put yourself in the position of the GS-7 analyst sitting in Virginia who has to run all these decipher jobs. If he gets to *assume* that the encryption being used is pgp-style, his workload is modest, he just needs to feed the file to the program.

    But if he first has to figure out what algorithm is being used, suddenly his job becomes many orders of magnitude harder. Especially if there are hundreds if not thousands of algorithms out there, each and every one available to the common man for his use.

    I know we're not supposed to rely on obscurity for encryption, but that presumes your only interest is in protecting a single channel of communication. If your interest is in protecting *all* channels of communication, obscurity becomes viable. Something as trivial as taking the output of gnupg and exclusive-or'ing with a Erica Rose Campbell jpeg would add another - if - statement to the NSA's decryption code. Add another 100 jpegs every day and very quickly the NSA's job becomes very, very hard.

    I never liked PGP. They zip before encrypting, and I could never get an answer from Zimmermann as to whether or not the checksum survived the zip. If the checksum survives, all the NSA has to do is unzip every try at an encrypted file and see if the checksums match. Strip out the checksum, and their job becomes much harder. The checksum needs to go.

    1. Re:To do list by dvdeug · · Score: 2

      gnupg is great, but it presumes a single algorithm, doesn't it?

      No. Everything's done by pluggable modules, and there are several choices of algorithm.

      But if he first has to figure out what algorithm is being used, suddenly his job becomes many orders of magnitude harder.

      It becomes n times harder, where n is the number of algorithms. Assuming, of course, that each of those algorithms is equally secure. In practice, there are a handful of algorithms that have been pounded hard enough to believe secure. Many other algorithms, especially those done by an untrained amature, will fall apart under the hands of a decent cryptoanalyist. It's much better to double your key length then to try and make choice of algorithm part of the encryption. (GPG includes the algorithm choice in plain text due to this principle.)

    2. Re:To do list by corebreech · · Score: 2

      I'll take your word for gnupg's pluggability, since no mention seems to be made of it in the documentation... but I'll read it again.

      However...

      I think you miss the point regarding the value of increasing the number of algorithms. The complexity increase is not n times but rather n factorial. Algorithms can be applied in daisy-chain fashion upon other algorithms. Even a trivial algorithm works here.

      Yes, a decent cryptoanalyst will tear apart a trivial algorithm, but how many decent cryptoanalysts are there? More than the number of people who can choose any combination of installed algorithms via point-and-click?

      No.

      Again, we've been trained to think about this as a problem of protecting a single channel. All of that is still valid, for that one specific problem. The problem of how to get the NSA to give up this travesty of a cause is quite another, and it is realizable only by demonstrating to them the impossibility of the problem they are attempting to solve.

      For instance, does gnupg allow me to plug in a one-time pad as an encryption algorithm? I don't think so. The gui I'm envisioning would. Yes, there are practical considerations in the use of the one-time pad, but once those are met, the resulting communication is impervious to cryptoanalysis, regardless of the technology the NSA is wielding.

      For instance, two friends at graduation who are going their separate ways, agree to rip a CD using /dev/random, make a copy, and use those 680MB to encrypt the emails they send to one another... for life. Very cool, very doable... very unbreakable.

      Get enough people doing that, along with people using the encoder rings they got in their box of Cap't Crunch, and rot13, and all the trivial extensions of all the serious encryption algorithms and the NSA will be swimming in complexity... a kind of complexity they can't easily leverage their hardware to tame.

    3. Re:To do list by dvdeug · · Score: 2

      The complexity increase is not n times but rather n factorial

      A complexity increase that can disappear in an instant, and comes at the cost of using a good algorithm.

      Algorithms can be applied in daisy-chain fashion upon other algorithms.

      Which, in some cases, will render them worthless as they counteract each other.

      Yes, a decent cryptoanalyst will tear apart a trivial algorithm, but how many decent cryptoanalysts are there?

      If you don't want to keep it from a decent cryptoanalyst, why bother using serious encryption in the first case?

      For instance, two friends at graduation who are going their separate ways, agree to rip a CD using /dev/random, make a copy, and use those 680MB to encrypt the emails they send to one another... for life. Very cool, very doable... very unbreakable.

