One of Peter Wright's successes was in listening to (i.e. bugging) the actions of a mechanical cipher machine, in order to break their encryption. This operation was code-named ENGULF, and enabled MI5 to read the cipher of
1961 Washington area. Wrights briefing on RAFTER had not gone smoothly as some CIA officers were extremely pissed off that there had been a 3 year gap before they were indoctrinated. "Who else knows about RAFTER?,asked (the CIA's) Harvey. I told him we briefed the FBI and the Canadian RCMP fully as we progressed. "The Canadians!",exploded Harvey,thumping the table in anger."You might as well tell the fuckin' Papuan's as the Canadians." "I'm afraid we don't see it like that.The Canadians are trusted members of the Commonwealth." (I may go there to Kamloops for a holiday after the trial,btw.) "Well you should tell them to get another cipher machine,'he said as Angleton kicked Harvey hard under the table." Could have been Rosa Kleb I guess he was lucky. p151.Spycatcher.peter Wright. What were they using then? No point Hagelin I guess... http://www.fortunecity.com/meltingpot/canada/1034/ the Egyptian embassy in London at the time of the Suez crisis. Another cipher-reading operation, code-named STOCKADE, read the French embassy cipher by using the electro-magnetic echoes of the input teleprinter which appeared on the output of the cipher machine. Unfortunately, Wright says this operation "was a graphic illustration of the limitations of intelligence" - Britain was blocked by the French from joining the Common Market and no amount of bugging could change that outcome. Particularly interesting is MI5's invention code-named RAFTER, which is used to detect the frequency a radio receiver is tuned to, by tracing emissions from the receiver's local oscillator circuit. RAFTER was used against the Soviet embassy and consulate in London to detect whether they were listening in to A4-watcher radios. Wright also used this technique to try to track down Soviet "illegals" (covert agents) in London who received their instructions by radio from the USSR. << FROM http://www.five.org.uk/security/mi5org/spycatch.htm