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It's much harder to leak Russian stuff because a lot of it is in paper form. After Snowden revelations, Russians returned to typewriters for all their top secre

by Jerry2 10y ago

It's much harder to leak Russian stuff because a lot of it is in paper form. After Snowden revelations, Russians returned to typewriters for all their top secret stuff [0]: >A source at Russia's Federal Guard Service (FSO), which is in charge of safeguarding Kremlin communications and protecting President Vladimir Putin, claimed that the return to typewriters has been prompted by the publication of secret documents by WikiLeaks, the whistle-blowing website, as well as Edward Snowden, the fugitive US intelligence contractor. >The FSO is looking to spend 486,000 roubles – around £10,000 – on a number of electric typewriters, according to the site of state procurement agency, zakupki.gov.ru. The notice included ribbons for German-made Triumph Adlew TWEN 180 typewriters, although it was not clear if the typewriters themselves were this kind. >“After scandals with the distribution of secret documents by WikiLeaks, the exposes by Edward Snowden, reports about Dmitry Medvedev being listened in on during his visit to the G20 summit in London, it has been decided to expand the practice of creating paper documents.” >Unlike printers, every typewriter has its own individual pattern of type so it is possible to link every document to a machine used to type it. Now, their hacking tools are obviously not in paper form but I bet they're much more tightly controlled than the CIA/NSA tools. They probably have a much smaller team of people who have access to such tools so it's much harder for them to leak. It's also easier to do counterintelligence on people who do have access and you can bet every one of those people is monitored to some degree. US has thousands of contractors who work for CIA/NSA/DIA and other intelligence agencies and many, supposedly, can easily walk out with some of the most sensitive documents that the USG possesses. [1] One of these contractors, supposedly, leaked out these files to WikiLeaks [2]. FBI is now on a hunt to figure out who it was. Russians don't have a huge network of contractors. I couldn't find the exact figure but by a quick estimation, Russians have 100x less people doing the intelligence work. They also have much, much smaller budgets because of their economy. So it's easier for them to keep secrets from leaking. CIA probably (most definitely?) has moles inside of FSB so FSB secrets do leak. Just not to WikiLeaks. [0] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/10173645/Kremlin-returns-to-typewriters-to-avoid-computer-leaks.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/1017... [1] http://www.federaltimes.com/articles/fbi-arrests-contractor-in-possible-nsa-theft http://www.federaltimes.com/articles/fbi-arrests-contractor-... [2] https://www.wsj.com/articles/authorities-questioning-cia-contractors-in-connection-with-wikileaks-dump-1489283964 https://www.wsj.com/articles/authorities-questioning-cia-con...

npunt 10y ago
Interesting. > Russians returned to typewriters for all their top secret stuff That's what they're telling people, I wonder how much truth there is to it. At the very least it provides a plausible cover story for when people ask why there aren't big leaks.
- SXX 10y ago
  I guess you don't wonder that much why there is no leaks from large criminal syndicates and criminal structures in general. So the special agencies in Russia not just derived from USSR, but also built on corruption like any other government structure. So like in usual organised crime most of people in charge are relatives or close friends and different spheres of influence are controlled by different groups of them. Most work there to make money on corporate raid or government contracts. There is always wars for power between different groups inside those agencies which make people working there more careful about everything they doing since others always watching. So just like most of criminals they tend to not leave tons of documents in their email. PS: And one more reason is obviously fact that no one want to end up drinking polonium tea or just get few bullets in back. Criminals don't have problem with killing traitors or those who failed to keep secrets.
- yogthos 10y ago
  Not sure why they'd need a cover story for not having big leaks. It's not like US intentionally leaks things either. Anybody is free to try and hack their systems just the same way people hack US ones.
  - SXX 10y ago
    While it's not some magical spy software during few last years there was plenty of leaks from inside the government and recent arrests was covered pretty well by western press: https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-01-30/how-russian-hackers-became-a-kremlin-headache https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-01-30/how-russi... Leaks include president Medvedev personal email and his secretary email, then Vladislav Surkov secretary emails and multiple entrepreneurs related to Kremlin. Though I doubt there was a lot of interest to them outside of Russia.

by Jerry2 10y ago

npunt 10y ago

Interesting. > Russians returned to typewriters for all their top secret stuff That's what they're telling people, I wonder how much truth there is to it. At the very least it provides a plausible cover story for when people ask why there aren't big leaks.

SXX 10y ago
I guess you don't wonder that much why there is no leaks from large criminal syndicates and criminal structures in general. So the special agencies in Russia not just derived from USSR, but also built on corruption like any other government structure. So like in usual organised crime most of people in charge are relatives or close friends and different spheres of influence are controlled by different groups of them. Most work there to make money on corporate raid or government contracts. There is always wars for power between different groups inside those agencies which make people working there more careful about everything they doing since others always watching. So just like most of criminals they tend to not leave tons of documents in their email. PS: And one more reason is obviously fact that no one want to end up drinking polonium tea or just get few bullets in back. Criminals don't have problem with killing traitors or those who failed to keep secrets.
yogthos 10y ago
Not sure why they'd need a cover story for not having big leaks. It's not like US intentionally leaks things either. Anybody is free to try and hack their systems just the same way people hack US ones.
- SXX 10y ago
  While it's not some magical spy software during few last years there was plenty of leaks from inside the government and recent arrests was covered pretty well by western press: https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-01-30/how-russian-hackers-became-a-kremlin-headache https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-01-30/how-russi... Leaks include president Medvedev personal email and his secretary email, then Vladislav Surkov secretary emails and multiple entrepreneurs related to Kremlin. Though I doubt there was a lot of interest to them outside of Russia.