From: "Frank O'Dwyer" <fod@brd.ie>
Date: Wed, 8 Jan 1997 16:22:06 -0800 (PST)
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: [IDEA] Cypherpunks Super Computer (was Re: The Upcoming DES Challenge)
In-Reply-To: <3.0.32.19970107005752.006c3c48@192.100.81.126>
Message-ID: <199701082322.XAA09234@brd.ie>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain



>    Make your mark in the history of mathematics. Use the spare cycles of
>    your PC/PPC/UNIX box to help find a new prime.
>    http://www.mersenne.org/prime.htm

This .sig and the DES challenge gave me an idea that I'd like to 
bounce off the list.

One of the things about these screensaver style cracking/searching
programs is the hassle in downloading/installing the programs.
There's also the problem of maybe downloading some trojan.  And
they need to be changed any time there's a new problem or key
to work on (or a bug). The whole thing is so cumbersome that
it's easy to claim it's not really a practical attack, or that
it costs too much.

However, what if there was a safe scripting language with bignum
arithmetic and other cryptographic primitives, and what if
lots of people ran a service that would accept scripts in 
that language and respond with the answer?  Say, a Safe-TCL 
interface to Peter Gutmann's cryptlib, running at idle 
priority?  Sort of like a distributed batch queue, and also 
a bit like the way jobs are (were?) submitted to Crays.  The 
Cypherpunks Super Computer. It need not be significantly slower 
than raw code if the primitives are high level enough.

I think this would be technically quite interesting, and would
maybe play well in the media too.  In response to the "it would 
cost too much to be _really_ practical" claim, anyone could always 
note that there was this distributed cypherpunks supercomputer 
that anonymous people could use to break keys with for free.

I'd be happy to code something like this up if there's interest.

Comments?

Cheers,
Frank O'Dwyer.