Ever so minor addition to THS Mysteries

[lachimba]

I have thought of one ever so minor addition to THS Mysteries.


There is a box mentioning various lowtech means to avoid hightech detection (face to face meetings and the like).

One other I have thought of is using redundant technologies (like VCRs, game cartridges, tape decks) to store and exchange information. Even now there are fast becoming extinct. In case of things like tapes or even old film, they are probably a lot more easily physically detroyed too.

Now I doubt that these would be better than say encryption, but they do provide an interesting alternative for someone trying to keep secret info.

[ClayDowling]

Your communication doesn't need to be hard to read to be secure. Far better is to be hard to notice. Encoding information on cigarette papers, rolling them up and putting them in a pack is a pretty secure method because nobody is going to look inside a cigarette for secret information. Information passing looks innocent, because your contact is just bumming a smoke.

[Tyneras]

Originally Posted by ClayDowling

Your communication doesn't need to be hard to read to be secure. Far better is to be hard to notice. Encoding information on cigarette papers, rolling them up and putting them in a pack is a pretty secure method because nobody is going to look inside a cigarette for secret information. Information passing looks innocent, because your contact is just bumming a smoke.

Bonus points if the secret text is in that encrypted digital text from Ghost in the Shell. Double bonus is if the encrypted text is spy-speak nonsense like "The butcher has eaten the muffins. The eagle shall fly south for winter. Paint the moon-sign."

[malloyd]

Originally Posted by Tyneras

Bonus points if the secret text is in that encrypted digital text from Ghost in the Shell. Double bonus is if the encrypted text is spy-speak nonsense like "The butcher has eaten the muffins. The eagle shall fly south for winter. Paint the moon-sign."

Though to be honest if suspicious people are watching to the point where passing a sealed envelope containing it in plain-text wouldn't be adequately secure, it's too late, your network is already compromised to the point you'd be an idiot to trust any data coming from it.

[lachimba]

Originally Posted by ClayDowling

Your communication doesn't need to be hard to read to be secure. Far better is to be hard to notice. Encoding information on cigarette papers, rolling them up and putting them in a pack is a pretty secure method because nobody is going to look inside a cigarette for secret information. Information passing looks innocent, because your contact is just bumming a smoke.

That's a lot of cigarette papers to transmit some topics though!

[ClayDowling]

Originally Posted by Tyneras

Bonus points if the secret text is in that encrypted digital text from Ghost in the Shell. Double bonus is if the encrypted text is spy-speak nonsense like "The butcher has eaten the muffins. The eagle shall fly south for winter. Paint the moon-sign."

Bonus points if the text is encrypted using a deck of cards. Wish I could claim responsibility for this, but Bruce Schneier published this system some time back, and the KGB was actively using it during the cold war.

It's a good system in that it's very hard to realize that it's even in use. Tobacco, cigarette paper and cards are pretty innocuous.

It would be fine for passing messages. Not for massive data dumps. For that, sneaker net is your friend, possibly with a bit of steganography so that an intercepted CD looks innocent. When the secret police find a disk full of bootleg pr0n or music, they toss you back as uninteresting.

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by ClayDowling

Bonus points if the text is encrypted using a deck of cards. Wish I could claim responsibility for this, but Bruce Schneier published this system some time back, and the KGB was actively using it during the cold war.

At least as described in Cryptonomicon, the system looked as if it might have been suggested by a scene of communication via deck of cards in Heinlein's 1940s story "Gulf."

Bill Stoddard