Crypto Blamed for US terrorist attack - World Exclusive

[Pete Mitchell]

Dave Bird wrote:
>
> >Undoubtedly using crypto to communicate, FWIW.
>
>  I'm puzzled: almost certainly to co-ordinate such a thing requires
>  voice contact, and voice crypto is still rare so it would stand out
>  like a sore thumb.  I'm not sure how the comms for such a thing
>  would be managed without creating detectable traffic.  Face to face
>  in a friendly country to set it up, coded signals in a public area
>  to report back to base, code-words in phone conversations or letters
>  for the rest.  Nothing as obvious as sending PGP email from A to B.

Sending encrypted messages by email might not necessarily be conspicuous.
You could encrypt a text file, rename it to *.JPG or whatever, and
mail it as a UUE attachment. Nobody would know it wasn't really a JPG
file unless they intercept and de-UUencode at least part of it. If they
take the trouble to do that, they were presumably already watching you.

Also wouldn't disposable cellphones, together with word subsitutions,
solve the voice communications issue? The spooks can only crack such
substitution codes if they can collect enough material to work with,
and the anonymous use of mobiles would prevent that.

-- pete mitchell