Crypto Greetings from Russia

[John Perry Barlow <barlow@eff.org>]

Jerry,

I don't know if you saw this on its way through the office, but unless you
have some objection, I'm going to invite this organization to join the
Digital Privacy Working Group. There might be a lot of leverage gained from
working the standards processes in the two countries against/with each
other.

I'm also interested in hearing if anyone in cypherpunks has heard of these
folks or their product.


FAX TRANSMISSION

Date: 23 August, 1993

To: 
John P. Barlow
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Washington, DC,  USA

From:
Anatoly N. Lebedev
President
LAN Cypto
Moscow, Russia

Phone/Fax: 095-936-7256

Subject: Digittal privacy working group

Dear Mr. Barlow,

I enjoyed your brilliant paper "Decrypting the Puzzle Palace" (Comm. ACM,
vol.35, No.7, July 1992) very much. The situation with "the Russian NSA" or
Federal Agency of the Government Communications and Information (FAGHI) is
mostly the same as you describe there. So that I am in accord with the most
parts of the paper.

The company "LAN Crypto" is interested in becoming part of the digital
privacy working group.

"LAN Crypto" is the first Russian independent private company, which
specializes in the development of information security systems and
electronic documents transfer (electronic funds transfer, electronic
checks, contracts, etc.) by means of cryptology.

We have installed our software and the cryptological technology in more
than 100 state and commercial banks in Russia, Belorussia and Kazakhstan.

Our digital signature (we call it NOTARY) was recognized in April 1992 by
the Suprime Arbitre Court of Russia. The first solution on electronic
contract with our digital signature and conflict between the sides was made
by the Moscow Arbitre Court 28 July 1993.

NOTARY is a package of programs for electronic (digital) signing of PC
files, revealing the identity of the author and assuring the integrity of
such files.

NOTARY employs advanced method of digital signing. The method is based upon
the complex Discrete Logarithm Problem.

NOTARY takes 0.2 sec for signing and 0.8 sec for checking the signature by
AT-286/16MHz (secret key 512 bits).

Now the works on national standard of digital signature in Russia also
began. We work in this way actively with the other private companies and
state organisations.

We proposed to make the common standard for Russia and USA. This
proposition was supported by the Information Technologies Department of the
Russia State Committee of Standards. We've sent this proposal to the
presidential team of the US President Mr. W. Clinton in Jan 1993.

So I would be very glad to get from you any fresh information on DSS,
because the last version we have gotten from our american partners was of
Nov. 1992.

We as a private company also propose some other packages of programs:
VESTA (for encryption), which provides processing speed of 10 KBytes/sec on
AT-286 (16MHz), ATHENA (for public-key generation), which takes less than 3
seconds for two users to generate a common secret key of 512 bits (using an
AT-286 operating at 16MHz) (6.5 seconds for common key of 1024 bits),

DIANA for strong and flexible access regulaton to files of databases. DIANA
prevents an unauthorized access to information, contained in server or
working station of LAN. It is based on encrypting of files and dynamic
decrypting of them while working. All information between the server and
the working station goes in an encrypted form. User of the working station
uses a compact TSR-program.

The key distribution system of DIANA does not have analoges in the world.

To get more information on our programs you may connect with "LAN Crypto":

117630, Academician Chelomey St. 10-43,
Moscow, Russia,
phone/fax 095-936-7254
E-mail: lan@crypto.msk.su

or with our representatives in the USA:

Severtson and Associates
1901 Prytania, Suite 17
New Orleans, LA   70130
Phone 504/524-2256

or

Dmitry Orlov
San Francisco, CA
408/988-3832
E-mail: dimon@mcafee.com

Regards,

Anatoly N. Lebedev
President
LAN Crypto