Re: [OB: CRYTO] Re: about RC4

Ryan Anderson wrote:
> On Thu, 13 Nov 1997, Anonymous wrote:
> > > > (And they wonder why we kicked Japan's butt.)

> > > Because they couldn't speak a non-native language perfectly?

> >   No...because they couldn't speak a 'Native' language perfectly.
> > Cherokee!

> Navajo, if I understand what reference you're making. :-)  You are
> referring to the practice of using Navajo Indians for much of the
> top-secret communications during WWII, right?

  Right! It is em-bare-ass'ing to admit that my second 'guess' was
going to be Comanche...
  I'm not too dumb to use a Search Engine, just too lazy.

On Fri, 14 Nov 1997, Anonymous wrote:

> > >   No...because they couldn't speak a 'Native' language perfectly.
> > > Cherokee!
> 
> > Navajo, if I understand what reference you're making. :-)  You are
> > referring to the practice of using Navajo Indians for much of the
> > top-secret communications during WWII, right?
> 
>   Right! It is em-bare-ass'ing to admit that my second 'guess' was
> going to be Comanche...
>   I'm not too dumb to use a Search Engine, just too lazy.

That's not as embarassing as the fact that we're running low on speakers
of Navajo in this country now.  It would be kinda convenient to have that
ability available again.  My gut feeling is that Navajo remains one of the
most poorly documented languages in the world....  government research
(funny name for it, come to think of it) into the language is probably
quite classified....

Ryan Anderson - Alpha Geek
PGP fp: 7E 8E C6 54 96 AC D9 57  E4 F8 AE 9C 10 7E 78 C9
print pack"C*",split/\D+/,`echo "16iII*o\U@{$/=$z;[(pop,pop,unpack"H*",<>
)]}\EsMsKsN0[lN*1lK[d2%Sa2/d0<X+d*lMLa^*lN%0]dsXx++lMlN/dsM0<J]dsJxp"|dc`

At 11:39 PM -0700 11/13/97, Ryan Anderson wrote:

>That's not as embarassing as the fact that we're running low on speakers
>of Navajo in this country now.  It would be kinda convenient to have that
>ability available again.  My gut feeling is that Navajo remains one of the
>most poorly documented languages in the world....  government research
>(funny name for it, come to think of it) into the language is probably
>quite classified....

But the basis of using the Navajo code talkers was classic "security
through obscurity." The U.S. was expecting, quite reasonably, that the
Japanese side would not have any Navajo speakers available (nor that they
Japanese would even figure out _what_ the language was).

The jig is up on using Navajo code talkers, so this particular role is now
history.

And modern crypto doesn't need this kind of code talking.

Finally, there are a couple of Navajo lexicons and dictionaries now
available, so the government has obviously not classified Navajo
scholarship...nor could it.

--Tim May

The Feds have shown their hand: they want a ban on domestic cryptography
---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:----
Timothy C. May              | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
ComSec 3DES:   408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA  | knowledge, reputations, information markets,
Higher Power: 2^2,976,221   | black markets, collapse of governments.
"National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."

Tiny Timmy <tcmay@got.net> writes:
> Finally, there are a couple of Navajo lexicons and dictionaries now
> available, so the government has obviously not classified Navajo
> scholarship...nor could it.

They could try.  The Communist government of Mongolia couldn't come up
with any information worth classifying, so they made the locations of
the dinosaur bones (plentiful there) secret and even executed some locals
for "spying" (revealing to white devils where to dig for dinosaur bones).

Why is this any more silly than "classifying" the A-bomb recipes or
forbidding a college professor to explain crypto in his classroom?

---

Dr.Dimitri Vulis KOTM
Brighton Beach Boardwalk BBS, Forest Hills, N.Y.: +1-718-261-2013, 14.4Kbps