      I don't know how many years it would take to get 680MB from /dev/random, but it isn't going to be quick. In any case, who cares? Add a patch to GPG to do this, but don't think there will be many users.

      the NSA will be swimming in complexity... a kind of complexity they can't easily leverage their hardware to tame.

      I would be surprised. One good algorithm used by the people they want to watch would give them trouble. A thousand lousy ones will merely make their jobs more interesting - "hey, look, here's another idiot using MD4. Haven't seen that in a while."

    4. Re:To do list by MikeBabcock · · Score: 2

      Your basic problem, pointed out many times, is that you're applying the _wrong_ math to the problem.

      Cryptanalysis isn't random probabilities from discrete 101 ... its large number theory (in most cases) and usually uses direct analysis, not trial and error.

      --
      - Michael T. Babcock (Yes, I blog)
  32. Whats funny... by f0rtytw0 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Whats funny is originally PGP was released for free on the internet at a time when encryption software had heavy export restrictions. Being released for free on the internet was what made it so popular.

    --
    this is the most important sig ever! In your face 446154!
  33. Re:Haiku! by corebreech · · Score: 2, Funny

    nsa retards
    are fucking with my freedom
    and i pay these guys!

  34. The nicer looking response... by Dogcow · · Score: 5, Informative

    ---------- Forwarded message ----------
    Date: Wed, 22 May 2002 14:41:59 +1000 (EST)
    From: Grant Bayley
    To: Declan McCullagh , R. A. Hettinga ,
    Meyer Wolfsheim , peter_beruk@nai.com
    Subject: Re: NAI pulls out the DMCA stick.

    Hi Declan, others.

    The hype being generated by the "NAI pulls out the DMCA stick" postings and the spectre of PGP being "removed from the Internet" is entirely bogus, and provably so with a little bit of fact checking.

    Looking through the Google cache, it becomes very clear very quickly that crypto.radiusnet.net was hosting a copy of the commercial version of the software - not a copy of the PGPi (aka freeware) version of the PGP product. Given that this is the case, NAI is well within their rights to demand the removal of the files.

    You can confirm this in the Google Cache, here:

    http://216.239.33.100/search?q=cache:QA-H5VtPvP4 C: crypto.radiusnet.net/archive/pgp/+&hl=en

    Keep in mind that of the couple of crypto/security archives out there, the radiusnet one is basically the "abortion" of the bunch. It's disorganised and out of date in so many places as to be dangerous.

    By "crypto/security archives", I'm referring to Wiretapped (www.wiretapped.net, which I operate), munitions.vipul.net, the zedz.net archives (ftp://ftp.zedz.net/) and Packetstorm (www.packetstormsecurity.org).

    If this is the straw that breaks the radiusnet camel's back, I for one won't be complaining, if only because of the old and out of date material
    on the site. In the case of tools that perform a security function using crypto (IPSec, ssh etc), being updated is critical, as a number of the older versions of the software have contained serious security problems.

    Grant

  35. Uh, use Kazaa and grokster for privacy? huh? by Cecil · · Score: 2, Informative

    Have none of you heard of gnucleus? gnutella, free, spyware-free, open source?

    Uh, unless you like spyware while you're installing encryption software. riiight.

  36. Ho Hum Lunix Lunix Lunix by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The subject line here should be: Free Software Advocates shoot their mouth off without checking the facts.

    Over 100 posts, and only one or maybe two have hit the nail on the head - the site was posting commercial, proprietary software. Not free software in whatever sense you like to use the term. Not open source either.

    Please guys, get your facts right before posting.

    Whoops - I forgot - this is Slashdot.

    Home of irresponsible adhocratic journalism...

  37. Re:wait.. by BrookHarty · · Score: 4, Interesting

    We tried to buy a site license at work. We needed something that would plug into Outlook Exchange and work with everyone inside and outside the company. But after NAI killed PGP, we tried GPG but there was no plugin for Outlook Exchange (client).

    Good product, lots of people wanting to buy it, and no alternative program. If someone came out with a windows office plugin, maybe they could make/start a software company.

  38. Another proof for how right RMS is by Baki · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Richard Stallman was (once again) criticized by some of the slashdot crowd today in this article, about being pedantic, purist, impracticle etc. PGP/GPG is an excellent example of RMS being pedantic and purist, and rightly so.

