33 Years of the Digest ... founded August 21, 1981
Copyright © 2014 E. William Horne. All Rights Reserved.

The Telecom Digest for Nov 18, 2014
Volume 33 : Issue 211 : "text" Format
Messages in this Issue:
State Department Targeted by Hackers in 4th Agency Computer Breach (Monty Solomon)
Re: Apple Pay Gives Glimpse of Mainstream Appeal for Mobile Payments (rvh40)
More Federal Agencies Are Using Undercover Operations (Monty Solomon)
Re: 81% of Tor users can be de-anonymised by analysing router information, research indicates (David Clayton)
FBI still demanding back doors to encryption (Bill Horne)
Re: Lost Key? Copies From the Cloud (Neal McLain)
"chipped" car keys, was:Lost Key? Copies From the Cloud (danny burstein)
article: "Opposition to net-neutrality protections shows network owners' hypocrisy" (HAncock4)

I agree with you that in politics the middle way is none at all.  - John Adams

See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details.

Date: Sun, 16 Nov 2014 21:00:47 -0500 From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> To: telecomdigestsubmissions.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: State Department Targeted by Hackers in 4th Agency Computer Breach Message-ID: <AFEF46DD-1E41-4E26-AFD8-300FE58A5BEB@roscom.com> State Department Targeted by Hackers in 4th Agency Computer Breach The agency was forced to temporarily shut down its unclassified email and public websites after the attack on its computer systems. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/17/us/politics/state-department-targeted-by-hackers-in-4th-agency-computer-breach.html
Date: Sun, 16 Nov 2014 16:12:07 -0500 (EST) From: rvh40@insightbb.com To: telecomdigestsubmissions.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Re: Apple Pay Gives Glimpse of Mainstream Appeal for Mobile Payments Message-ID: <1404874727.10530265.1416172327864.JavaMail.root@insightbb.com> ***** Moderator's Note ***** > "Mister Horne, I see here that on December 15 in the year 2024 you > paid almost five-hundred dollars to an establishment known as the > 'Pot Shop' in Denver, Colorado. Were you buying cookware?" Long before 2024, large-scale corporate agriculture will drive the price of marijuana down to roughly the price of a pack of cigarettes today. Other than the legal prohibition, there really is no reason for pot to cost very much. That prohibition is going away. Legalization votes will be on the ballot everywhere possible in order to drive young people to the polls in 2016. Unless there is severe inflation/devaluing of the USD, five hundred dollars will buy a LOT of marijuana in ten years - and you won't have to go to Colorado to get it. But yeah, I get your point. As Mr. Ellison famously stated: "You have no privacy anyway - get over it!" ***** Moderator's Note ***** But I will be buying a frying pan for a camping trip! Honest! Bill Horne Moderator
Date: Sun, 16 Nov 2014 20:59:18 -0500 From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> To: telecomdigestsubmissions.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: More Federal Agencies Are Using Undercover Operations Message-ID: <504FFB1B-2237-4D12-8759-4059462E19DE@roscom.com> More Federal Agencies Are Using Undercover Operations Once largely the domain of the F.B.I., undercover work has increased across federal agencies as policies have changed, according to officials, former agents and documents. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/16/us/more-federal-agencies-are-using-undercover-operations.html
Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2014 09:03:54 +1100 From: David Clayton <dc33box-usenet2@NOSPAM.yahoo.com.au> To: telecomdigestsubmissions.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Re: 81% of Tor users can be de-anonymised by analysing router information, research indicates Message-ID: <pan.2014.11.16.22.03.50.777218@NOSPAM.yahoo.com.au> On Sun, 16 Nov 2014 10:52:08 -0500, Monty Solomon wrote: > 81% of Tor users can be de-anonymised by analysing router information, > research indicates > > > http://thestack.com/chakravarty-tor-traffic-analysis-141114 > Interesting, comparing the timing and size of packets entering the Tor cloud with those leaving and then determining a probable match on a statistical sample. Of course the Tor network could then be modified to do something like pad packets with a random number of extra bytes to break that correlation, and also add some random latency to further reduce the statistical certainty of this method. -- Regards, David. David Clayton Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Knowledge is a measure of how many answers you have, intelligence is a measure of how many questions you have. ***** Moderator's Note ***** Security, like spam prevention, is an arms race. Bill Horne Moderator
Date: Sun, 16 Nov 2014 17:56:43 -0500 From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> To: telecomdigestsubmissions.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: FBI still demanding back doors to encryption Message-ID: <20141116225643.GA11077@telecom.csail.mit.edu> Crypto Wars II In this month's edition of Crypto-Gram, the ever-trenchant Bruce Schneier (who coined the term "Security Theater" to describe the TSA) has a little fun debunking son-of-clipper-chip claims by the FBI that amount to a demand for a back-door in all encryption protocols. - - - - - FBI Director James Comey again called for an end to secure encryption by putting in a backdoor. Here's his speech: There is a misconception that building a lawful intercept solution into a system requires a so-called "back door," one that foreign adversaries and hackers may try to exploit. But that isn't true. We aren't seeking a back-door approach. We want to use the front door, with clarity and transparency, and with clear guidance provided by law. We are completely comfortable with court orders and legal process -- front doors that provide the evidence and information we need to investigate crime and prevent terrorist attacks. (rest snipped) I'm not sure why he believes he can have a technological means of access that somehow only works for people of the correct morality with the proper legal documents, but he seems to believe that's possible. As Jeffrey Vagle and Matt Blaze point out, there's no technical difference between Comey's "front door" and a "back door." http://www.schneier.com/crypto-gram-1411.html -- Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my email address to write to me directly)
