The Cyphernomicon

Description

"The Cyphernomicon" is a document written by Timothy C. May in 1994 for the Cypherpunks electronic mailing list. In a FAQ format, the document outlines some of the ideas behind, and the effects of, crypto-anarchism.[1] It is one of the philosophy's founding documents, advocating electronic privacy and anonymous digital currency. It touches on more esoteric topics, such as assassination markets. It contains May's 1992 essay "The Crypto Anarchist Manifesto" in its entirety. 1. Introduction ..................................................... 13 1.1. copyright .................................................... 13 1.2. Foreword ..................................................... 13 1.3. Motivations .................................................. 15 1.4. Who Should Read This ......................................... 16 1.5. Comments on Style and Thoroughness ........................... 16 1.6. Corrections and Elaborations ................................. 18 1.7. Acknowledgements ............................................. 19 1.8. Ideas and Notes (not to be printed) .......................... 19 1.9. Things are moving quickly in crypto and crypto policy ........ 20 1.10. Notes: The Cyphernomicon: the CypherFAQ and More ............ 20 2. MFAQ--Most Frequently Asked Questions ............................ 22 2.1. copyright .................................................... 22 2.2. SUMMARY: MFAQ--Most Frequently Asked Questions ............... 22 2.3. "What's the 'Big Picture'?" .................................. 22 2.4. Organizational ............................................... 23 2.5. Crypto ....................................................... 32 2.6. PGP .......................................................... 39 2.7. Clipper ...................................................... 40 2.8. Other Ciphers and Crypto Products ............................ 41 2.9. Remailers and Anonymity ...................................... 42 2.10. Surveillance and Privacy .................................... 43 2.11. Legal ....................................................... 44 2.12. Digital Cash ................................................ 46 2.13. Crypto Anarchy .............................................. 47 2.14. Miscellaneous ............................................... 51 2.15. More Information and References ............................. 53 3. Cypherpunks -- History, Organization, Agenda ..................... 55 3.1. copyright .................................................... 55 3.2. SUMMARY: Cypherpunks -- History, Organization, Agenda ........ 55 3.3. The Cypherpunks Group and List ............................... 55 3.4. Beliefs, Goals, Agenda ....................................... 59 3.5. Self-organizing Nature of Cypherpunks ........................ 66 3 3.6. Mechanics of the List ........................................ 66 3.7. Publicity .................................................... 67 3.8. Loose Ends ................................................... 68 4. Goals and Ideology -- Privacy, Freedom, New Approaches ........... 69 4.1. copyright .................................................... 69 4.2. SUMMARY: Goals and Ideology -- Privacy, Freedom, New Approaches .................................................................. 69 4.3. Why a Statement of Ideology? ................................. 69 4.4. "Welcome to Cypherpunks" ..................................... 69 4.5. "Cypherpunks Write Code" ..................................... 71 4.6. Technological empowerment .................................... 72 4.7. Free Speech Issues ........................................... 72 4.8. Privacy Issues ............................................... 73 4.9. Education Issues ............................................. 76 4.10. Libertarian Issues .......................................... 77 4.11. Crypto Anarchy .............................................. 79 4.12. Loose Ends .................................................. 81 5. Cryptology ....................................................... 83 5.1. copyright .................................................... 83 5.2. SUMMARY: Cryptology .......................................... 83 5.3. What this FAQ Section Will Not Cover ......................... 84 5.4. Crypto Basics ................................................ 84 5.5. Cryptology-Technical, Mathematical ........................... 98 5.6. Crypto Programs and Products ................................ 104 5.7. Related Ideas ............................................... 105 5.8. The Nature of Cryptology .................................... 110 5.9. Practical Crypto ............................................ 113 5.10. DES ........................................................ 115 5.11. Breaking Ciphers ........................................... 116 5.12. Loose Ends ................................................. 118 6. The Need For Strong Crypto ...................................... 119 6.1. copyright ................................................... 119 6.2. SUMMARY: The Need For Strong Crypto ......................... 119 6.3. General Uses of and Reasons for Crypto ...................... 119 4 6.4. Protection of Corporate and Financial Privacy ............... 125 6.5. Digital Signatures .......................................... 128 6.6. Political Uses of Crypto .................................... 128 6.7. Beyond Good and Evil, or, Why Crypto is Needed .............. 129 6.8. Crypo Needed for Operating Systems and Networks ............. 