The Electronic Money Mill

This page is dedicated to The Electronic Money Mill. The Electronic Money Mill is a novel written and first published in the middle of the 1990’s. This site is an effort to keep the novel alive and even get some more attention towards it. The original publication can be found at the WayBackMachine. The archive of the WayBackMachine is the source for this page as well.

With new technology around it seemed feasable to republish the 180 pages long novel in a modern way.

When you look closely at the original introduction the orignal author states the following.

The book is available on-line for free. You may download the book from this site and you may distribute it freely. All we ask is that you not modify the content in any way and that, in particular, the cover page be included with all distributions. Furthermore, you must not profit from distribution of this book. All rights are reserved. Published here on the Web, March 1998.

Now you might ask why are there ads. The ads cover the cost of hosting and possibly ensure that this redistribution not shares the same fortune as the original publication.

Why did I choose to republish the book

While browsing the web like I do regularly I found a stackoverflow question about private key management. The accepted answer talked about “The Electronic Money Mill” and so my journey began.

Since the link in the origianl answer greeted the visitor with an Error 404, I took closer look at the comments where I found the link to the WayBackMachine.

It’s great to have an archive but some pieces are missing. In Chapter 18 there is an image that could not be restored using the WayBackMachine. Some of the images could be extracted from the archived PDF. If you come accross any missing piece and happen to find it or if you’re the original author of the novel feel free to contact me.

You can find my contact details at my website.

But now start reading at Chapter 1 or download the PDF.

Could it really happen?

When Carl Raymond stumbles upon some unusual messages in the Electronic Funds Transfer network used by all banks, his first thought is that this is an opportunity to learn more about the inner
workings of electronic banking and cryptography. However, it does not take long before Carl becomes embroiled in a massive yet entirely undetected electronic counterfeiting scheme. The entire world banking infrastructure is under attack and Carl alone is in a position to save it… provided he can avoid becoming the scapegoat. He must find a way to solve the puzzle without revealing his own questionable acts to the FBI or to the hackers.
Continue reading “The Electronic Money Mill”

Damn. It still wouldn’t work out. This must have been the third time I had worked it through from the start and I was beginning to realize that there was a good chance I would not be able to get it.

The chair let out a plaintive creak as I leaned over the table, pulling the chair up onto two legs. I mouthed my thoughts quietly to myself as I once again began at the top. Continue reading “Chapter 1”

This is the author’s first novel. He is a computer science professional with about ten years of experience. He has worked for large companies and small start-up’s. He has worked in R&D and in production coding.

Continue reading “The Author”

The ANSI X9.17 standard for key exchange fails to satisfy several of the design requirements:

• A data key or key-encrypting key shared between a communicating pair shall not be disclosed to a third party.
• A data key shared between a communicating pair shall be secured from third party usage.
• The compromise of any key shared between any communicating pair shall not compromise and third party.
• Key security and integrity shall be ensured.

The problem stems from a lack of explicit type information in keys. Several cryptologists have observed that strong typing is important in cryptographic protocols. Without it, it is too easy to replay messages containing ciphertext, using those messages in a manner different from the intended purpose. Continue reading “The Flaw”