    RMS and the FSF have always been refusing to use PGP, because of its license. They have been critiziced along the same lines for this, since PGP was "free in a practical sense" i.e. free as in free beer, even though it had been written by "good guy" Phil Zimmermann. Today we may be glad that the FSF refused to use PGP, started to write GPG as soon as the RSA patent expired (i.e. as it was legally possible to write a clone without infringing on patents).

    1. Re:Another proof for how right RMS is by MAXOMENOS · · Score: 4, Informative

      Work on GnuPG was proceeding well before the patent on RSA expired; GnuPG uses a completely different algorithm (ElGamal, which uses discrete logs) for public-key encryption. ElGamal was technically covered by the Diffie-Hellman, but that expired in 1997. Click here for a brief description of ElGamal.

      That having been said, I agree with you whole-heartedly that RMS's hard-headedness about PGP is our saving grace. Thankfully, we now have a PGP replacement that is just as effective, if slightly less user-friendly right now, as the original; and which is also useful for commercial enterprises (unlike the "free" version of PGP).

  39. Haven't I Seen This Somewhere Before? Oh well... by krmt · · Score: 3, Interesting

    First they came for the Amiga, and I did not speak out because I was not an Amiga user.

    Then they came for Be, and I did not speak out because I was not a Be user.

    Then they came for Blender and I did not speak out because I was not a Blender user.

    Then they came for PGP, and I was thankful that someone had spoken for me.


    Many thanks to the GnuPG developers.

    --

    "I may not have morals, but I have standards."

  40. Are you trolling? by rjh · · Score: 5, Informative
    Really. You're painfully uninformed.

    If somebody comes up with a new encryption algorithm, they shouldn't have to write code to support Evolution, Eudora, Outlook Express, so forth and so on.

    They don't. RFC2440 (plus RFC2015, 3156, etc.) are extensible; they support a broad variety of algorithms and are designed to support future algorithms. RTFFAQ.

    Likewise, somebody should be able to write a front-end for a email application according to a specific API and expect to see every available encryption algorithm thus far implemented available from within that email application.

    Microsoft CAPI provides just this. GPG Made Easy (GPGME) also makes it almost trivial to incorporate crypto support into your application. (ObDisclosure: I'm working on C++ bindings for GPGME, so I'm biased.)

    gnupg is great, but it presumes a single algorithm, doesn't it?

    RTFFAQ. OpenPGP supports more algorithms than you can shake a stick at. For instance:
    • IDEA
    • 3DES
    • CAST5-128
    • Blowfish
    • Rijndael/AES-128, -192, -256
    • Twofish
    • RSA
    • El Gamal
    • DSA


    Wouldn't it be much better to make it easier to introduce new algorithms into the mix?

    No. In fact, I personally dislike the fact that most PGP implementations (including GnuPG) support so many algorithms. Every implementation must support 3DES, and y'know, 3DES has a twenty-five year track record of turning brilliant cryptanalysts into burned-out alcoholic wrecks. Anyone who wishes to use AES256 for "security" is missing the point--the most trusted algorithms aren't the latest sexy things. The most trusted algorithms are the ones which are older than God and uglier than a Soviet worker's housing bloc.

    If he gets to *assume* that the encryption being used is pgp-style, his workload is modest, he just needs to feed the file to the program.

    The analyst is already going to know what algorithms you're using. The way you plan these things is to assume the analyst has access to tens of thousands of times more computing power than exists in the world, tens of thousands of times more memory than exists in the world, knows you better than your wife does, and knows every last detail of your cryptosystem except what your key is.

    Assuming anything else is absolute folly.

    And yes, I am a cryptographer.

    Especially if there are hundreds if not thousands of algorithms out there, each and every one available to the common man for his use.

    There are three symmetric algorithms I would trust my deepest secrets to. IDEA, 3DES and Blowfish. AES isn't on that list (won't be for another couple of years while peer review shakes out). If I'm a professional in this field, and out of the literally thousands of different symmetric block ciphers proposed over the years I can only find three which I recommend without hesitation, and the other 997+ range somewhere between interesting-but-flawed and fatally stupid, I really doubt that you--a layman with no experience whatsoever--will be able to intelligently choose the three good ciphers out of a field which consists, mostly, of spectacularly bad ones.

