cyph3rPunk

Spies used to meet in the park to exchange code words, now things have moved on - Robert Miles explains the principle of Public/Private Key Cryptography

note1: Yes, it should have been 'Obi Wan' not 'Obi One' :) note2: The string of 'garbage' text in the two examples should have been different to illustrate more clearly that there are two different systems in use.

Slides - https://authress.io/l/codemotion

Conference: Codemotion Madrid 2023 https://talks.codemotion.com/why-you-...

Can someone recommend a more secure method? I've been told many times that using git for secret management would present a potential vulnerability.

Video-Based Cryptanalysis

Kevin Mitnick (RIP) visits Google's NYC office to discuss his book "Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures as the World's Most Wanted Hacker" with Eran Feigenbaum, Google's Director of Security for Google Apps. This event took place on August 17, 2011, as part of the Authors@Google series.

Kevin Mitnick was the most elusive computer break-in artist in history. He accessed computers and networks at the world's biggest companies--and however fast the authorities were, Mitnick was faster, sprinting through phone switches, computer systems, and cellular networks. He spent years skipping through cyberspace, always three steps ahead and labeled unstoppable. But for Kevin, hacking wasn't just about technological feats-it was an old fashioned confidence game that required guile and deception to trick the unwitting out of valuable information.

Driven by a powerful urge to accomplish the impossible, Mitnick bypassed security systems and blazed into major organizations including Motorola, Sun Microsystems, and Pacific Bell. But as the FBI's net began to tighten, Kevin went on the run, engaging in an increasingly sophisticated cat and mouse game that led through false identities, a host of cities, plenty of close shaves, and an ultimate showdown with the Feds, who would stop at nothing to bring him down.

Ghost in the Wires is a thrilling true story of intrigue, suspense, and unbelievable escape, and a portrait of a visionary whose creativity, skills, and persistence forced the authorities to rethink the way they pursued him, inspiring ripples that brought permanent changes in the way people and companies protect their most sensitive information.

Secret texts buried in a picture of your dog? Image Analyst Dr. Mike Pound explains the art of steganography in digital images.

DEFCON 31: August 10, 2023 - August 13, 2023 in Las Vegas, NV

In the early 1990s, a group of mathematicians, misfits, hackers, and hobbyists calling themselves "the cypherpunks" came together around a shared belief that the internet would either demolish society's artificial walls or lay the groundwork for an Orwellian state. They saw cryptography as a weapon against central planning and surveillance in this new virtual world.

The philosophical and technical ideas explored on the cypherpunks' widely read email list, which launched in 1992, influenced the creation of bitcoin, WikiLeaks, Tor, BitTorrent, and the Silk Road. The cypherpunks anticipated the promise and the peril that lay ahead when the internet went mainstream, including new threats to privacy and the possibility of building virtual platforms for communication and trade that would be impervious to government regulators.

In this video I explore an elaborate cryptographic internet puzzle orchestrated by a mysterious individual or group known as Cicada 3301.

Puzzle: The puzzle I hid in this video has been solved.

Soft White Underbelly interview and portrait of Gummo, a computer hacker from Jacksonville, Florida.

Here’s a link to a follow up interview with Gummo: Black Hat Hacker-Gummo (follow up)

Here's a good laugh. A stupid man interviews the "#1 ethical hacker in the world".

Cool projects are rare. Here I found one I want to show to you. An off-grid personal communicator. It includes a lot of new technologies: ESP32, Smartphones, LoRa, BLE, GPS, Mesh, and as you see, 3D printing. And it solves a problem that could be seen as a human right: Personal SMS style communication everywhere in the world, without the need for any infrastructure, and without mass surveillance. In addition, it shows the location of all your friends in your group on a map on your Smartphone. Everything open source, of course. How cool is that? Even "Sexycyborg" Naomi Wu likes it. I am a proud Patreon of GreatScott!, Electroboom, Electronoobs, EEVblog, and others.

Quantum computing will bring tumultuous change to the world of information security in the coming decade. As multi-qubit systems use quantum algorithms to slice through even 4096-bit PK encryption in seconds, new Quantum Encryption will be required to ensure data security. Join Konstantinos for a look at real world experiments in Quantum Key Distribution that BT and partners have recently performed that show what the future of encryption will look like. Remember the panic after Heartbleed when SOME passwords needed to be changed? Imagine a day when ALL communications are at risk of eavesdropping via Quantum Computers - a day when only new systems that exploit the weirdness of quantum mechanics can ensure privacy.

