Elementrix Press Release

ELEMENTRIX ANNOUNCES REVOLUTIONARY ENCRYPTION
     FOR INTERNET AND ALL DIGITAL COMMUNICATION ANNOUNCED AT
     NETWORLD + INTEROP

POTP Secure Mail, Secure FTP Avoid Limitations of Existing Systems

    NEW YORK, Sept. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Elementrix Technologies, Inc. has
announced a security technology for digital communications based on the
only encryption method which is considered unbreakable.  The method,
POTP (Power One Time Pad) eliminates the weaknesses that allow break-ins
to existing systems.
    Two products which feature this technology, POTP Secure Mail and
POTP Secure FTP were voted the leading security products in the Best of
the Show awards announced at the Networld + Interop Show in Atlanta this
week.  The technology is expected to be a boon to both corporate and
individual users of the Internet and a major step forward for electronic
commerce.
    The products are an automatic implementation of One Time Pad (OTP),
the only encryption which is considered unbreakable.  Prior to the
invention of POTP, OTP was used only in extreme situations where cost
and logistical constraints were not determining factors.  Now POTP(TM)
makes this legendary encryption readily available as a commercial
software package.
    As with OTP, POTP creates keys that are as long as the messages they
encrypt, and are used only once.  But unlike OTP, which requires
extensive key distribution and management, POTP(TM) creates real time:
random keys are created automatically during the communication process.
Therefore, users can instantly send private and sensitive e-mail over
the Internet or other open systems with 'point and click security.'
    "Elementrix has found a logical way to generate non-algorithmic,
dynamically changing keys at two separate sites without transmitting
them on the line and without using parallel lines," said Dr. David Kahn,
the country's leading historian of cryptography and the current visiting
historian at the National Security Agency.
    "Elementrix is well within its rights to call this technology Power
One Time Pad.  I see no way of reconstructing the encryption key," he
said at the press conference announcing the products.
    "POTP represents a paradigm shift in encryption," said Winn
Schwartau, an internationally recognized expert on electronic security
who also spoke at the press conference.  "The fundamental technology is
entirely different from any existing encryption scheme.  This is the
first system I've ever seen that can make the entire Internet secure for
non-expert users."
    Schwartau also noted the importance of the system for corporate
users based on its advantages in the area of key management.
    "The problem with systems that depend on passwords for security is
that the infrastructure required to manage and distribute them is
cumbersome, especially in large organizations," he said.  "POTP
eliminates the need for this infrastructure."
     POTP(TM) technology can be used to encrypt any digital
communication.  This can include data communications, secure telephones,
wireless, satellite, cable TV and virtually any method of modern,
digital communications.  All POTP(TM) products are automatic and
transparent to the user.
    The system addresses a paradox in encryption:  "If the keys are
truly unpredictable then there should be no way for one party to
automatically re-create the same keys that are being used by the other,"
said Isaac Rubinstein, executive vice president of Elementrix
Technologies Inc.
    "However, POTP's dynamically changing random keys are created by a
patent pending method during the communication process itself," he said.
"After the POTP(TM) between the two parties has been initialized -- only
the very first time they communicate -- a One Time Pad process is
executed continuously."
    POTP(TM) is patent pending.  This unique method is fully disclosed
on an individual basis only, through a non-disclosure agreement.  A
select group of encryption and security experts, including Kahn and
Schwartau, have been fully briefed and have endorsed the new technology.
    POTP(TM) Secure Mail carries a very low overhead of less than 1.2%.
Encryption and decryption are very fast and have virtually no effect on
software performance.  The system requires an IBM or compatible computer
with a 386 or higher CPU and 4MB of RAM; a modem or network card; and
any TCP/IP stack for Microsoft Windows.  The software is Windows 3.1 and
Windows 95 compatible.

    Professsional Encryption/Personal Privacy
    In the e-mail package, the entire message including attachments is
encrypted in real time as it leaves the PC.  Messages remain totally
private while stored on the mail server, handled by an Internet
provider, and/or sent over communication lines.  Messages are sent in
standard e-mail format with no need for a special mail server.  Any
standard SMTP/POP3 mail server will handle the messages.
    There is no need for any manual key distribution or management:  no
public and private keys; no master and session keys.  Messages remain
private and cannot be read by anyone, even system administrators.
    The manufacturer's suggested list price for the single user is $245.
A special price of $198 will be available during the product
introduction.

    Elementrix Technologies
    Elementrix Technologies Inc., based in New York City, is a
subsidiary of Elementrix Technologies Ltd., based in Haifa, Israel.  The
parent company is a subsidiary of Elron Electronic Industries Ltd.,
Israel's leading advanced technology holding company.  Elementrix was
founded in January 1994 in order to develop commercial applications for
its POTP(TM) encryption and other security products.

