NONSTOP Crypto Query

[John Young]

Joel McNamara first told me about NONSTOP and its commonly
associated classified codeword, HIJACK, both somehow related
to Tempest. 

When you do a search on either of them you get hundreds 
(or 1000s) of hits for the generic terms "non-stop" and "hi-jack" 
but few entries for the codewords, and then as standards in 
military security documents. 

It's as if the codewords were picked to be camouflaged by the 
generics. And, because codewords are usually set to have
no relation to the protected material, they probably are not 
descriptive -- but could be, just to outfox off the smarties.

The NONSTOP doc released to us was first issued in 1975 
and has gone through 4 reprintings, the latest in 1987. And 
it continues to be cited as still in effect, though usually such 
standards are updated at least every 5 years. So there may
be a later one which would account for the partial release
after first denial.

It's intriguing to read Spycatcher (1987) while reading the 
Tempest docs. I had not read Wright's most informative
book, and regret not having done so.

For those who have not read it, Peter Wright was MI5's
first scientist, and entered the service after WW2. He
specialized in the technology of counterintelligence and
with a few others cooked up a host of ingenious means
to spy on spies and suspects. A specialty was the
extraordinary use of electromagnetic devices -- radio, 
telephone, acoustic, resonance, and more -- applying 
scientific abilities well in advance of technicians and 
engineers. Some of his ideas were so advanced his
bosses said impossible, until he proved effectiveness. 
Then Wright quickly became the savior of bureaucrats 
who could not understand why Britain's enemies kept 
outsmarting them -- usually with advanced technological 
means. Wright changed that, but often got at odds with 
non-scientifically trained personnel.

Among others, he worked closely with GCHQ on occasion 
to provide technical attacks on cryptosystems which could 
not be broken by cryptanalysis. Thus his research on the 
cryptosecrets revealed by compromising emanations from 
devices, cabling, furniture, construction materials, and a host
of ordinary physical objects -- all of which emitted signals that
could be acquired and interpreted by careful tuning for 
comprehension. He writes of amazing methods of acquiring 
signals, and it is no wonder HMG fought to prevent publication 
of Spycatcher.

What he did not write about must be even more wondrous, 
and it makes you think he could pick up your brain waves
if you were part of particular triangulated antenna.

Maybe NONSTOP and HIJACK have nothing to do with
the stuff Wright excelled at. Still, reading Spycatcher
along with the Tempest docs -- and now Stephen
Budiansky's "Battle of Wits: The Complete Story of
Codebreaking in World War II," (2000) -- certainly
demonstrates how much of codebreaking has been
done by covert technical and physical means, even
as we are told misleading cover stories.

Are the crypto-revelations also disinformation?
Historically all have been.  Ha, ha, ha.