130 6.9. Ominous Trends .............................................. 131 6.10. Loose Ends ................................................. 131 7. PGP -- Pretty Good Privacy ..................................... 134 7.1. copyright ................................................... 134 7.2. SUMMARY: PGP -- Pretty Good Privacy ........................ 134 7.3. Introduction ................................................ 134 7.4. What is PGP? ................................................ 135 7.5. Importance of PGP ........................................... 135 7.6. PGP Versions ................................................ 136 7.7. Where to Get PGP? ........................................... 139 7.8. How to Use PGP .............................................. 140 7.9. Keys, Key Signings, and Key Servers ......................... 142 7.10. PGP Front Ends, Shells, and Tools .......................... 146 7.11. Other Crypto Programs And Tools ............................ 146 7.12. Legal Issues with PGP ...................................... 150 7.13. Problems with PGP, Flaws, Etc. ............................. 151 7.14. The Future of PGP .......................................... 153 7.15. Loose Ends ................................................. 154 8. Anonymity, Digital Mixes, and Remailers ......................... 155 8.1. copyright ................................................... 155 8.2. SUMMARY: Anonymity, Digital Mixes, and Remailers ............ 155 8.3. Anonymity and Digital Pseudonyms ............................ 156 8.4. Reasons for Anonymity and Digital Pseudonyms (and Untraceable E- ................................................................. 161 Mail) ............................................................ 161 8.5. Untraceable E-Mail .......................................... 176 8.6. Remailers and Digital Mixes (A Large Section!) .............. 177 8.6.1. What are remailers? ...................................... 177 8.6.2. Cypherpunks remailers compared to Julf's .................. 177 5 8.7. Anonymous Posting to Usenet ................................. 194 8.8. Anonymous Message Pools, Newsgroups, etc. ................... 194 8.8.1. "Why do some people use message pools?" ................... 194 8.9. Legal Issues with Remailers ................................. 195 8.10. Cryptanalysis of Remailer Networks ......................... 198 8.11. Dining Cryptographers ...................................... 201 8.12. Future Remailers ........................................... 202 8.13. Loose Ends ................................................. 204 9. Policy: Clipper,Key Escrow, and Digital Telephony ............... 206 9.1. copyright ................................................... 206 9.2. SUMMARY: Policy: Clipper,Key Escrow, and Digital Telephony .. 206 9.3. Introduction ................................................ 206 9.4. Crypto Policy Issues ........................................ 207 9.5. Motivations for Crypto Laws ................................. 208 9.6. Current Crypto Laws ......................................... 210 9.7. Crypto Laws Outside the U.S. ................................ 211 9.8. Digital Telephony ........................................... 214 9.9. Clipper, Escrowed Encyption Standard ........................ 216 9.10. Technical Details of Clipper, Skipjack, Tessera, and EES ... 217 9.11. Products, Versions -- Tessera, Skipjack, etc. .............. 220 9.12. Current Status of EES, Clipper, etc. ....................... 220 9.13. National Information Infrastructure, Digital Superhighway .. 220 9.14. Government Interest in Gaining Control of Cyberspace ....... 222 9.15. Software Key Escrow ........................................ 223 9.16. Politics, Opposition ....................................... 224 9.17. Legal Issues with Escrowed Encryption and Clipper .......... 230 9.18. Concerns ................................................... 231 9.19. Loose Ends ................................................. 235 10. Legal Issues ................................................... 237 10.1. copyright .................................................. 237 10.2. SUMMARY: Legal Issues ...................................... 237 10.3. Basic Legality of Encryption ............................... 237 10.4. Can Crypto be Banned? ...................................... 243 10.5. Legal Issues with PGP ...................................... 246 6 10.6. Legal Issues with Remailers ................................ 246 10.7. Legal Issues with Escrowed Encryption and Clipper .......... 249 10.8. Legal Issues with Digital Cash ............................. 251 10.9. Legality of Digital Banks and Digital Cash? ................ 254 10.10. Export of Crypto, ITAR, and Similar Laws .................. 255 10.11. Regulatory Arbitrage ...................................... 259 10.12. Crypto and Pornography .................................... 259 10.13. Usenet, Libel, Local Laws, Jurisdictions, etc. ............ 260 10.14. Emergency Regulations ..................................... 260 10.15. Patents and Copyrights .................................... 261 10.16. Practical Issues .......................................... 262 10.17. Free Speech is Under Assault .............................. 263 10.18. Systems, Access, and the Law .............................. 264 10.19. Credentials ............................................... 265 10.20. Escrow Agents ............................................. 266 10.21. Loose Ends ................................................ 267 11. Surveillance, Privacy, And Intelligence Agencies ............... 