DTI Policy Response
Brown, R Ken
brownrk1 at texaco.com
Tue, 28 Apr 1998 09:56:17 -0500
Carl Ellison[SMTP:cme@cybercash.com] wrote:
>So what happens when I send you a block of random numbers, base64 encoded?
>Do I get put on the rack until I reveal the key?
If we are suspected of heinously using public key cryptography then *I* must
get put on the rack, not you, because they will think that you used my
public key to encode them. And when I give them my decyphering key (I hate
the idea of torture, prison, or even serious inconvenience - no macho posing
about having to unwrap my dead and twisted fingers from my smkking Psion)
and they can't make head or tail of your message they will come back for
more...
So anyone who thought that they were likely to be the subject of a serious
criminal investigation involving cryptography, or who wished to send genuine
incriminating material to their friends in encrypted form, or who just
wanted to bugger up GCHQ would be well advised to mail all their friends
and a random smattering of others (including at least a dozen MPs) with a
mixture of random and encrypted material. So when the cops got round to the
17th message (the one which really did contain the plans for the Great
Cement Van Robbery) they wouldn't have any way of knowing that the key the
recipient had given them was false or not, because the previous 16 had also
returned gibberish.
> jAH5Ph4UkSBcAaDWkSfJqIqpRphC1QMGUWp7RVpkUuaw/JoqKd7c0Ooxo6sQIe6S
> nc9WkxL1o46/MkoCfjFkGct3+5XDo50OWJgclXXAtF9iZH6U0x4ncITNJBYuAcYh
> GQIxfOP03GylMBjGmz1JrSVG488oZlNhMlE4xk1aYf4wE0XOhsTGclO53keoPQCv
> xUhTNDq23L3g6MWRYIZt70VeHj7H4OZx7PIah4V6eoxDICtGAEpL5RCZswGo87TK
> ta6fM5LDKPMqOSVdzcJF/Bsl+OD6HaB00Mwip4tc2hhzUwifde1xzZxFqmEzBUL8
> GGn00V++5fYSzzCLbQRgBglWx1SMGEBtx3ZaUv5Emaqr3a5MdqnXIvFn/BW9XGvZ
> JgH4vKJiehzrzTjPy6Lm6h2Ij4TAdlqDqe7KzT7NPyYB7+N+ONuY/PB4GJeEgNLd
> NojgJR3hpz+0RVeqrcA+q2lDN9oTthvYQKqT8yoXJE3BRFCKDcR0ri80xwx3u14u
> B1MYGKUlSRCs8T+RB5r1mrxS+EgLGyY9hFiaqx/8/g8967be7ch2nvFJES2K8+eQ
> FQ0KBusbMmGAl+c4puxokxolar+hHrOSI17t2g0KAUhr7N7929TsfwuyE0w2WZ50
> 3N4CvdCSfb2FopUpaBRvqg14j0FXjK8IhKrOrIN9UkDmqLxQV1ZzOSVwBBXPAgQ1
> dKExDT1DtEsB+Fukukg67owWczRj67C2EjFu06N1mXBwLUx0PLX8YP+dyXCqJgNS
> NeTyqKtudTUWIWwmrhaB4i7tk7IxmzYQPnpCIfNAZpwLL/wbRFMVm3s61YWVzifR
> tSNdOB2pD2NU+v/2yRx4yMvBm6hlhKwexRa2kLr+nfS0wDtrfKV0zrgP0Lqj5du5
> iZhMn85q7eFNhbdbnqELhWTQS3qQBKDLqNPgEr9JqqGaKhKmALeb3IC4wV+vWQ0K
> rf2u+T5/EuKIYKa3lQ6YKjue2xCspCnx+ZCg2vN435fkU51wq4DTuWyR37q/L1Q7
> /AvZQDinP2WMb5R667a8V9C8UcNQ5l0rf6qald8PDQl/50y4Tg5GOjczSN4N6y2+
> xMJHO2I5JeWk48lJiHzVY98ZycYXgSqemI/qJgHlZK8Qh8YHuEFp02Y0WMsqt6X7
> tSva5ULAxX25YIpuBzkNCn0V5tPoC6xr/wFqLoN2jv3AyNxlSRZ/FGxhI1tR3tU1
> ibVY+sdmG83MhQ37/f1VcRa4F92VLH41dFtIEkSCfFiVQmtKOXcwra0oGed7Y1rU
> cRrZAxb+dgtacZIRXN3LIvMVJQW7gv67a3AaXI1PrVwPzHH0dzxtGK8sRhsQunTM
> QzGK3xdGHTgWf/gxTZ82RI==
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGH!!!! The Black Spot!!!!!!!