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Computer Undergroud Digest Vol. 06 Issue 86
Computer underground Digest Sun Oct 2, 1994 Volume 6 : Issue 86
ISSN 1004-042X
Editors: Jim Thomas and Gordon Meyer (TK0JUT2@NIU.BITNET)
Archivist: Brendan Kehoe
Retiring Shadow Archivist: Stanton McCandlish
Shadow-Archivists: Dan Carosone / Paul Southworth
Ralph Sims / Jyrki Kuoppala
Ian Dickinson
Urban Legend Editor: E. Greg Shrdlugold
CONTENTS, #6.86 (Sun, Oct 2, 1994)
File 1--GPO Puts Congressional Bills Online
File 2--A Summary of Electronic Gov't Info for California
File 3--LA Daily News article on "Outlaw Hackers"
File 4--Response to LA Daily News Article
File 5--Three More (of 100) Reasons to Oppose Wiretap Proposal
File 6--Cu Digest Header Information (unchanged since 10 Sept 1994)
CuD ADMINISTRATIVE, EDITORIAL, AND SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION APPEARS IN
THE CONCLUDING FILE AT THE END OF EACH ISSUE.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 30 Sep 1994 17:42:21 CDT
From: Policy <manage@ACCESS.DIGEX.NET>
Subject: File 1--GPO Puts Congressional Bills Online
NEWS RELEASE - U.S. Government Printing Office - no. 94-9
For release: immediate Contact: John Berger
September 27, 1994 202-512-1525
Internet e-mail
John@eids06.eids.gpo.gov
GPO PUTS CONGRESSIONAL BILLS ONLINE
The U.S Government Printing Office (GPO) now has all
Congressional Bills available online. The Congressional Bills
database contains all published versions of House and Senate bills
introduced since the start of the 103d Congress.
The Congressional Bills database joins the official Government
versions of the Congressional Record and the Federal Register that
have been offered in electronic format over the Internet through the
GPO Access service since June 1994.
The Bills database is updated by 6 a.m. each day bills are
published. Bills are available as ASCII text files and in Adobe
Acrobat Portable Document Format (PDF) file format. Users with
Acrobat viewers will be able to display and print typeset page
facsimiles.
The Federal Register and the Congressional Record are available
online by 6 a.m. and by 11 a.m. e.s.t. daily, respectively. Documents
in the Register and Record databases are available as ASCII text files
with all graphics in TIFF file format.
Organizations or individuals may subscribe directly from GPO for
each of the three databases for $35 per month, $200 for 6 months, or
$375 for 1 year for a single workstation. Special 2rates are
available for multiple workstations.
Information about how to subscribe to the Congressional Bills,
Record, or Register databases is available by calling GPO at
202-512-1530 or by fax at 202-512-1262. Internet E-mail should be
sent to help@eids05.eids.gpo.gov.
Users with full Internet access and local WAIS client software
will be able to receive both ASCII text and all graphics as individual
TIFF files or PDF files in the Congressional Record, Congressional
Bills, and Federal Register databases. This is the first time that
both text and graphics have been made available electronically via an
online service. GPO's customized WAIS client software, a
user-interface program specifically designed for GPO's application, is
available from GPO for $15.
Those who do not have full Internet connections can access ASCII
text files, but not the PDF files or graphics, by using a phone modem
to dial directly into GPO without additional software. These
subscriptions provide for unlimited use for a stand alone workstation
or an individual SWAIS user ID.
The Congressional Bills and the Record and Register databases are
also available for free electronic searches to walk-in patrons of many
of the Nation's 1,400 depository libraries under a "GPO Access"
program authorized by law and launched in June 1994. The Depository
Library System includes academic, public, law, and Federal libraries.
There is at least one Federal depository library in every
Congressional district.
The Superintendent of Documents is the official source for the
sale of information published by more than 100 Federal agencies.
Approximately 12,000 books or documents, 600 periodicals, and a
growing number of CD-ROMS, diskettes, and online services are
available.
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 01 Oct 1994 07:24:26 -0700 (MST)
From: Where's that dongle? <Joel_M_Snyder@OPUS1.COM>
Subject: File 2--A Summary of Electronic Gov't Info for California
The California Senate is undoubtedly the most advanced legislature in
the United States in the range of services it provides to
Internet-connected users. I've seen a number of fragmented messages
come out over a variety of lists and thought people might be interested
in seeing the whole breadth of services they offer. Using the services
at this site, you can correspond with Senators and their staffs, find
out about pending legislation, subscribe to information services
(including the capability to follow a bill), do full-text searches on
legislative information and more.
