4 ms·

Soviet Russia Bugged an American Embassy’s Typewriters

41 points by docdeek 7y ago

Tepix 7y ago
I have a high security crosscut paper shredder that is better than class DIN 66399-2 P-7. I'm wondering: Are there any known cases of bugged paper shredders?
- java-man 7y ago
  Time to pull out a screwdriver!
- T3OU-736 7y ago
  It feels like there should be, but nothing jumped out after searches. On the face of it, a camera right before the blades works sorta make sense, but then you how do you account for multiple pages being shredded as one, be the lack of light, the extremely wide angle needed, and likely a myriad of things not mentioned. If you find some, please share :)
ptah 7y ago
There's been a number of similar articles on HN about different ways the soviet spied on US. I wonder if anything is written about coldwar US spy tech
- _kbh_ 7y ago
  whilst maybe not entirely what you are after this should be at least somewhat related. https://cryptomuseum.com/covert/bugs/index.htm https://cryptomuseum.com/covert/bugs/index.htm
- blaser-waffle 7y ago
  Search for "Line X" and/or the Farewell Dossier. Not the truck liners, but disinformation campaign.
- simonblack 7y ago
  "Blind Man's Bluff" https://www.amazon.com/Blind-Mans-Bluff-Submarine-Espionage/dp/1610393589 https://www.amazon.com/Blind-Mans-Bluff-Submarine-Espionage/...
samdung 7y ago
Another, more popular one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thing_(listening_device) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thing_(listening_device)
- swarnie_ 7y ago
  Great read. I do wonder what procedures are now required to display foreign gifts in government buildings. I know its a common courtesy for heads of state to exchange gifts and a few of these get prominently displayed in very secure places. Just one of many examples is the Resolute desk gifted by the British now sitting in the oval office.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
  - GhettoMaestro 7y ago
    I believe most things received as gifts from foreign governments are treated as suspect until screened (bio, x-ray, etc).
B1FF_PSUVM 7y ago
"This month [Dec.2019] marks the end of an era for IEEE Spectrum. This issue is the last in which Robert W. Lucky’s Reflections column will make a regular appearance." A good thing coming to an end.
backspace_ 7y ago
This has been posted 6 times now each with a varying level of discussion. Please do a search next time.
- docdeek 7y ago
  Interestingly enough, I was one of the poeple who posted the story previously and with the same title and URL. I only posted again after receiving an email from HN this morning, and I thought I’d join the experiment that was described: Hi there, https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21924263 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21924263 looks good, but didn’t get much attention. Would you care to repost it? You can do so here: https://news.ycombinator.com/repost?id=21924263 https://news.ycombinator.com/repost?id=21924263. Please use the same account (docdeek), title, and URL. When these match, the software will give the repost an upvote from the mods, plus we’ll make sure it doesn't get flagged. This is part of an experiment in giving good HN submissions multiple chances at the front page. If you have any questions, let us know. And if you don't want these emails, sorry! Tell us and we won't do it again.
intc 7y ago
More details & pictures: https://www.cryptomuseum.com/covert/bugs/selectric/ https://www.cryptomuseum.com/covert/bugs/selectric/
elteto 7y ago
The Americans, in turn, bugged the Xerox copiers in the Soviet embassy [0]. The copier machines were so complex that even the Soviets bought them from Xerox, instead of trying to make their own clones. Edit: this link [1] has more details about the story. [0] https://www.p4photel.com/topic/at-the-height-of-the-cold-war-xerox-was-one-of-america-s-top-spies https://www.p4photel.com/topic/at-the-height-of-the-cold-war... [1] https://electricalstrategies.com/about/in-the-news/spies-in-the-xerox-machine/ https://electricalstrategies.com/about/in-the-news/spies-in-...
- duxup 7y ago
  What amazes me is that some of these schemes work. Like a machine that copies official documents. How do you not EXPECT that to be bugged?
  - elteto 7y ago
    I remember reading somewhere that the Soviets _did_ suspect it, but finding the bug was non-trivial due to the mechanical complexity of the machines.
Stierlitz 7y ago
covered earlier: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21947924 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21947924
gandhium 7y ago
And the tradition still continues to this day: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/10411473/Russia-spied-on-G20-leaders-with-USB-sticks.html https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/104... > Russia used complimentary 'Trojan horse' pen drives to spy on delegates at G20 summit, it has been reported > Delegations also received mobile phone recharging devices which were also reportedly capable of secretly tapping into emails, text messages and telephone calls.

