On Mon, 31 Jul 1995, Phil Fraering wrote:
Date: Mon, 31 Jul 1995 20:41:37 -0500 From: Phil Fraering <pgf@tyrell.net> To: stewarts@ix.netcom.com Cc: hoz@univel.telescan.com, cypherpunks@toad.com Subject: Sat phone permit "wire"taps
Bill, I also understood that the Walkers also leaked to the Soviets details on U.S. submarine sonar operating procedures.
_Anyway_, my point was, if they can't keep _that_ secret, I doubt they'd be able to keep secret the details/keys for activating the backdoor on whatever artificially weakened system they're forced to use (if they are).
Phil
What the walkers really gave over was the ability to decode U.S. Naval and some diplomatic ciphers through the surrender of codebooks, procedures, keycards and repair manuals for the crypto hardware. The resulting traffic and crypto analysis was backbreaking- and valuable enough to make Walker Sr. the best paid spy to that date in the Soviet scheme of things. Sov's discovered their traffic was being read on the Ivy line by listening to naval and diplomatic communication referencing it directly- and a little bit of selective transmission to confirm the source of intelligence. (The U.S. played a similar trick on the Japanese to verify Midway as their target in the Pacific- they were reading Purple and the JN-12 and JN series flawlessly at the time) Sov's discovered their subs were being tracked with amazing ease by listening to U.S. Naval anti-sub communications and reports. The result: Directed attention to the noise emmisions of their sub fleet, something they might have overlooked for years otherwise. The grand result: Among others: Stronger Soviet Encryption, and the purchase from Japan of high precision milling equipment which allowed the Sov's to produce perfected and hyper quiet propellers for their subs- they jumped 10 years in technology in 12 months. The most damaging and most coveted espionage information is cryptanalysis. Period. --- 00B9289C28DC0E55 nemo repente fuit turpissimus - potestas scientiae in usu est E16D5378B81E1C96 quaere verum ad infinitum, loquitur sub rosa - wichtig! *New Key Information* - Finger for key revocation and latest key update.