mendax.org

As one who’s interested in cryptography, I always find news bits on the latest encryption methods interesting, but even more interesting to me is news on technologies that work to hide information in plain sight. While not a new idea, better implementations tend to surface every now and again, and sometimes, the media may even take notice.

Let’s ignore, momentarily, that the only reason the developers of these applications are not called “developers” is because “hackers” is a cool buzz word. Instead, let’s focus on the programs themselves. While the BBC might make them out to be revolutionary, they’re really not. A “hacker” group calling itself Hacktivismo plans on releasing two programs next year. The first allows one to “insert” messages into graphics, and even to find images where this has been done. Unfortunately, the article doesn’t explain what prevents a censoring body from using the program to hunt down those putting messages into images to begin with. Nor does it explain why the algorithm Hacktivismo is using is better than previous attempts at doing this. The second program is simply one that establishes private, secure network groups to share files with. I’m trying to understand what makes this better than DC++, however.

I’m not giving up hope, however. While their site gives me a generic FORBIDDEN error, Google’s cache is somewhat revealing, especially to the fact that Hacktivismo is an offshoot of the Cult of the Dead Cow. As a former fan of the cDc, I’ll at least attest to the fact that these guys aren’t just all talk.

While news of these projects is nothing new, it’s worth mentioning just for the heads-up that these projects are still ongoing. After all, these are the guys who brought us Back Orifice 2k.

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