Re: Using lasers to communicate
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- At 05:07 PM 2/17/96 -0500, cypherpunks@toad wrote:
Depends upon how paranoid you want to be. A small radio-controlled helicopter is available cheaply at Radio Shack, and might even be capable of holding a receiver, re-transmitter and recorder.
If I wanted to intercept a laser beam I'd spray an aerosol mist into the beam and look at the scatter. On a dusty or humid day I might not need the aerosol.
Why not just encrypt the link? Then anyone can tap and it doesn't matter. I'm in the process of building a tightbeam microwave link that can carry 2 Mbps over 50Km. Anybody got any gunn transceivers they don't need?
If you have a secure link you don't need encryption. Arguably, the converse is true; if you have secure encryption you don't need a secure link. Isn't the ability to transmit secure data over insecure channels one of the primary justifications for encryption? dave -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 iQEVAwUBMSZeJjVTwUKWHSsJAQEhswf/Xm1QwUTrBkzYWmbBu0+c4qkBXUfZR1Ck DEzgpuBMhGV/2YO+654AwEKBMK7u91J/I8mkl6h84UIclrBUydmmh2N0m34qlZRi 4R6KdFR0w80WsvTAcX+qJoACLrf9JsrLq03Y1lytSdVYxax6NWIY+OXOQBf36xCp aSq5+HYe3498+9QQEho+LpKw3A84bWPYjh5sFBheffgf6mpbsY+Tu3/fhDOESuGc ZjBLcjNlUtZ9IYnD+dzlAJBH04Lpgigfqjj5ZkGV04Q+jgumO8+HZbE+ymJnhfX7 G4KcPESnkpcK0JaiEVJtiKA5Eh2Ur8J8MUXxou4QY4j44md22v8aZw== =qyyj -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- ----- David E. Smith, c/o Southeast Missouri State University 1000 Towers Circle South MS 1210 Cape Girardeau MO 63701 dsmith@midwest.net, dsmith@alpha.c2.org, PGP 0x961D2B09 (573)339-3814 http://www.midwest.net/scribers/dsmith/ "Reality is only for those lacking in true imagination."
If you have a secure link you don't need encryption. Arguably, the converse is true; if you have secure encryption you don't need a secure link. Isn't the ability to transmit secure data over insecure channels one of the primary justifications for encryption?
Of course. My point, though I seem to have failed to state it, is that encryption is a cheap software thing while laser beams are expensive, complicated, and still not secure.
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