    Something as trivial as taking the output of gnupg and exclusive-or'ing with a Erica Rose Campbell jpeg would add another - if - statement to the NSA's decryption code

    Please go read this book: Codebreaking, by Rudolf Kippenhahn. You have a critical misunderstanding of how cryptanalysis works. It doesn't work by a series of "try this, then try that, then try..." It works by looking for redundancies, patterns, in data and then creating a mathematical model which can recreate those same redundancies and patterns. If you're XORing with a JPEG, you're not going to be making it appreciably harder to break. There's a lot of mathematical order in a JPEG.

    I would bother responding to your last comment about why PGP is "weak", but really, it's clear that you're talking through your hat. I can believe that you're utterly clueless, or I can believe that you're trolling. If the latter, then HAND, IABT. If the former, then please go off and read up on the subject.

    I'd suggest starting with David Kahn's The Codebreakers, from there Rudolf Kippenhahn's Codebreaking, then Schneier's Secrets and Lies. Only then start to work on Applied Cryptography and the Handbook of Applied Cryptography.
    1. Re:Are you trolling? by rjh · · Score: 3, Informative

      It's absolutely clear that you're on crack. Sorry, but I don't have time to waste getting trolled. Look at my prior response. The answers you want are in there.

      Barring that, you could do something daring (gasp!) like, oh, reading the published literature. Somehow, though, I don't expect you've done any of that.

    2. Re:Are you trolling? by corebreech · · Score: 2

      OK, I see /. truncates messages, it's happened to my reply (first time I've seen it happen to me) and it happened to your message. I'm particularly interested in how you were going to finish the following sentence:

      I would bother responding to your last comment about why PGP is "weak", but really, it's c

      Again, I was making a big deal about the checksum appearing in the zip file that PGP creates before encrypting.

      You don't think that's a problem?

    3. Re:Are you trolling? by dvdeug · · Score: 2

      I don't see one-time pads listed there. The one algorithm that is provably undecipherable and it's not available to me.

      You're a programmer; that's a program for a first-year student. There's so many possible formats for a one-time pad - I can't imagine a generic program that would support your CD-ROM idea. Given how insecure one-time pads are, if not used carefully, and how much a PIA they are to use, if used carefully, I really don't see the point in such an addition to GPG.

      If the NSA wants to decrypt any one of these, they can.

      There's no evidence they can break 3DES or Blowfish.

      But if everyone were to adopt this kind of approach, the NSA would not be able to routinely decrypt our messages.

      They would be able to decrypt any message they wanted to; half the time they would just feed them to a computer, the computer would run the top 50 trivial algorithms, and spit out the answer.

    4. Re:Are you trolling? by ZanshinWedge · · Score: 2
      Um, no, they aren't. They're good for public-key and symmetric encryption, but, despite what you learned at the university, public-key and symmetric aren't the only choices available.

      I'd like to plug in a one-time pad, if that's OK with you. Utterly unbreakable. I like that. OpenPGP doesn't seem to easily support that.

      Umm, call me crazy but I think that one-time-pads are a form of secret-key symmetric cipher. I'm fairly sure the RFC is sufficiently flexible to allow such a thing.

      Otherwise, the rest of your post is just garbage. Weak but "unknown" algorithms do not provide security, even millions of them. Only strong algorithms provide security. If you really want to make the NSA fume then use RSA with an 8192-bit key, yeah they ain't gonna bust that one for a good long while if they don't have the private key.

    5. Re:Are you trolling? by cowbutt · · Score: 2
      I can't imagine a generic program that would support your CD-ROM idea.

      You could always run your data through cdencrypt before you PGP/GPG it. ;-)

    6. Re:Are you trolling? by Coolfish · · Score: 2

      you're complaining that PGP doesn't implement one time pads. This is all one needs to see that you're completely full of crap.

    7. Re:Are you trolling? by corebreech · · Score: 2

      No, not at all.

    8. Re:Are you trolling? by corebreech · · Score: 2

      You're a programmer; that's a program for a first-year student.

      Actually, a small child flipping a coin can implement the algorithm, but that isn't my point. The one-time pad is the only algorithm that can be said to be absolutely secure provided the pad can be exchanged reliably. That makes it ideal for certain applications.