1) Incoming Email.
All Senate staffers and Senators are on an internal email system. For
those people to receive email, they have to complete a simple enrollment
process; most folks have done that. You can try and guess someone's
name by using this formula: First.Last@SEN.CA.GOV. For example, if you
wanted to send to Linda Ronstadt, you would send to
Linda.Ronstadt@SEN.CA.GOV.
2) Directory Services.
You can look up email addresses by using the white pages server they've
set up. NOTE: Every user has the option of NOT being listed in this
server! To get to the server, you can:
- use your finger command @sen.ca.gov
- send mail to finger@sen.ca.gov
- use your WWW browser to www.sen.ca.gov
The server accepts the usual sort of fuzzy strings you'd expect a good
server to handle, as well as the following special cases:
- "help" (finger help@sen.ca.gov)
- "senator" - gives you a list of real live senators who
want to receive email addressed to them directly
(as opposed to their staff members)
3) Senator Information Files
If you don't know who your senator is, you can always look it up by
FINGERing your ZIP code. For example, if you lived in Beverly Hills,
you could:
finger 90210@sen.ca.gov
to see who your Senator is.
This server also returns lots of information about each Senator,
including addresses, biography, committees, etc.
4) FTP Server
An FTP server (at FTP.SEN.CA.GOV) is available with information on the
Senate, Senators, and various senate committees and offices (including
the Senate Office of Research, which does a lot of cool reports).
5) Gopher Server
The Gopher server (at Gopher.SEN.CA.GOV) lets you access everything on
the FTP server plus the entire California code and statutes and
constitution, all pending Bills before the legislature, and other Senate
and Legislative information. This server maintains the most
comprehensive set of links to other State legislatures available in
GopherSpace. You can also do full-text searches of the pending bill
files to find bills which might be of interest to you.
6) Senate News service (and mail server)
Senate News is a mail-based service which lets you subscribe to topics
of interest (such as bulletins from senators, committee reports, etc)
and be emailed information (or simply notifications about information)
whenever the system changes. You can also use the mail server to do
bill topic searches and to retrieve bill files. Send an email message
to senate-news@sen.ca.gov with a text of "help" to get the help file for
this.
A new service in Senate News lets you follow a bill as it passes through
the legislature. Once you've identified a bill you're interested in,
you can subscribe to it (through senate-news) and anytime the bill
changes, is analyzed, or has a status change (e.g., voting, vetoes,
etc), you'll get mailed the changes (or a notification of the changes).
7) WWW Server
The WWW server (at WWW.SEN.CA.GOV) is a new service which lets you do
full text searches of bills pending before the legislature, access all
the information available in the Gopher server, and other tasks (such as
white pages lookups). This is slowly being expanded.
There are other services available to internal users, such as a full USENET
news feed and Clarinet news service, but these are not available to
external users.
IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: I speak in no way, shape, or form for the California
Senate Rules Committee. They reserve the right to call me a lyin' bastard
anytime they want. None of this represents a commitment to continue
service from that site. SEN.CA.GOV site does not operate to satisfy the
requirements of any law or budget item. If you want to see what AB 1624
requires, FTP to leginfo.public.ca.gov. If you want this project to be
continued, call your Senator and tell him or her how cool you think
SEN.CA.GOV is!
If you want any advice on the technology or tools used to implement this
service, I'd be happy to talk to you about it (since I did most of the
implementation). If you want to congratulate the person who thought this
up, got the funding, ran the political hurdles, and continues to do the
real hard work, write to Dennis.Miller@SEN.CA.GOV (or call the pro tem in
charge of Senate Rules, Senator Bill Lockyer at 916-445-6671 or c/o State
Capitol Rm. 205, Sacto, 95814). If you have questions about the
legislative process or want to know something about a bill or whatever ...
we don't have anyone to answer those questions; call your Senator (see (2)
above).
jms
Joel M Snyder, 1404 East Lind Road, Tucson, AZ, 85719
Phone: +1 602 324 0494 (voice) +1 602 324 0495 (FAX)
jms@Opus1.COM Opus One
------------------------------
From: CuD Moderators <cudigest@mindvox.phantom.com>
Date: Thu, 29 Sep 1994 21:43:12 CDT
Subject: File 3--LA Daily News article on "Outlaw Hackers"
((MODERATORS' NOTE: The following article first appeared in the Los
Angeles Daily News in early September. Thanks to the LADN for
allowing us to reprint it in its entirety. The following version is
as it was reprinted in the San Francisco Examiner, p. B-12, on Sept 4,
1994. (Thanks also to person who provided the article)).
