From: J. Michael Diehl <mdiehl@triton.unm.edu>
Date: Thu, 11 Mar 93 13:24:44 PST
To: derek@cs.wisc.edu (Derek Zahn)
Subject: Re:  Hidden encrypted messages
In-Reply-To: <9303111501.AA26622@lynx.cs.wisc.edu>
Message-ID: <9303112121.AA28347@triton.unm.edu>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


> Alex's (good) idea about using creative spacing to hide an encrypted message
> is similar to that what I'd originally proposed (and of course it has to
> be hiding an *encrypted* message!).  I've gotten a number of responses
> of the form "Why not just claim that an encrypted message is data?",
> but my original point was Plausible Deniability.  That is, I was
> postulating an environment in which Big Brother has outlawed cryptography.
> Now, confronted with a confiscated message, the sender has to defend
> himself from the Inquisition.  Can't just claim it's a sound file;
> the Inquisitor will want it played.  The question I'm trying to answer

So I say, "Damn! CRC Error!  Must be a bad disk.  Well, no point in keeping
THIS sitting around."

> is how to produce on demand a causal explanation of data (which actually
> contains an encrypted message) that satisfies an investigator and
> doesn't reveal the encrypted message.  Some simple scheme like, "Uh,

I understand what you want.  Wish I understood how to do it. ;^)

> it's the result of my new random number generation algorithm" isn't
> likely to be *satisfying* and is certain to produce the response,
> "OK, let's see the algorithm."
+----------------------+----------------------------------------------------+
| J. Michael Diehl ;-) |  I thought I was wrong once.  But, I was mistaken. |
|                      +----------------------------------------------------+
| mdiehl@triton.unm.edu| "I'm just looking for the opportunity to be        |
| Thunder@forum        |            Politically Incorrect!                  |
| (505) 299-2282       |                        <me>                        |
+----------------------+----------------------------------------------------+