Date: Sun, 16 Nov 2014 18:58:00 -0800 (PST) From: Neal McLain <nmclain.remove-this@and-this-too.annsgarden.com> To: telecomdigestsubmissions.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Re: Lost Key? Copies From the Cloud Message-ID: <c8a7c6bd-4257-45d0-874e-81e35dec848a@googlegroups.com> On Sunday, November 16, 2014 5:21:55 PM UTC-6, Wes Leatherock wrote: > > Monty Soloman wrote: > > Lost Key? Copies from the Cloud > > > A company is placing kiosks in New York-area 7-Eleven stores that will > > allow people to make car keys without having to go to a car dealer. > > > > ***** Moderator's Note ***** > > > This has little to do with telecom, but I've been making do with a > > single car key for years, and I sometimes think it's the best way to > > prevent locking my key in the car. I make it a habit to look at the > > key in my hand before I close the door! > > > I could get a copy made, but I can't stand the thought of paying > > over $200 to do it. So, and if anyone finds a car key attached to a > > car remote control ... > > > Bill Horne > > Moderator > > The TV stations here in Oklahoma City have been running warnings in the > last day or two to make sure you never have your keys where they can > be photographed by anyone else because crooks can have your keys > duplicated this way and use them to break into your house or steal > your car. > > Wes Leatherock > wleathus@yahoo.com > wesrock@aol.com If it's an electronic car key a photograph isn't going to be enough to make a working duplicate. I found this out when I had a key to my Ford Windstar copied at a hardware store. It opened the doors just fine, but it wouldn't start the engine. I ended up paying $200+ to have a duplicate made at a Ford dealer. I assume the key has some sort of RFID transponder embedded in the handle. Neal McLain
Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2014 14:01:31 +0000 (UTC) From: danny burstein <dannyb@panix.com> To: telecomdigestsubmissions.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: "chipped" car keys, was:Lost Key? Copies From the Cloud Message-ID: <m4cv3r$29d$1@reader1.panix.com> In <c8a7c6bd-4257-45d0-874e-81e35dec848a@googlegroups.com> Neal McLain <nmclain.remove-this@and-this-too.annsgarden.com> writes: >If it's an electronic car key a photograph isn't going to be enough to make a >working duplicate. I found this out when I had a key to my Ford Windstar >copied at a hardware store. It opened the doors just fine, but it wouldn't >start the engine. I ended up paying $200+ to have a duplicate made at a Ford >dealer. >I assume the key has some sort of RFID transponder embedded in the handle. Indeed, that's often the case with modern car keys. But it turns out there's a cheaper alternative to get dupes. Our own car uses a similar key. The local dealer used to charge $45 for a dupe, which was annoying, but not too horrendous. An independent key shop had a sign that they could now do "smart car keys" so I asked them, but they wanted... $125 or so. - Friends of mine using keys from other companies tell me horror stories of that $200 fee you described. However... there's an alternative for at least some of these. To my amazement Wal-Mart, in the automotive section, has a key duping service. They had a price of (something like) $35 listed for "smart keys". I had them copy my car key and it almost... worked. (The ridges didn't quite cut exactly right so it worked ok, in one position..., for the ignition and could be jiggled, again in just one position, for some of the doors). They said the one I brought in was a bit worn and that if I could find a cleaner one, so to speak, they'd try again. (No charge for the bad one). So... while some people don't like Wal-Mart, I'd suggest that it's a-ok to dislike your car dealer for taking advantage of you and for you to try the cheaper alternative. -- _____________________________________________________ Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded]
Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2014 07:09:38 -0800 (PST) From: HAncock4 <withheld@invalid.telecom-digest.org> To: telecomdigestsubmissions.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: article: "Opposition to net-neutrality protections shows network owners' hypocrisy" Message-ID: <c48f655c-6776-480e-b97f-c798f8593efd@googlegroups.com> An article in the Philadelphia Inquirer comments the issues of regulating large carriers of internet traffic. The writer seeks the FCC to declare Internet service to be a "telecommunications service" under the law the agency has enforced for the last 80 years. He seeks protections under what is being called Title II. for full article please see: http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20141116_Opposition_to_net-neutrality_protections_shows_network_owners__hypocrisy.html My knowledge is limited on these issues, but this writer's arguments seem to make a great deal of sense, and he seems to explain the issues well.

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