COPS, OUTLAWS GO ON-LINE: CRIME RISES IN CYBERSPACE:
Spies and thieves prey on national security, public
safety with only a few keystrokes
(c) LA Daily News/By Keith Stone
Los Angeles--"Agent Steal" was captured last week in Westwood, but
computer crime cop Scott Charney knows cyberspace is crawling with
other criminals and spies, some more dangerous.
"The threat is an increasing threat," said Charney, chief of the
computer crime unit for the U.S. Department of Justice. "It could be a
16-year old kid out for fun -- or it could be someone who is actively
working to get information from the United States."
"Agent Steal," the computer alias for Justin Tanner Peterson,
belongs to the growing new breed of digital outlaws who threaten
national security and public safety, Charney said.
In Los Angeles alone, Peterson is one of at least four outlaw
computer hackers who in recent years have demonstrated they can seize
control of telephones and break into government computers.
"We are out of the realm of the theoretical," Charney said.
FOREIGN OPERATIVES' HACKING
Government reports further reveal that foreign intelligence
agencies and mercenary computer hackers have been sneaking through
telephone lines into military and commercial computers.
In Petersen's case, he pleaded guilty to cracking credit bureau
telephones and computers for get-rich schemes. But FBI agents say they
believe he also broke into a computer used to conduct legal wiretaps.
During a telephone interview several weeks before his arrest,
Petersen alluded to the destruction that hackers like himself can
cause with a few keystrokes.
"I wouldn't want the powers I have to be in the wrong hands
--someone with malicious intentions," he said.
Top government officials say it is too late.
Former North Hollywood resident Kevin Lee Poulsen -- known as the
"Dark Dante" -- is awaiting trial in San Francisco on espionage
charges for cracking an Army computer and snooping into an FBI
investigation of former Phillipines President Ferdinand Marcos.
The cases of Poulsen, Petersen and others illustrate how the
stereotypical hacker driven by intellectual challenge and curiosity
is now being replaced by technically sophisticated criminals driven by
greed.
A TERRORIST WEAPON?
"The nature of this changing motivation makes computer intruders'
skills high-interest targets for criminal elements and hostile
adversaries," according to a publicly released version of a Department
of Defense report, "An Awareness Document."
Hired by terrorists, these hackers could cripple the country's
telephone system, "create significant public health and safety
problems, and cause serious economic shocks," the September 1993
Pentagon report adds.
Further, as the world becomes wired for computer networks, the
report says there is a greater threat the networks will be used for
spying and terrorism.
"At least one foreign intelligence service is believed to be
actively engaged in the collection of intelligence through computer
intrusion," the report says, but does not identify the service.
EXTENT OF THREAT QUESTIONED
Some argue the hacker danger is overstated, and that the nation's
telephone system is in more jeopardy from drunken drivers who take out
utility poles or someone who breaks into a switching station.
They say perhaps a greater risk lies in government agencies
exaggerating the hacker problem to justify the creation of overly
restrictive laws.
"Of course there are people who can screw up the networks, and
people who will sell themselves for a packet of comic books --but I
think (the government) greatly overstate the threat," said Northern
Illinois University criminologist Jim Thomas.
"Where I see the danger is when the goals become hysteria, and the
answer, I would argue, is not tighter laws but educating the public
that there are some dangers," Thomas said.
But the government reports give more weight to the potential for
destruction.
The President's National Security Telecommunications Advisory
Committee warned in a 1992 report that "known individuals in the hacker
community have ties with adversary organizations. Hackers frequently
have international ties."
They include some members of the Chaos Computer Club in Germany,
who the Pentagon report says have demonstrated their willingness to
work with foreign governments.
The Chaos Computer Club is believed to have cracked a National
Aeronautics and Space Administration computer and supplied the Soviet
Union's KGB with information obtained from Western military systems,
the
Nationwide, telephone companies and government agencies are
designing new ways to defend against hackers and track down criminals
who do breach the networks.
The FBI recently opened its second computer crime unit in San Jose.
And the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., is adding two more
computer crime specialists to its staff of four, to guide local
federal prosecutors in the war on digital crime.