41 points by docdeek 7y ago

I have a high security crosscut paper shredder that is better than class DIN 66399-2 P-7. I'm wondering: Are there any known cases of bugged paper shredders?

java-man 7y ago
Time to pull out a screwdriver!
T3OU-736 7y ago
It feels like there should be, but nothing jumped out after searches. On the face of it, a camera right before the blades works sorta make sense, but then you how do you account for multiple pages being shredded as one, be the lack of light, the extremely wide angle needed, and likely a myriad of things not mentioned. If you find some, please share :)

ptah 7y ago

There's been a number of similar articles on HN about different ways the soviet spied on US. I wonder if anything is written about coldwar US spy tech

_kbh_ 7y ago
whilst maybe not entirely what you are after this should be at least somewhat related. https://cryptomuseum.com/covert/bugs/index.htm https://cryptomuseum.com/covert/bugs/index.htm
blaser-waffle 7y ago
Search for "Line X" and/or the Farewell Dossier. Not the truck liners, but disinformation campaign.
simonblack 7y ago
"Blind Man's Bluff" https://www.amazon.com/Blind-Mans-Bluff-Submarine-Espionage/dp/1610393589 https://www.amazon.com/Blind-Mans-Bluff-Submarine-Espionage/...

samdung 7y ago

Another, more popular one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thing_(listening_device) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thing_(listening_device)

swarnie_ 7y ago
Great read. I do wonder what procedures are now required to display foreign gifts in government buildings. I know its a common courtesy for heads of state to exchange gifts and a few of these get prominently displayed in very secure places. Just one of many examples is the Resolute desk gifted by the British now sitting in the oval office.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- GhettoMaestro 7y ago
  I believe most things received as gifts from foreign governments are treated as suspect until screened (bio, x-ray, etc).

B1FF_PSUVM 7y ago

"This month [Dec.2019] marks the end of an era for IEEE Spectrum. This issue is the last in which Robert W. Lucky’s Reflections column will make a regular appearance." A good thing coming to an end.

backspace_ 7y ago

This has been posted 6 times now each with a varying level of discussion. Please do a search next time.

docdeek 7y ago
Interestingly enough, I was one of the poeple who posted the story previously and with the same title and URL. I only posted again after receiving an email from HN this morning, and I thought I’d join the experiment that was described: Hi there, https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21924263 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21924263 looks good, but didn’t get much attention. Would you care to repost it? You can do so here: https://news.ycombinator.com/repost?id=21924263 https://news.ycombinator.com/repost?id=21924263. Please use the same account (docdeek), title, and URL. When these match, the software will give the repost an upvote from the mods, plus we’ll make sure it doesn't get flagged. This is part of an experiment in giving good HN submissions multiple chances at the front page. If you have any questions, let us know. And if you don't want these emails, sorry! Tell us and we won't do it again.

intc 7y ago

More details & pictures: https://www.cryptomuseum.com/covert/bugs/selectric/ https://www.cryptomuseum.com/covert/bugs/selectric/

elteto 7y ago

The Americans, in turn, bugged the Xerox copiers in the Soviet embassy [0]. The copier machines were so complex that even the Soviets bought them from Xerox, instead of trying to make their own clones. Edit: this link [1] has more details about the story. [0] https://www.p4photel.com/topic/at-the-height-of-the-cold-war-xerox-was-one-of-america-s-top-spies https://www.p4photel.com/topic/at-the-height-of-the-cold-war... [1] https://electricalstrategies.com/about/in-the-news/spies-in-the-xerox-machine/ https://electricalstrategies.com/about/in-the-news/spies-in-...

duxup 7y ago
What amazes me is that some of these schemes work. Like a machine that copies official documents. How do you not EXPECT that to be bugged?
- elteto 7y ago
  I remember reading somewhere that the Soviets _did_ suspect it, but finding the bug was non-trivial due to the mechanical complexity of the machines.

Stierlitz 7y ago

covered earlier: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21947924 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21947924

gandhium 7y ago

And the tradition still continues to this day: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/10411473/Russia-spied-on-G20-leaders-with-USB-sticks.html https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/104... > Russia used complimentary 'Trojan horse' pen drives to spy on delegates at G20 summit, it has been reported > Delegations also received mobile phone recharging devices which were also reportedly capable of secretly tapping into emails, text messages and telephone calls.