CONTACT: Michael Meric, Fusion TMA, 212-977-4600, fax: 212-265-9684, e-mail:
mmeric@elementrix.co.il, or Maia Aron, VP Marketing, Elementrix,
212-888-8879, fax: 212-935-3882, e-mail: maia@elementrix.co.il

>    "Elementrix has found a logical way to generate non-algorithmic,
>dynamically changing keys at two separate sites without transmitting
>them on the line and without using parallel lines," said Dr. David Kahn,

Obviously they have invented a telepathic key exchange scheme.

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----

Hello cypherpunks@toad.com
  and Ulf.Moeller@hamburg.netsurf.de (Ulf Moeller)

- From the press release:
> >    "Elementrix has found a logical way to generate non-algorithmic,
> >dynamically changing keys at two separate sites without transmitting
> >them on the line and without using parallel lines," said Dr. David Kahn,

Ulf Moeller responds:
> Obviously they have invented a telepathic key exchange scheme.

Actually, when I read the above I thought of Quantum Mechanics, 
but I would expect you'd need special hardware for that.
(In fact I'd expect you'd need special comms lines for that, but
certainly at least the equipment at the two ends.)

Still, who knows what surprises QM can provide?

In which case calling it a "telepathic key exchange scheme" might
be quite appropriate :-)


However, Occam's razor points to cluelessness.

Jiri
- --
If you want an answer, please mail to <jirib@cs.monash.edu.au>.
On sweeney, I may delete without reading!
PGP 463A14D5 (but it's at home so it'll take a day or two)
PGP EF0607F9 (but it's at uni so don't rely on it too much)

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: 2.6.2i

iQCVAwUBMHx7uCxV6mvvBgf5AQEkVAP+NBgn59bOX+ydhcmz2HNSC1k6qdr6Y5xE
bre/zepTJ2h1v+8cSQfJMLNfiA36bBtGxxpPvV09Ojn9KJTZhmvyCtN99VG71DZc
SxL/ji0KnWCFkAT4v2IKSK4vUwAs71GjXeNb9RicrcfIOPc7FAFyJZ9DsGbQUUZ2
eoVsPkde4K8=
=OJs9
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

On Thu, 12 Oct 1995, Jiri Baum wrote:

> Still, who knows what surprises QM can provide?
> 
> In which case calling it a "telepathic key exchange scheme" might
> be quite appropriate :-)

I don't think that's what was meant. After all, using telepathy as a 
secure channel, you'd still need a comm protocol. The last time I checked
protocols and algorithms are one and the same. Since elementrix doesn't use
algorithms, we shouldn't defame them by claiming they've invented secure
telepathy.        

Now wouldn't that be interesting to patent?
(One wonders if elementrix employees occasionally indulge in guilty 
glances at Knuth and Sedgewick without their bosses' knowledge.)

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----

s1018954@aix2.uottawa.ca wrote:

> On Thu, 12 Oct 1995, Jiri Baum wrote:
> 
> > Still, who knows what surprises QM can provide?
> > 
> > In which case calling it a "telepathic key exchange scheme" might
> > be quite appropriate :-)
> 
> I don't think that's what was meant. After all, using telepathy as a 
> secure channel, you'd still need a comm protocol.

Not really, you can use the raw bitstream as OTP. (Which is probably not
enough to warrant calling it a protocol, maybe protocolette :-)

> The last time I checked
> protocols and algorithms are one and the same. Since elementrix doesn't use
> algorithms, we shouldn't defame them by claiming they've invented secure
> telepathy.        

Well, you could claim that what they are using is not an algorithm since
it won't run on a Turing machine. At that stage you probably toss the
Church-Turing thesis out the window and get yourself a proper definition
of "algorithm".

> Now wouldn't that be interesting to patent?

Gives a new meaning to the phrase "subliminal channels" :-)

> (One wonders if elementrix employees occasionally indulge in guilty 
> glances at Knuth and Sedgewick without their bosses' knowledge.)

Well, wouldn't the bosses give them mind-scans to avoid this possibility?

Sorry, I forgot, Psi Corps doesn't allow that.


Jiri
- --
<jirib@cs.monash.edu.au>     <jiri@melb.dialix.oz.au>     PGP 463A14D5

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: 2.6.2i

iQCVAwUBMIMgDixV6mvvBgf5AQEvnQP/dBeNDgbaz23cMhii0yWzDhnAcL+VLmJw
x2x85A35IlSvblSmb647lYj/Bl1k6zpKZkpz+MKrtvh6psy3lTl/tWe2DXzXcoRk
nVwJC5vWCRyVTDMIhRlIoUkbx4QnKVDy1awHWYhIJ4Ssbj6c3G+XPrdvH8LxcSSb
BhxJL63Cp74=
=MDDD
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----