Pacific Bell spokeswoman Linda Bonniksen said the battle with hackers
is never ending, but with each attack, the company learns and
strengthens the system.
"It is a big house, and we close as many doors as we can, and new
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 2 Oct, 1994 17:22:43 CDT
From: CuD Moderators <cudigest@mindvox.phantom.com>
Subject: File 4--Response to LA Daily News Article
A few weeks ago, I was contacted by Keith Stone, a reporter for the LA
Daily News. Stone was writing a story on the potential of "hackers" to
threaten national security through spying or espionage activities. It
was clear that Stone intended to push the angle of the threat, because
both his questions and his recalcitrance in having some of his
erroneous factual and conceptual errors challenged suggested that he
preferred drama to accuracy.
Stone seemed to be over-inclined to seek out those facts that
corroborated his view of dangerous hackers lurking amongst us, and
less inclined to accept opposing views. For example, he seemed
convinced that the Legion of Doom was plotting circa 1989-1990 to
bring down the nation's E-911 system. A law enforcement agent, he
said, told him so. He insisted on arguing the point, and seemed
impervious to suggestions that either he check his facts or his
sources.
Here's why we object to Stone's story and others like it that
sensationalize the dangers of "computer hackers." State and federal
legislators are gradually introducing legislation based on an
exaggerated threat of computer technology. The Digital Telephony (FBI
Wiretap) Bill (HR 4922) is but one example of how the fear of
technologically sophisticated criminals generates hyperbole to justify
laws and policies that some critics argue reduces Constitutional
protections in cyberspace. We have also noted in past issues of CuD
that such hyperbole finds it way into exaggerated indictments and
other documents in criminal proceedings. Such stories, we judge,
irresponsibly contribute to bad law and judicial injustice.
We also object to such stories because they are simply poor reporting.
Most of the U.S. population has little experience with cyberspace and
the computer culture. When the public obtains its images of cyberspace
from the whatever "Threat of the Month Club" is current, communicating
the benefits (and *legitimate* dangers) of computer technology becomes
more difficult. Whether addressing the dangers of files on anarchy and
explosives, graphic sexual images, pedophilia, hackers, pirates, or
similar topics, most media reflect a tendency toward misrepresenting
the character of participants and inflating the threat to the public.
Although some stories, such as Stone's, often contain an obligatory
dissenting quote, the thrust of the stories remains unbalanced. It is
not that such stories do not conform to some ideal image we'd like to
see, but that they consistently conform to an image that seems "sexy"
or that corresponds more closely to law enforcement views than any
accurate reflection of the topic. More simply, such stories deceive
the reader.
What, specifically, do we object to in the Stone story?
First, the story exaggerates the exploits of such "hackers" as "Agent
Steal" and Kevin Poulsen. There is no evidence we have seen that
either posed any significant threat to U.S. security or public safety.
Nor does Stone report the contents of the indictments, but relies
instead on the self-serving summary of law enforcement personnel. In
fact, one Bay Area reporter chided Stone in print for making a
fundamental error in reporting the charges against Poulsen as pending,
which were dropped (the story will be excerpted in next week's CuD).
In short, Stone typifies that breed of reporters who know little about
the issues underlying many of these cases, and seems to use them
instead as a convenient hook to spin a yarn of their own.
Second, Stone, like some other reporters, raises the spectre of the
"hacker as spy." There has been no evidence that either Poulsen or
"Agent Steal" were involved in espionage, despite the easy transition
Stone makes between it and hacking. It would hardly be a surprise if
computer-wise techies found that espionage pays. No news there. If
phone technicians, CIA insiders, and journalists sell their integrity
along with their expertise, where's the story when somebody else does
it? The story actually would seem that--as far as is publicly
known--this hasn't yet occurred in the U.S.
Notice how easily Stone's prose slides through innuendo:
Government reports further reveal that foreign
intelligence agencies a mercenary computer hackers have
been sneaking through telephone lines military and
commercial computers.
In Petersen's case, he pleaded guilty to cracking credit
bureau telephones and computers for get-rich schemes. But
FBI agents say they believe he also broke into a computer
used to conduct legal wiretaps.
During a telephone interview several weeks before his
arrest, Petersen alluded to the destruction that hackers
like himself can cause with a few keystrokes.
"I wouldn't want the powers I have to be in the wrong
hands -- someone with malicious intentions," he said.
