MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Don't trust computers, important stuff write it and have it delivered by courier, recommends Trump
President-elect Donald J. Trump, expressing skepticism about intelligence assessments of Russian interference in the US election, said that he knew “things that other people don’t know” about the hacking, and that the information would be revealed “Tuesday or Wednesday.” He also underlined that no computer is safe and recommended sending important information the old fashion way, write it out and have it delivered by courier. Read full article
Comments
Disclaimer & comment rulesQuick, buy as much DHL shares as you can.
Jan 02nd, 2017 - 04:27 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Wax seals...bring back wax seals....
Jan 02nd, 2017 - 07:19 pm - Link - Report abuse 0write it and have it delivered ,
Jan 02nd, 2017 - 07:39 pm - Link - Report abuse 0seems like a good idea.
For those of you who have even a smattering of 'intelligence' knowledge you will have appreciated that the 'one time pad' system was never broken, ever.
Jan 02nd, 2017 - 07:59 pm - Link - Report abuse -1For those of you who have never heard of the term it refers to the use of two ONLY same numbered pads which had random letters (developed from the radio static being fed into a trembler coil operated Morse unit to provide the randomness) which are used to replace the clear text with the 'coded' one. One pad was kept at the 'centre', the other being controlled by the user, usually a signals officer.
They are extremely cumbersome to use and were abandoned when computer programmes were developed which promised 'security' at the speed of light, or as it seems now, NOT.
However, all systems can be short circuited by the signals officers turning traitor. That has always been the weakness.
@ChrisR
Jan 02nd, 2017 - 11:35 pm - Link - Report abuse +1One time pads are unbreakable in theory, but not in practice. Capture and copy the pad, and you can decode the messages. By contrast public key systems are easily breakable in theory but very difficult in practice. But either way, the weak link is the human element. And from what I heard this was the case in this example too.
It doesn't matter how great the system is if people use easily guessed passwords (and they do), or reply to fishing emails. And using a courier is only safe if you can trust your employees, plus whoever you are sending the message to. Perhaps more traditional spying techniques will come back into vogue?
Clearly a cunning attempt to revitalise the US Postal service, which has been losing billions of $ every year, for years.
Jan 03rd, 2017 - 12:16 am - Link - Report abuse +1This is a very interesting coincidence!
Jan 03rd, 2017 - 08:36 am - Link - Report abuse 0REF: http://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/02/us/politics/with-no-warning-house-republicans-vote-to-hobble-independent-ethics-office.html?emc=edit_na_20170102&nlid=75775057&ref=cta&_r=0
“House Republicans, defying their top leaders, voted Monday to significantly curtail the power of an independent ethics office set up in 2008 in the aftermath of corruption scandals that sent three members of Congress to jail.
The move to weaken the Office of Congressional Ethics was not public until late Monday. The full House is scheduled to vote Tuesday on the rules, which would take away both power and independence from an investigative body, and give lawmakers more control over internal inquiries”.
If this is possible in the USA; it is just a question of time when similar practices will take place in the rest of the world!
LONG LIVE [the so called] DEMOCRACY!
@DT
Jan 03rd, 2017 - 10:41 am - Link - Report abuse -1“Capture and copy the pad, and you can decode the messages.”
In most cases there are only two pads in use, one with the 'agent' the other with the 'principal'.
Once the agent's pad is stolen, have a guess what happens then? Yes, new pads, new coding, no chance of reading the blank pages.
The human problem remains THE problem.
@ChrisR
Jan 03rd, 2017 - 12:38 pm - Link - Report abuse +1Oh sure, if the agent realises it has been stolen and copied, they will request new pads. But then the new keys have to delivered somehow, giving another opportunity to intercept them. And then there are the issues with generating truly random numbers, which is not trivial for a computer, and the difficulty of erasing the used keys in such a way that they cannot be recovered if someone captures the storage device later. It's not a popular system because of the difficulty of implementing it in practice.
But I agree that humans are really the weak link for any system.
@The poster formerly known as Lobomau
'Draining the swamp' in action. How reassuring to know that the Republicans haven't wasted any time in using their new majority to pass laws that benefit the country! Apparently US politicians are just as keen as Brazilian ones to prevent investigations into their corruption.
TO: The Brazilian Politicians:
Jan 03rd, 2017 - 03:16 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Maybe it's a bit too late but from now on; “Don't Trust Computers” if you are still using them!
Heisenbergcontext, that is because the GOP wants to kill the PO and they want private business taking over. 2006 the GOP forces the USPS to PREFUND 75 years of healthcare benefit payments over.........are you sitting.....10 years. Can you image taking out a 5 year home mortgage and then find out that you have 6 months to pay it back.
Jan 03rd, 2017 - 03:47 pm - Link - Report abuse +2The GOP are whores to businesses, they are not conservatives, they are whores to business......owned and operated by business. They want the military privatized as well.....Blackwater would suit them fine.......USA, Inc.
The USPS does a fine job. Hell, go the the PO in Argentina and they do not even have drop boxes on the street. I sent off my film from Boston to Santa Clara and it arrives on the 3rd day. In 58 years I have only lost one piece that I've mailed. The government does not exist to make a profit........but it does a reasonably well job considering the enemies it has in Congress. ANd now, we have a president elect who hates the military as well.........should be an interesting 2 years.
@ CP
Jan 04th, 2017 - 03:38 am - Link - Report abuse +1“75 years of healthcare benefit payments over...10 years”. The fiscal equivalent of a death sentence.
Precisely the point of the bill in 2006. Next up....the US Military. I have a problem with those Blackwater types. They fuck things up more than help. Most are former JSOC guys, but all operations are based on profit motive and selective risk management.
Jan 04th, 2017 - 12:25 pm - Link - Report abuse +1Gotta love the GOP's moves on eliminating the Ethics committee....than suddenly...............RUT-RO.......about face.....damage control on who voted to eliminate the Ethics committee. The GOP owned congress is of to a fine start. But do not blame the GOP, how else can corporate corruption grow if ethics stand in the way?
Commenting for this story is now closed.
If you have a Facebook account, become a fan and comment on our Facebook Page!