Slashdot Mirror
German NSA Committee May Turn To Typewriters To Stop Leaks
mpicpp (3454017) writes with news that Germany may be joining Russia in a paranoid switch from computers to typewriters for sensitive documents. From the article: Patrick Sensburg, chairman of the German parliament's National Security Agency investigative committee, now says he's considering expanding the use of manual typewriters to carry out his group's work. ... Sensburg said that the committee is taking its operational security very seriously. "In fact, we already have [a typewriter], and it's even a non-electronic typewriter," he said. If Sensburg's suggestion takes flight, the country would be taking a page out of the Russian playbook. Last year, the agency in charge of securing communications from the Kremlin announced that it wanted to spend 486,000 rubles (about $14,800) to buy 20 electric typewriters as a way to avoid digital leaks.
My father used to work for the NSA as a cryptologic studies teacher and told me stories about how back in the 70s they had tech that could read back what was being typed simply by listening to the pattern of the clicks the type writer was making.
5 reams of carbon copy paper contains much less information than a single USB stick.
This is security by volume.
Slashdot social media options: AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, Jabber and Mobile Text. Why no MySpace?
It would also significantly cut down Slashdot comments if they had to be typed on paper and mailed.
Even if the computers have no network connectivity, their screens and keystrokes may spied on through a Tempest attack by an adversary in the vicinity. Buying typewriters may be cheaper than Tempest shielding.
True, but it would make "first post" a lovely double entendre.
Scruting the inscrutable for over 50 years.
Turning to typewriters is of course ridiculous blind activism, but there is one thing to take away from this: The mere possibility that someone is spying on them has made them uneasy about using normal and efficient tools and made them turn to antiquated tools instead which still won't protect them. Perhaps now they understand why blanket observation of the entire population is completely unacceptable.
Get a doctor to write memos with a pen. Completely indecipherable.
Once they are done typing the documents they will have a secretary scan them and sent via email....
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
The core components of information security are often misunderstood. The triad of confidentiality, integrity and availability are important to consider. There is a symbiosis between these three components. For example, if confidentiality and availability is highly restrictive, can we really be confident in the integrity of the data with so few people who have such limited access?
The old adage, being so tragically expressed here in real world terms, that the only "secure" computer is locked in a vault at the bottom of an ocean belies the very nature of security. For data to be useful and meaningful, it must be accessible to the people who need it when they need it. Failure to properly deliver accessibility will consequently build pressure on confidentiality (e.g. it will be shared inappropriately) and/or data integrity (e.g. the data will grow stale/irrelevant/etc).
A typewriter is a medieval instrument for data security. Because they have rockets, they might as well start building castle walls. They are, in essence and by design, surrendering. Sun Tzu would be proud of such an adversary that could create this result. Masterful.