Trigger Happy

Onion routing is some seriously cool secure networking. This is way beyond encrypted tunnels. Basically you have a series of "onion routers" which each have their own public/private keys. When you send a message to the first router, it randomly picks a series of the other routers and encrypts the message with each of those routers' public keys. Then it sends the message to the last router who's key was used to encrypt it. That router decrypts it and sends the message to the next router who's key was used to encrypt the message. So you have multiple layers of encryption, each router peels a layer from the "onion" and sends it to the next router creating a completely random path. When it reaches its destination, the response is put in the included "reply onion" and sent back a different path. Therefore not even the destination knows the origin!

In order to compromise this, one must either have control of ALL the onion routers, or break the multiple layers of encryption. Sounds pretty solid to me.

I just have to note one thing though, the Wired article is inaccurate since its saying they're poking holes in Iran's firewall. Really its not poking holes. Poking holes implies you've hacked the firewall and opened up access to something that was previously blocked. This tech is sending encrypted packets through protocols and ports that are apparently still open. Whoever controls the firewall could easily block known onion routers or block the protocols/ports they're using, making it a much more difficult first hop. They also do not mention if this traffic is masked as simple web traffic or what. Onion routing is simply a means to disguise the origin, destination, path, and messages, not for bypassing firewalls. However, if the firewalls block Twitter.com, for example, the firewall would not know to block these onion messages going to a random onion router who's final destination is Twitter.com. Still, that's not "poking holes" in anyone's firewall. That's just being sneaky.

Must reads:
Activists Use U.S. Tech to Poke Holes in Iran Firewall - [Wired]
Onion Routing - [Wikipedia]

I love these types of stories. A reporter asked White House press secretary Robert Gibbs if the White House was considering beaming broadband internet to Iran via satellite  so opposition forces could communicate more freely. That's one of the most ridiculous things I've heard in a while. Lets just wave our magic wand so our satellites start talking to cell phones that are designed to talk to cell towers. Yeah, good idea!

Lets put it this way. Ignoring the fact that satellite and cell phones are different technology, and that the cell phones would need complicated re-programming to talk to a different network, you're still asking a tiny cell phone to hold a two way link with a satellite orbiting the Earth instead of a cell tower just miles away. Any other crazy ideas would involve smuggling in quite a bit of equipment which would make for easily traceable targets.

In case you were wondering, for a satellite to be in geosynchronous orbit, they have to be about 22,300 miles from the Earth's surface.

Source: Slashdot Technology Story | Could We Beam Broadband Internet Into Iran?.

Multiple sources reported last night that Steve Jobs had a liver transplant two months ago during his leave of absence and will be returning to work soon. While that's not entirely surprising, what I do find interesting about this news is that it came out on a Friday night. Whenever a company has news that they're afraid it will affect their stock, they release it on a Friday after the stock market has closed. Apple is definitely correct in this assumption. Their stock took hits after every announcement they've made about his health, as well as after rumors of Jobs' death surfaced from unreliable sources. Has there ever been a man who's health has affected the stock of a company so much? I don't have an answer to that but regardless, this is very disturbing. You'll rarely find an article about his health that approaches it as a human condition. They always focus on how it will affect Apple and where the stock is going. The last thing Jobs needs is more pressure coming from headlines and the stock market. Give him a break!

Sources:
Jobs Had Liver Transplant. - [Wired.com]
Not Only Was Steve Jobs Sick, He Had A Liver Transplant. - [TechCrunch.com]

Ok, maybe that's a bad analogy but it looks like Comcast may be the first to offer IPv6 to home users. Its about time! Many estimates say IPv4 address space will be exhausted in less than two years. Personally, I think Comcast is an unlikely ISP to be leading the way considering their track record but its good to see someone moving on this. Hopefully other ISPs and cell companies will follow soon, however, it seems like there's a lot to be done to get end-users ready. There aren't many home networking kits that can support IPv6 and what about all the legacy software and devices out there? I bet we'll be stuck with IPv6 externally from the ISP and IPv4 behind NAT for at least another century. IPv4 will definitely be slow to die.

Source: Comcast Embraces IPv6 - InternetNews.com