[80296] in Cypherpunks
Re: Crypto, C4 Explosives, and Destroying the Infrastructure
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Steve Schear)
Sun May 18 16:19:41 1997
In-Reply-To: <v03007801afa4f88363e2@[207.167.93.63]>
Date: Sun, 18 May 1997 12:51:18 -0700
To: Tim May <tcmay@got.net>, cypherpunks@algebra.com
From: Steve Schear <azur@netcom.com>
Reply-To: Steve Schear <azur@netcom.com>
>However, there are a couple of *obvious* errors. My supposition is that he
>"pulled his punches" a little, choosing to gloss over certain things which
>would have made the "terrorist" essentially impossible to detect. (The most
>glaring error, which he surely knew better about, was to assert that NSA
>could break any cipher if given enough time and computer power.)
>
>I surmise from how he altered factual details about the world of
>cryptography--though masterfully--that he also subtly tweaked some details
>in other areas. I, for example, don't plan to use the cyclotrimethylene
>trinitramine version of C4, allegedly free of the usual odor-producing
>impurities, for any of my sanitization efforts! (He also describes some of
>the flaws in the bombs used in the World Trade Center and Oklahoma City
>bombings...any aspiring terrorist should certainly read this novel for some
>ideas...taking into account the deliberate errors he inserted, as with the
>crypto errors!)
>
>A real explosives expert would see in his detailed descriptions of where
>and how to get the M6 Special Engineer Electrical Blasting Caps and the
>M-112 Charge Demolition Blocks the same kind of subtle tweakings of the
>truth that he put into his convincing descriptions of cryptanalysis.
>
Any intelligent terrorist knows that explosives are old hat.
Perhaps this is an opportunity for CPs to join in and re-write the book
with a more factual basis and outcome, are re-publish on-line. I volunteer
to OCR.
-Steve
