[3730] in linux-net channel archive
Re: Encryption
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (lilo)
Tue Jul 16 23:00:34 1996
From: lilo <TaRDiS@mail.utexas.edu>
Date: Tue, 16 Jul 1996 08:46:55 -0500 (CDT)
To: Kevin M Bealer <kmb203@psu.edu>
cc: linux-net@vger.rutgers.edu
In-Reply-To: <Pine.LNX.3.93.960714002211.10453C-100000@brando>
On Sun, 14 Jul 1996, Kevin M Bealer wrote:
> I had a wierd idea for encryption -- Wouldn't it be possible albeit slow to
> transmit encrypted data in the "magic number" of a TCP packet? This is
> supposed to be a random number in all regards, but I was thinking if you had
> completely random-looking encrypted data you could slip it through
> undetected. Since these must be present in every packet, and must be
> preserved to detect network loops (am I right about this?), not only could
> you not tell what the information was, it would be impossible to detect
> _whether_ it was being done.
The way to detect it is being done is to keep up with this mailing list, and
then look at the source, the source being publicly available. Busted.
Wouldn't apply to a proprietary solution, of course. But it's `security by
obscurity.'
lilo
