From: "Perry E. Metzger" <pmetzger@lehman.com>
Date: Wed, 2 Feb 94 16:21:14 PST
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: New remailer up.
In-Reply-To: <199402022358.PAA02516@mail.netcom.com>
Message-ID: <199402030019.TAA06390@snark>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain



qwerty-remailer@netcom.com says:
> Perry Metzger wrote,
> "Tapping Netcom's net connections would take more than $20 of effort.
> Up it to $50,000 and I'll happily take on your offer. However, I am
> going to need assurances that the money will actually be paid."
> 
> This is exactly the point I was trying to make. I wanted the
> word "trivial" to be clarified by those who were being so vocal
> about dismissing a remailer on Netcom.

Well, the problem is that NETCOM has logs that are good enough that
THEY can trivally trace things if they want. Assuming they are doing
normal SMTP logging tracking you down should be easy. I would require
a network tap assuming that I wasn't going to have their help.
However, make no mistake that Netcom can and will cooperate with the
police if you use your remailer in a way that the government doesn't
like, so it seems that the security afforded isn't that good.

> But I'm sure some skilled hacker will be able to tell me the site and
> I'll happily be out $20, in say, a couple days?

Without any information out of the network logs or the network itself,
no one is going to be able to say. Besides, $20 is a paltry sum for
the amount of work involved.

> No use hacking my password, as I keep no logs (for now).

Netcom keeps logs.

.pm