      There's so many possible formats for a one-time pad - I can't imagine a generic program that would support your CD-ROM idea.

      Are you kidding? All you would need to do is save an index value somewhere. When encrypting a message, exclusive-or the message with the random data on the CD at that index value, then increment the index value by the amount of data encrypted for the next use. Vice versa when decrypting. Very simple.

      Given how insecure one-time pads are, if not used carefully, and how much a PIA they are to use, if used carefully, I really don't see the point in such an addition to GPG.

      You're grossly exaggerating the insecurity here. Unless you have every password you use memorized, you have some written down somewhere or stored in some device. The risk of using a one-time pad is the same, provided you've securely exchanged the pad in the first place (no big deal.)

      There's no evidence they can break 3DES or Blowfish.

      Yes, of course the NSA will announce when they've broken 3DES or Blowfish.

      They would be able to decrypt any message they wanted to; half the time they would just feed them to a computer, the computer would run the top 50 trivial algorithms, and spit out the answer.

      Yes, that works for 50 trivial algorithms. What I'm talking about is allowing novice users to create any number of trivial algoritms, and to combine any number of same together with stronger algorithms to create a truly impossible job for the NSA. It wouldn't be 50 tries they'd have to do, it'd be more like 10,000 factorial.

    9. Re:Are you trolling? by corebreech · · Score: 2

      Umm, call me crazy but I think that one-time-pads are a form of secret-key symmetric cipher.

      You're right of course, I've gotten in the habit of regarding one-time pads as being in a class of their own. Something about their being the only kind of crypto that will survive quantum computing.

      But I guess it doesn't say that in the textbook.

      Otherwise, the rest of your post is just garbage. Weak but "unknown" algorithms do not provide security, even millions of them.

      Clearly, you haven't read anything I've written. Either that or you're a idiot. Don't feel bad, there are lots of idiots here, you're in good company.

      The point to the trivial encryption algorithms isn't that they'd pose a challenge individually to the NSA, but rather, when taken together, they'd pose an enormous logistical problem for them... one that would probably be insurmountable.

      The trivial algorithm could always be applied on top of a more robust one.

      The trivial algorithm would have to be something that could easily be created by a novice, by being able to select from a list of thousands of prepackaged trivial algorithms perhaps, and then chaining them together so that the number of tries required by the NSA computer would be on the order of 10,000 factorial, say.

      Think of it as insurance. The NSA may not be able to crack some of these more robust algorithms, but then again, they just might. All of you are looking at this from the point of view of cryptographers. I'm looking at it from the point of view of somebody who is running thousands of jobs a day trying to decrypt a steady stream of traffic assigned to them.

      Whatever. If you don't get it by now, there's no use. You'll just have to wait for the textbook.

    10. Re:Are you trolling? by dvdeug · · Score: 2

      That makes it ideal for certain applications.

      Not many. Virtually invincible and practical beats the heck out of invicible and clumsy for most.

      You're grossly exaggerating the insecurity here.

      Not really. If you loop over, breaking the code is trivial. If your noise algorithm really wasn't that great after the first few bytes (and /dev/random quite possibly isn't), breaking the code is trivial.

      Yes, of course the NSA will announce when they've broken 3DES or Blowfish.

      Civilian cyrtographers been working on block-algorithms like DES and Blowfish for many years now; even with the advance in knowledge and technology since DES was created, we still can't easily break DES. The only way we can think of to break it would take very expensive hardware that no civilian has. Given what we know about DES and DES-like algorithms, Blowfish or 3DES, given a secure password, can't be broke by any means known to man; all cracking algorithms would take longer than the expected lifetime of mankind. And if there were a shortcut, then the NSA would be moving the government away from DES and Blowfish-like cyphers; but they aren't.

      Unless you're completely paranoid, the only reasonable guess is that they haven't cracked 3DES or Blowfish. And if you are, then I'd worry about the orbital mind-control lasers first.

      What I'm talking about is allowing novice users to create any number of trivial algoritms,

      95% of those algorithms aren't going to make cracking it any harder. Ceasar cyphers and the like don't change the enthropy of the message. Furthermore, they don't stack; they merge, meaning two of the algorthms make just another trivial algorthim of the same type. Worse yet, if you let novice users create encryption algorithms, some of them will mangle their data beyond recovery.