274 11.1. copyright .................................................. 274 11.2. SUMMARY: Surveillance, Privacy, And Intelligence Agencies .. 274 11.3. Surveillance and Privacy ................................... 274 11.4. U.S. Intelligence Agencies: NSA, FinCEN, CIA, DIA, NRO, FBI 282 11.5. Surveillance in Other Countries ............................ 285 11.6. Surveillance Methods and Technology ........................ 286 11.7. Surveillance Targets ....................................... 290 11.8. Legal Issues ............................................... 292 11.9. Dossiers and Data Bases .................................... 292 11.10. Police States and Informants .............................. 293 11.11. Privacy Laws .............................................. 294 11.12. National ID Systems ....................................... 296 11.13. National Health Care System Issues ........................ 298 11.14. Credentials ............................................... 299 11.15. Records of all UseNet postings ............................ 301 11.16. Effects of Surveillance on the Spread of Crypto ........... 302 11.17. Loose Ends ................................................ 303 7 12. Digital Cash and Net Commerce .................................. 305 12.1. copyright .................................................. 305 12.2. SUMMARY: Digital Cash and Net Commerce ..................... 305 12.3. The Nature of Money ........................................ 305 12.4. Smart Cards ................................................ 308 12.5. David Chaum's "DigiCash" ................................... 308 12.6. Online and Offline Clearing, Double Spending ............... 311 12.7. Uses for Digital Cash ...................................... 313 12.8. Other Digital Money Systems ................................ 315 12.9. Legal Issues with Digital Cash ............................. 319 12.10. Prospects for Digital Cash Use ............................ 323 12.11. Commerce on the Internet .................................. 327 12.12. Cypherpunks Experiments ("Magic Money") ................... 328 12.13. Practical Issues and Concerns with Digital Cash ........... 330 12.14. Cyberspace and Digital Money .............................. 331 12.15. Outlawing of Cash ......................................... 331 12.16. Novel Opportunities ....................................... 333 12.17. Loose Ends ................................................ 334 13. Activism and Projects .......................................... 336 13.1. copyright .................................................. 336 13.2. SUMMARY: Activism and Projects ............................. 336 13.3. Activism is a Tough Job .................................... 336 13.4. Cypherpunks Projects ....................................... 337 13.5. Responses to Our Projects (Attacks, Challenges) ............ 345 13.5.1. "What are the likely attitudes toward mainstream Cypherpunks ................................................................. 345 13.6. Deploying Crypto ........................................... 346 13.7. Political Action and Opposition ............................ 349 13.8. The Battle Lines are Being Drawn ........................... 355 13.10. Deals, the EFF, and Digital Telephony Bill ................ 357 13.11. Loose ends ................................................ 357 14. Other Advanced Crypto Applications ............................. 361 14.1. copyright .................................................. 361 14.2. SUMMARY: Other Advanced Crypto Applications ................ 361 8 14.3. Digital Timestamping ....................................... 361 14.4. Voting ..................................................... 362 14.5. Timed-Release Crypto ....................................... 362 14.6. Traffic Analysis ........................................... 364 14.7. Steganography .............................................. 364 14.8. Hiding cyphertext .......................................... 366 14.9. 'What are tamper-responding or tamper-resistant modules?" .. 366 14.9.1. The more modern name for what used to be called "tamper-proof ................................................................. 366 14.10. Whistleblowing ............................................ 367 14.11. Digital Confessionals ..................................... 367 14.12. Loose Ends ................................................ 367 15. Reputations and Credentials .................................... 368 15.1. copyright .................................................. 368 15.2. SUMMARY: Reputations and Credentials ....................... 368 15.3. The Nature of Reputations .................................. 368 15.4. Reputations, Institutions .................................. 370 15.5. Reputation-Based Systems and Agoric Open Systems ........... 370 15.6. Reputations and Evolutionary Game Theory ................... 371 15.7. Positive Reputations ....................................... 371 15.8. Practical Examples ......................................... 372 15.9. Credentials and Reputations ................................ 373 15.10. Fraud and False Accusations ............................... 373 15.11. Loose Ends ................................................ 374 16. Crypto Anarchy ................................................. 375 16.1. copyright .................................................. 375 16.2. SUMMARY: Crypto Anarchy .................................... 375 16.3. Introduction ............................................... 