Now, one could say the same thing about a karate expert, the owner of
an Uzi, or a night-action photographer. Misused skills are, by
definition, potentially destructive. The novelty of potential abuse
may strike some as worthy of hyperbole, but the reality is more
mundane. In fact, Stone provides no evidence that there is a growing
cadre of sophisticated "hackers." The bulk of the serious computer
crimes that we have followed in fact aren't the product of "hackers,"
but of computer-literate folk who use the computer (instead of
lockpicks, guns, or fountain pens) to rip-off their victims. It's
possible, of course, that Stone follows the school of thought that
conflates "computer criminal" with "hacker." If so, then it's odd that
he chose two "underground" computer wizards instead of focusing on
some of the more serious computer crime that has occurred in recent
years. We also wonder where Stone obtained his quote from "Agent
Steal." First person? If so, the quote seems deceptively self-serving
to Stone's slant. Because Stone seems willing to rely on information
from Phrack, we wonder why Stone didn't allude to the Phrack interview
in which Agent Steal condemned maliciousness (Phrack 44, File 16). We
also wonder why Stone also failed to include the allegations that
Agent Steal was also employed by the FBI. Given the tenor of the
story, it's unlikely that such an exclusion was impelled by a
commitment to reporting only verifiable facts.
Third, Stone re-discovers the wheel:
The cases of Poulsen, Petersen and others illustrate how
the stereotypical hacker driven by intellectual challenge
and curiosity is now being replaced by technically
sophisticated criminals driven by greed.
It's old news that computer-literate youth violate the law for
avaricious reasons. Computer afficianados, like others, are little
different than anybody else. How about an alternative headline:
"Journalist Cheats on income taxes," with an accompanying story about
how some reporters illustrate how literacy leads to greed-impelled law
breaking? It's a minor point, I suppose, but there's simply nothing
new that these two cases illustrate. My sense in talking with Stone is
that he was relatively unfamiliar with the issues of either case. He
also indicated that he was not on-line, he showed virtually no
knowledge of events or issues that one would expect from a competent
reporter writing on such a topic, and he expressed little desire to
learn. The result is old news wrapped in current hyperbole.
Fourth, the terrorist/espionage threat seems closer to science fiction
than reality. Stone cites several sources for his claim that there is
considerable potential for destruction.
The President's National Security Telecommunications
Advisory Committee warned in a 1992 report that "known
individuals in the hacker community have ties with
adversary organizations. Hackers frequently have
international ties."
They include some members of the Chaos Computer Club in
Germany, who the Pentagon report says have demonstrated
their willingness to work with foreign governments.
The Chaos Computer Club is believed to have cracked a
National Aeronautics and Space Administration computer and
supplied the Soviet Union's KGB with information obtained
from Western military systems....
We're not familar with the report cited, be we are familiar with the
example adduced. Presumably, it refers to Pengo, et. al., the central
characters of Cliff Stoll's _The Cuckoo's Egg_. Had Stone bothered to
read this classic, an inconceivable lapse for somebody writing on
these issues, or had he read the Hafner and Markoff tome (Cyberpunks,
Outlaws, and Hackers), he would likely have had a better grasp than
citing a third-hand source that derived its information from an old
issue of Phrack.
Are we over-reacting to what, is arguably, just another unsurprisingly
simplistic and inconsequential media distortion of the relationship
between computer technology and crime? Perhaps. But the issues such
stories raise are not without consequence. If reporters were to write
about the law, baseball, or the stock market with the same degree of
cluelessness that some approach issues of computer culture, they would
likely be quickly unemployed. There is more accountability for some
topics than others, and stories of cyberspace do not seem to be among
those with high accountability.
Several issues are at stake here.
First, cyberstories, because of their importance in educating the
public, providing information for lawmakers, policy makers, and
criminal justice personnel, and contributing to the shared stock of
social knowledge on which the public comes to understand and adapt to
a new technology and its social implications, should be accurate.
Instead, too many seem relegated to a status somewhere between op-ed
and creative writing.
Second, it is not unreasonable to expect reporters who write on
substantive topics to exhibit at least minimal knowledge of their
subject, or to at least be willing to demonstrate that they have done
their homework before writing a story. Some nationally-known media
reporters have been criticized for their work, and made a demonstrable
effort to educate themselves to the relevant issues. Our hope is that
Keith Stone will spend a bit more time researching if he writes on
similar topics in the future. It is worth noting that Stone, to his
credit, faithfully quoted my comments both accurately and in context.
Unfortunately, they seemed irrelevant to his story.