      You can't just stack a bunch of trivial algorithms on top of each other and get a good algorithm. What you get is a trivial algorithm, and likely a trivial algorithm that is known and simple. And if you let novices at it, quite likely a trivial algorithm that doesn't work.

    11. Re:Are you trolling? by Coolfish · · Score: 2

      and how sir are you going to DISTRIBUTE the one time pads? Encrypt them with something else and then send them? Lemme guess, you'd encrypt them with ROT12 instead of ROT13. and how would you tell the person that you've encrypted them with that? You'd probably say "I've encrypted with this ROT13............. (-1 !! - please don't look at this bad guys!) "

      you have no idea what a one time pad is, how it works, and the major problems associated with it. it's no wonder it's not in PGP because implementing it securily and efficiently would be next to impossible.

  41. Re:DMCA or plain copyright? by gilroy · · Score: 3, Insightful
    Blockquoth the poster:

    Are the letters "DMCA" more scary or something?

    That's it, exactly. Copyright law (pre-DMCA) has a long, detailed history in the courts. There are lots of precedents, including relatively wide fair-use harbors. The DMCA, while paying lip service to fair use, actually narrows its applicability a lot. But more importantly, no one knows how courts will interpret the DMCA, as few cases have percolated through the system. It's that element of uncertainty that serves as a bludgeon ... many companies would be unwilling to fight tooth-and-nail against a lawsuit if they aren't relatively sure of how the underlying law is going to be interpreted.
  42. Misleading headline by Simon+Garlick · · Score: 3, Informative

    So NAI wants to stop warez distribution of its full commercial (unbuyable or not) registered PGP suite. Perfectly reasonable.

    Good to see the Slashdot editorial team is on the job! Nice work, Timothy!

  43. PGP For UNIX 5.0.2 Retail License Agreement (long) by Wanker · · Score: 3, Informative

    For your reading pleasure:

    -----
    PGP for Unix, Version 5.0.2
    LICENSE COPY OF NETWORK ASSOCIATES PRODUCTS

    (Commercial, Executable Version)

    Copyright (c) 1990-1998 Network Associates Inc., and its Affiliated Companies.
    All Rights Reserved.

    End User License Agreement for PGP for Unix

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  44. Must have been Slashdotted, fine now... by aquarian · · Score: 2

    I just downloaded now, no problem...

  45. /.'ed no, DMCA'd yes by ImaLamer · · Score: 2
    http://crypto.radiusnet.net/archive/pgp/
    Date: Thu, 9 May 2002 13:01:40 -0500
    From: Peter_Beruk@NAI.com
    To: root@radiusnet.net, webmaster@radiusnet.net
    Subject: Network Associates, Inc. DMCA Notice

    [ The following text is in the "iso-8859-1" character set. ]
    [ Your display is set for the "US-ASCII" character set. ]
    [ Some characters may be displayed incorrectly. ]

    DMCA NOTICE OF INFRINGING MATERIAL

    Via Email: root@radiusnet.net; webmaster@radiusnet.net;
    Re: Digital Millennium Copyright Act Notice
    Dear Radiusnet.net
    I am writing on behalf of Networks Associates, Inc. and its affiliated
    companies (collectively, "Network Associates"). As you may know, Network
    Associates is a leading provider of computer software for network security
    and management. Among its business units are such well-known names as
    McAfee, PGP Security, Sniffer Technologies, and Magic Solutions.
    We have learned that Radiusnet.Net is providing access on its system or
    network to material that infringes the copyrighted work of Network
    Associates. In particular, I refer you to the web pages located at
    http://crypto.radiusnet.net/archive/pgp which contains links from your site
    that provide unauthorized copies of NAI proprietary materials, including
    software. The material on this web site infringes Network Associates'
    valuable copyrights.
    Accordingly, Network Associates requests that Radiusnet.Net immediately
    remove or disable access to this infringing material. You should know that
    Network Associates takes its intellectual property rights seriously. By
    bringing this matter to your attention, we hope that Radiusnet.Net will act
    promptly to remedy this problem.
    We have a good faith belief that use of the material described above is not
    authorized by Network Associates, any of its agents, or the law. To the
    best of our knowledge, the information contained in this notification is
    accurate.
    Under penalty of perjury, I am authorized to act on behalf of Network
    Associates. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me at the
    address listed above. You can also reach me by e-mail at
    peter_beruk@nai.com or by phone at +1 301-947-7150.
    Thank you for your anticipated cooperation.
    Sincerely,