375 16.4. The Crypto Anarchist Manifesto ............................. 377 16.5. Changes are Coming ......................................... 379 16.6. Free Speech and Liberty--The Effects of Crypto ............. 382 16.7. The Nature of Anarchies .................................... 383 16.8. The Nature of Crypto Anarchy ............................... 384 16.9. Uses of Crypto Anarchy ..................................... 385 9 16.10. The Implications-Negative and Positive-of Crypto Anarchy .. 385 16.11. Ethics and Morality of Crypto Anarchy ..................... 392 16.12. Practical Problems with Crypto Anarchy .................... 394 16.13. Black Markets ............................................. 395 16.14. Money Laundering and Tax Avoidance ........................ 400 16.15. Intellectual Property ..................................... 412 16.16. Markets for Contract Killings, Extortion, etc. ............ 413 16.17. Persistent Institutions ................................... 414 16.18. Organized Crime: Triads, Yakuza, Mafia, etc. .............. 418 16.19. Privately Produced Law, Polycentric Law, Anarcho-Capitalism 419 16.20. Libertaria in Cyberspace .................................. 422 16.21. Cyberspace, private spaces, enforcement of rules, and technology ............................. 422 16.22. Data Havens ............................................... 424 16.23. Undermining Governments--Collapse of the State ............ 429 16.24. Escrow Agents and Reputations ............................. 433 16.25. Predictions vs. Implications .............................. 435 16.26. How Crypto Anarchy Will Be Fought ......................... 436 16.27. How Crypto Anarchy Advocates Will Fight Back .............. 444 16.28. Things that May Hide the Existence of Crypto Anarchy ...... 445 16.29. The Coming Phase Change ................................... 454 16.30. Loose Ends ................................................ 456 17. The Future ..................................................... 458 17.1. copyright .................................................. 458 17.2. SUMMARY: The Future ........................................ 458 17.3. Progress Needed ............................................ 458 17.4. Future Directions .......................................... 459 17.5. Net of the Future .......................................... 462 17.6. The Effects of Strong Crypto on Society .................... 463 17.7. New Software Tools and Programming Frameworks .............. 464 17.8. Complexity ................................................. 468 17.9. Crypto Standards ........................................... 469 17.10. Crypto Research ........................................... 470 17.11. Crypto Armageddon? Cryptageddon? .......................... 471 10 17.14. Loose Ends ................................................ 474 18. Loose Ends and Miscellaneous Topics ............................ 475 18.1. copyright .................................................. 475 18.2. SUMMARY: Loose Ends and Miscellaneous Topics ............... 475 18.3. Quantum Cryptography ....................................... 475 18.4. Chaotic Cryptography ....................................... 476 18.5. Neural Nets and AI in Crypto ............................... 476 18.6. Miscellaneous Advanced Crypto Ideas ........................ 477 18.7. Viruses and Crypto ......................................... 478 18.8. Making Money in Crypto ..................................... 479 18.9. The Net .................................................... 479 18.10. Duress Switches, Dead Man Switches ........................ 480 18.11. Can Encryption be Detected? ............................... 481 18.12. Personal Digital Assistants, Newtons, etc. ................ 481 18.13. Physical Security ......................................... 481 18.14. Attacking Governments ..................................... 482 18.15. Cypherpunks List Issues ................................... 482 18.16. Tamper-Resistant Modules .................................. 482 18.17. Deeper Connections ........................................ 482 18.18. Loose End Loose Ends ...................................... 483 19. Appendices ..................................................... 486 19.1. copyright .................................................. 486 19.2. SUMMARY: Appendices ........................................ 486 19.3. Appendix -- Sites, Addresses, URL/Web Sites, Etc. .......... 486 19.4. Appendix -- Glossary ....................................... 489 19.5. Appendix -- Summary of Crypto Versions ..................... 500 19.6. Appendix -- References ..................................... 508 19.7. Glossary Items ............................................. 510 19.8. A comment on software versions, ftp sites, instructions, etc. ................................................................. 510 19.8.1. I regret that I can't be complete in all versions, platforms ................................................................. 510 20. README ......................................................... 512 20.1. copyright .................................................. 512 11 20.2. README--BRIEF VERSION ...................................... 512 20.3. Copyright Comments ......................................... 512 20.4. A Few Words on the Style ................................... 513 20.5. How to Find Information .................................... 514 20.6. My Views ................................................... 515 20.7. More detailed disclaimer ................................... 515