Third, the media seem to repeat a pattern of recursive reporting: One
medium will pick up a story, then others follow, either with tortured
rewrites from the original or with follow-ups that look for a new and
dramatic angle to emphasize. This is hardly unique to cyberspace
stories, as followers of the OJ Simpson coverage might notice. But, it
does represent a style of journalism that seems to more inclined
toward marketing than toward providing substantive information.
Finally, there are legitimate threats posed by the computer
technology. As with any technology, predators will find a way to
abuse it, and reasoned discussion of these threats is necessary.
Conversely, social accommodation to new technologies, whether in the
form of responses to unacceptable behaviors or in inculcating
appropriate norms and values for accommodating accompanying changes
require accuracy. When the media cry "wolf" too many times, or when
they distort the facts and present skewed images, adapting to cultural
change becomes more difficult.
The intent here is not to single out a single reporter, but rather to
use that reporter as an icon (in the same way that he used his own
subjects) to raise the issue of media coverage. After nearly a
half-decade of highly visible issues, it doesn't seem unreasonable to
expect more reason and less hyperbole in the coverage.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 28 Sep 1994 09:04:55 -0700
From: email list server <listserv@SUNNYSIDE.COM>
Subject: File 5--Three More (of 100) Reasons to Oppose Wiretap Proposal
REASON 9: Privacy is a Basic Concept in Business
REASON 9: The last time such a sweeping change in wiretap law was
considered, AT&T recommended *a ban on all eavesdropping* except
in national security cases.
In 1967, when the federal wiretap law was first debated, a vice
president of AT&T said that the Bell System favored a ban on all
eavesdropping except in national security cases: "Privacy of
communications is a basic concept in our busines. We believe the
public has an inherent right to feel that they can use the telephone
with confidence, just as they talk face to face. Any undermining of
this confidence would seriously impair the usefulness and value of
telephone communications." (Lapidus, Eavesdropping on Trial).
Reason 12- Classification
REASON 12: The FBI has hidden behind claims of classification rather
than disclose information that would allow the public to determine
whether the wiretap plan is needed.
Throughout the debate on the wiretap bill, the FBI has been
unwilling to describe incidents where technology has frustrated a
court ordered wiretap. FOIA requests are routinely denied. Even
those agencies charged with independent assessment cannot speak openly
about the plan. (The General Accounting Office testified at an August
hearing in the Senate: "Because the details of law enforcement
agencies' problems and the specific technological challenges are
classified, I cannot elaborate on them in this hearing"). Secrecy may
be appropriate for military networks and classified systems, it is
hardly well suited to the nation's public communications network.
REASON 24- "Capacity Requirements"
REASON 24:The FBI Wiretap bill allows the Attorney General to
develop monitoring specs
The proposed wiretap law says that the Attorney General will provide
to telecommunications carrier associations and and standard-setting
organizations a notice of "maximum capacity" required to accommodate
all of the communication interceptions, pen registers, and trap and trace
devices that the Attorney General estimates that government agencies
may "use simultaneously." Telecommunications carriers will then be
required to ensure that systems are capable of "expanding to
the maximum capacity." (Proposed section 2603(a))("legal code")
REASON 43:The development of the Digitial Signature Standard (DSS)
suggests that standards developed to facilitate wiretapping
are less robust, and are costly to American business and
individual privacy.
The recent development of the Digital Signature Standard provides a
case study of what happens when an agency with legal authority to
conduct wire surveillance is also given authority to set technical
standards for communications networks. Viewing the role of the
National Security Agency in the development of the DSS, MIT's Ronald
Rivest said "It is my belief that the NIST proposals [for DSS]
represent an attempt to install weak cryptography as a national
standard, and that NIST is doing so in order to please the NSA and
federal law enforcement agencies." Stanford's Martin Hellman
concluded that "NIST's action give strong indication of favoring NSA's
espionage mission at the expense of American business and individual
privacy." (Communications of the ACM, July 1992)
------------------------------------------
What To Do: Fax Rep. Jack Brooks (202-225-1584).
Express your concerns about the FBI Wiretap proposal.
-----------------------------------------------------
100 Reasons is a project of the Electronic Privacy Information Center
(EPIC) in Washington, DC. For more information: 100.Reasons@epic.org.
------------------------------
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 1994 22:51:01 CDT
From: CuD Moderators <tk0jut2@mvs.cso.niu.edu>
Subject: File 6--Cu Digest Header Information (unchanged since 10 Sept 1994)
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End of Computer Underground Digest #6.86
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