    Peter Beruk
    Director, Anti-Piracy Programs

    Peter Beruk
    Director, Anti-Piracy Programs
    Network Associates, Inc.
    Phone: +1.301.947.7150
    Fax: +1.301.527.0482
  46. Re: Hm by rutherford · · Score: 2, Informative

    There are already many good Windows programs for GnuPG. Look at the fine WinPT program which let you encrypt texts with every mail program available. Not as comfortable as a build in program but still easy to use. For key management you can use GPA. In Germany there is already a project which combines all these programs in one windows installable program with a very good documentation: GnuPP. There is also a plugin for Outlook available (not Express).

  47. PGP 6.5.8 CKT is still up with Source by tandoor · · Score: 3, Informative

    Imad's PGP Page

    He's been updating the latest source release of PGP (6.5.8), adding features, and fixing bugs. The latest solid release if Build 08

    Imad is based in Lebanon (so you can guess what he thinks of US IP Lawyers' threats)

  48. backward OS by Erris · · Score: 2
    OS backward compatibility usually takes care of this, especially for such simple command line utilities. I have tools last compiled a decade ago.

    Oops, Linux don't do that.

    It's very difficult to maintain compatibility with a backward OS, just ask the folks at Wine. =:>

    The original poster is correct about things shifting under PGP. If you have not noticed, M$ is killing netscape style pulgins. This is only one example, many other things shift under M$. Have you seen M$?s new ASCII? Ever been frustrated when a print method shifted, forcing you to cut and paste your old program's output to some new piece of shit to print? Ever had a Printman that did not include ASCII box characters so that text art was broken? These are subtle ways of breaking old tools. You should expect more overt measures in the future from a company who's web sites refuse entry based on user-agent not Internet Exploder.

    Also, you are a troll about old aplications not running. Debian has a an old libraries package that prommises to take care of problems. I would not know, because I've never had a problem like that.

    Most "simple" utilities can be written as scripts that conform to standards for shells much older than 10 year old Linux. Awk, sed, cp, mv, how long have these names been around doing what they always do? Why bother to compile something that just calls reasonable tools for you? I suppose you could compile simple utilities like that if you 1)Don't have many tools so you can remember exaclty what they do without looking at the source, 2)Don't care to ever change what that utility does or how. Strangly enough, the only place that might be true is in an environment that lacks useful utilities to begin with, forcing you to compile substitutes of your own that can't be ported. Backward Compatible is right on target there.

    --
    DMCA, Hollings, Palladium. What might have sounded like paranoia is now common sense.
  49. Encryption as a Basic Right by raahul_da_man · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It's about time that encryption was recognised as a tool to keep governments from spying on private citizens. The idea is that Goverment should have the power to spy on its citizens, but not that is should spend all of its time and resources doing so.

  50. /dev/random isn't where you get it. by dmaxwell · · Score: 2

    I don't have anything to say at the moment about the larger issues being debated in this thread but I do have something to say about random number sources. If I wanted to fill a CD with good random numbers /dev/urandom is not how I would go about it. The quality of /dev/urandom is reasonable as uses bits of fluff like the delay between keypresses and chatter from the device drivers to create an "entropy pool" to seed a pseudorandom algorithm with. The problem is that it is slooooowwww. Most goings on in a normal desktop PC are very very ordered and deterministic. The few that aren't represent a very small amount of entropy.

    All of this means that the process that is generating your iso is going to see short bursts of data inbetween long periods of entropy gathering. That CD will probably take hours at least to generate. Also I said the quality of the data is "reasonable". If one means to keep the government or a well heeled corporate attacker out of the cyphertext it may not be good enough. Even the non-deterministic processes in a PC likely have a fair amount of order in them. In other words, that entropy pool is probably good enough to make a 2048 bit assymetric key. It probably wouldn't do for a 650MB iso. The longer the string of numbers, the more likely hidden order can be found.

