Breaking the NSA

If you really want to test NSA.  Encrypt some crypto code
with pgp in an overseas public key(IE: non-us) then email the
code to someone out of the us.  This way you will find out 1 of 2
things.
       1.  That pgp is unbreakable by the NSA
          - Rsa with fairly log keys take so much work the nsa
            cant crack it with huge computers.  This is a good
            thing

          - Idea, even though it is new, is a secure algorithm
            for the above reasons

          - You wont get in trouble as you are only sending
            random bits out of the country not code

       2.  PGP is BREAKABLE by the NSA (OUCH!)
          - You get in deep shit!


      or

       3. PGP is breakable by the NSA but they dont tell anyone! (HMMM)

	  - Well this would be an interesting one!

	  - Since they are the ones that imposed the ITAR rule in the
            first place (them or the us gov) they have a prob!  If
            they knew you were exporting crypto because they cracked
            pgp they could not convict you as that would imply they cracked
            pgp and they would tell the whole world what they can &
            cannot crack.  It would be a big bummer for RSA and IDEA
	    but at least we`d know!


			T

The NSA will not tell anyone if they can break RSA or IDEA.
Read the Codebreakers; they went through all sorts of contortions to
not let the Japanese know we had broken Purple.

	They may send the IRS, EPA, and other agencies after you to
harrass you, but they wouldn't tell you just because you sent code out
of the country.

	Alternately, they'll bug your computer, and claim thats how
they broke things.

Adam


| If you really want to test NSA.  Encrypt some crypto code
| with pgp in an overseas public key(IE: non-us) then email the
| code to someone out of the us.  This way you will find out 1 of 2
| things.

|        3. PGP is breakable by the NSA but they dont tell anyone! (HMMM)
| 
| 	  - Well this would be an interesting one!
| 
| 	  - Since they are the ones that imposed the ITAR rule in the
|             first place (them or the us gov) they have a prob!  If
|             they knew you were exporting crypto because they cracked
|             pgp they could not convict you as that would imply they cracked
|             pgp and they would tell the whole world what they can &
|             cannot crack.  It would be a big bummer for RSA and IDEA
| 	    but at least we`d know!

On Dec 8, 11:31am, DNA wrote:
> If you really want to test NSA.  Encrypt some crypto code
> with pgp in an overseas public key(IE: non-us) then email the
> code to someone out of the us.  This way you will find out 1 of 2
> things.

[...]

I am told that a similar trick was tried by some people back in the
early 1980's, when they were trying to figure out if the NSA could
indeed break DES.  There was no official response to these attempts.

						Ian.

On Thu, 8 Dec 1994, Ian Farquhar wrote:

> I am told that a similar trick was tried by some people back in the
> early 1980's, when they were trying to figure out if the NSA could
> indeed break DES.  There was no official response to these attempts.

Or then again, maybe the people involved suddenly had the last 10 years
or so of their tax returns scrutinised; maybe they were denied social
benefits; etc.

-- 
Dave Horsfall (VK2KFU) | dave@esi.com.au | VK2KFU @ VK2AAB.NSW.AUS.OC | PGP 2.6
Opinions expressed are mine. | E7 FE 97 88 E5 02 3C AE  9C 8C 54 5B 9A D4 A0 CD

> 
> On Thu, 8 Dec 1994, Ian Farquhar wrote:
> 
> > I am told that a similar trick was tried by some people back in the
> > early 1980's, when they were trying to figure out if the NSA could
> > indeed break DES.  There was no official response to these attempts.
> 
> Or then again, maybe the people involved suddenly had the last 10 years
> or so of their tax returns scrutinised; maybe they were denied social
> benefits; etc.
> 
Or then again maybe they were chopped up in little pieces and are buried
in a hefty-sinch sack somewhere in the Nevada desert.  Or maybe they were
forced to watch an endless stream of bad T.V. sitcoms like T.J. Hooker
until thier brains melted and ran down the sides of thier faces.  Or
maybe they just commited suicide becuase they just couldn't deal with
all of the guilt...

<<I shudder to think of the possibilties...>>

-- 
Joe N. Turner		Telecheck International
turner@telecheck.com    5251 Westheimer, PO BOX 4659, Houston, TX 77210-4659
compu$erv: 73301,1654	(800) 888-4922  *   (713) 439-6597

> "Ian Farquhar" <ianf@sydney.sgi.com> writes:
> I am told that a similar trick was tried by some people back in the
> early 1980's, when they were trying to figure out if the NSA could
> indeed break DES.  There was no official response to these attempts.

When I ported Adventure (the original 350-point version) to Unix in 1976 I
used a light interrupted-key Vigenere-like encryption on the database.  I
heard through a circuitous route a little later that some of the players
at NSA had found it easier (or perhaps more fun) to solve the database
than to solve the game.

In the next version (abt 1978) I used DES on the database (yes, I know
somebody could disassemble it and find where I left the key, but that's
not terribly trivial either for a program that size).  I never heard back
one way or the other whether they'd hacked it again.

	Jim Gillogly
	19 Foreyule S.R. 1994, 02:50