The Ace has returned with yet another Cyber Tech Tool review! Today we look at the Flipper Zero, a portable multi-tool for pentesters and hardware geeks that comes in the form of a tamagotchi. This hardware opens up the world of radio protocols, access control systems, hardware, and more to what was previously a niche security industry. Flipper Zero, on the other hand, is not some magical Watch Dogs-inspired hacking device that will allow you to control traffic lights, security cameras, or ATMs to give you money. It has very limited capabilities and is primarily intended for light pentesting and a gentle introduction to the world of sub-frequencies.

my first impressions of qubes os the reasonably secure operating system

John Perkins describes the methods he used to bribe and threaten the heads of state of countries on four continents in order to create a global empire and he reveals how the leaders who did not “play the game" were assassinated or overthrown. He brings us up to date about the way the economic hit man system has spread from developing countries to the US, Europe, and the rest of the world and offers a strategy for turning this around. “Each of us," he says, “can participate in this exciting revolution. We can transform a system that is consuming itself into extinction into one that is sustainable and regenerative."

John's books, including The New Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, have sold over a million copies, spent more than 70 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists, and are published in more than 30 languages. As Chief Economist at a major consulting firm, his experiences advising the World Bank, UN, IMF, U.S. government, Fortune 500 corporations, and heads of state convinced him to devote his life to facilitating changes in social, political, and economic systems, as well as in general consciousness. He was founder and CEO of a highly successful alternative energy company and is a founder and board member of Dream Change and The Pachamama Alliance, nonprofits dedicated to creating a sustainable, just, peaceful, and thriving world. John's courage in writing his books and speaking out against his former bosses exemplifies the courage shown by our Founding Fathers and Mothers when they stood up to the British Empire. Like them, John defied threats and bribes and took action.

it gets interesting here

The real-world Jason Bourn is Pete Buttigieg.

perhaps we can come up with a way to pipe this to make it more fed friendly.

If the police can spy on us, we can spy on them. Legally, that is.

and here’s how that channel recommends hardening an android phone: https://youtu.be/mlW6I5Kuj6c

How do you prove something without giving away all your data? Zero Knowledge Proofs could hold the answer. Alberto Sonnino, Research Student at UCL explains.

Further reading.

Zero Knowledge technology holds the key to true privacy by default.

In this report, we examine the future of voting and the possibility of conducting secure elections online. Specifically, we explore whether End-to-End Verifiable Internet Voting (E2E-VIV) systems are a viable and responsible alternative to traditional election systems.

This report contains the most complete set of requirements to date that must be satisfied by any Internet voting system used in public elections. Developed by a team of experts in election integrity, election administration, high-assurance engineering, and cryptography, the report starts from the premise that public elections in the U.S. are a matter of national security.

• Report for Non-technical Audiences

• Complete Rreport

• Usability Study

I think a utxo blockchain makes perfect sense as an application for this homomorphic encryption technology for use in democratic voting, and subsequent verification, and security of the vote (to protect the voter from intimidation after the fact).

In my opinion, the main problem behind blockchain voting comes when a centralized power (like the US for example) wants to understandably use their own national currency in CBDC form (digital currency) as the oil in that machine. It's a dilemma because decentralized, open source technologies must be used for a system like this to truly be secure and independently-verified.

This one answer to that question has been ringing through my head for a couple of days.

• The right to solidarity, i.e. all should be allowed to partake in solidary action during a strike.
• The right of initiative and right to recall.
• The right to free software, or freedom from proprietary software.
• The right to a third place, i.e. ready access to physical spaces that allow for socializing with strangers.
• Freedom from eviction (mainly wrt rent strikes and squatting.)
• The right to democratic education.
• The right to cross borders.
• The right to be forgotten.
• The right to purpose, or freedom from meaningless labor. This includes the right to an employee fund.

And there are of course other things. I just think that under the world's current paradigm, these, at least individually, seem relatively attainable without a literal revolution.

Perhaps we might talk about how we might guide society toward these things using technology.