    The way I would is to sample the output of a white noise generator. The output of the ADC is then used to seed a good pseudorandom algorithm. The reason why we use the white noise as a seed is to obliterate any bias in the data caused by such factors as the slew rate, bandpass of the analog circuitry making the white noise or any subtle imperfection that may exist in the ADC. A reverse biased transistor is one source of analog noise. This would be a high speed generator of quality random numbers. The speed would only be limited by the clock rate of the ADC or rate at which the PC can process the output.

  51. Read you PO by MountainLogic · · Score: 2
    1. GRANT OF LICENSE. [snip]... If this Software Product was purchased in some other manner than as a retail product, the license may have a term commencing on the Delivery Date of a Product and continuing for an extended period of time as otherwise ndicated in your purchase order or as set forth in a separate and complementing Software License Agreement to which this End User License agreement is subject to. [emphasis mine]

    If you write a PO that says you want only a three year license you get what you pay for.

  52. A better reason to switch to GnuPG by return+42 · · Score: 2

    NAI no longer publishes their source code. Backdoors? "Trust us", they say. "Fuck that", I say.

  53. Not quite. by mindstrm · · Score: 2

    NAI killed the PGP line of their products because it wasn't making any money.

    The government did not object to PGP being released; they objected to PGP being exported, and zimmerman got shit for it, and although it's unfortunate, he WAS in violation of federal export control laws regarding munitions. Yes, those laws were rediculous and unenforceable, but they pre-dated pgp by quite a number of years.

    NAI's pgp for windows is excellent. The eudora plugin works almost perfectly (automatic decryption seems to not work at all for me.. anyone know about this?). It has good keyserver and key management functions, and supports x.509 certificates as well.

  54. Re:How does your ultra-obscurity go with usability by corebreech · · Score: 2

    Yes, the recipient would have to know how you've encrypted the message, and if that information is included in the header it makes the scheme worthless. The encryption being used would have to be agreed upon out-of-band. I don't see that as being as onerous as everybody thinks it will be. It's nice that there is a way to encrypt messages to people you've never met, but I have no need to communicate securely with people I don't know.

    When I want to send information securely, it is to somebody I know, who've I've met, who I talk to over the phone, etc. Maybe it's source code, contract negotiations, sweet nothings in her ear.

    It seems to me that we are losing a lot by buying into only a few algorithms. We're putting all our eggs in one basket, so to speak. If these ciphers are breakable, then we're allowing the NSA to automate all of their cryptoanalysis!

    I disagree that this would have to be popular in order to be effective. Or, maybe it depends on what you mean by popular. If the ability is widespread and some number -- even if it is only in the hundreds say -- are using the software, then the NSA has to code for it, right?

    A lot of things have to be done right. The software has to have a very easy-to-use interface that generates the algorithm. This algorithm then has to be representable as a number that can then be communicated to the desired addressee who then can enter that number into her system and associate it with email coming from you.

    Again, the algorithm being used here can sit atop something more robust, like triple-DES, so it wouldn't be easy to crack at all, or at least, no easier than cracking triple-DES, so there is a security factor that can be advertised here... noone need shy away from this approach because it isn't strong.

    What we're doing now is giving the NSA a very focused point of attack. By getting everybody to use as many different encryption standards as possible, we promote the demise of Echelon-like activities.

    Think of obscurity as something that sucks for an individual application, but which scales really really well. After a certain point, it becomes overwhelming. Yes, the NSA will still be able to target specific messages, but this business with sweeping through everybody's traffic in due course is effectively finished.

  55. Lawyer: NO!!! by hawk · · Score: 2
    I am a lawyer, but this is not legal advice. If you need that, then go pay for it!



    > To try is to never gain a "meeting of the minds", an absolute pre-requisite to contracts.


    NO! The "meeting of the minds" is frequently repeated by many, including some lawyers and some textbooks, but it's just plain WRONG.


    The standard is objective, not subjective. The validity of the contract is determined *entirely* from the provable circumstances, not what anyone thought they were doing.


    Also, as long as I'm at it, boilerplate statements that the boilerplate can't be changed, and written contracts that prohibit oral modifications, range from tricky to flat out invalid. The oral change to the contract changes and sets aside the no oral changes rule . . . "no unauthorized person may change" isn't overrriden by a purported change by an unauthorized person, but there might not be an offer and acceptance (the actual rule), or the contract may be other than intended . . .


    hawk, esq