3 ms·

Use one time pads

GuB-42 5y ago
One time pads are really inconvenient and hard to get right. That's why they are almost never used in practice, despite being theoretically perfect. First, you need to generate large amounts of unbiased, true random data. If it is not true randomness, you have a stream cypher, and if you "rolled your own", probably not a good one. They you have to store the one-time pad. It is usually too big to memorize. You have to store in on a device like a USB stick or a book, and guard it well. Then, you have to share the secret, and for that you need a secure channel and that shouldn't rely on encryption, because it would miss the point. Essentially, you need to meet in person, in a secure location. Then, you need to make sure that the one-time pad really is one-time. It should be securely destroyed after each use, preferably on both ends.
- VLM 5y ago
  IF you want to send arbitrary data. Usually people don't need that. For something like coke smuggling you just need to know its on the way, get ready. So the OTP could be something as lame as "if you get a phone call from some rando who says 'Taste the Feeling'" then the next boat is full of coke, or if not, then the next boat is not full of coke". Actually terrible idea as taste the feeling was a coke company slogan a couple years back, but you get the general idea.
  - rtkwe 5y ago
    You generally need more information flow than that to successfully coordinate a big logistics move like this though which is where you need arbitrary messages.
  - vkou 5y ago
    Most criminal activity involves communicating arbitrary data. Communicating that a drug boat is coming across a border is a tiny fraction of the communication in a criminal organization. In the scenario you described, planning out the communication protocol itself is an example of communicating arbitrary data... That needs to happen, at every physical hand-off point.
    - VLM 5y ago
      Interestingly, no. I had recently finished reading both books by Robert Mason, who started out flying helicopters for the Army in Vietnam and ended up smuggling literal tons of weed and got caught and did federal time. Pretty interesting autobiography. Anyway my comments fit pretty well with his description contained in his second book. Mr Mason got caught by bad luck. There will always be small timers who do things small timer style who get caught by being verbose and oversharing, and to catch those we'll have "encrypted" smartphones.
VLM 5y ago
In this situation that would leave you open to network analysis and location analysis, even if no payloads were decryptable. Using enough data warehousing and artificial intelligence, eventually some algorithm would notice that every time some dude gets a phone call, next month the same boat gets a bill for servicing its water intakes, and a month later coke supply increases in .au decreasing the price. Might take a few times, but someone's getting caught. The best part is if they go in shooting on a warrant and kill some random completely uninvolved people, it was all an algorithm's fault and nobody is to blame and I guess we just need more police involvement and surveillance to prevent future tragedies.
notyourday 5y ago
If you have a way to security distribute one time pads you don't actually need one time pads as you have a way to security distribute the messages as the one time pads are higher than the size of the messages you are distributing.
- isoprophlex 5y ago
  Nevertheless you can distribute your pad once and communicate over clear channels for a long time. You might even schedule regular communications to avoid being caught by traffic metadata analysis.

Use one time pads

One time pads are really inconvenient and hard to get right. That's why they are almost never used in practice, despite being theoretically perfect. First, you need to generate large amounts of unbiased, true random data. If it is not true randomness, you have a stream cypher, and if you "rolled your own", probably not a good one. They you have to store the one-time pad. It is usually too big to memorize. You have to store in on a device like a USB stick or a book, and guard it well. Then, you have to share the secret, and for that you need a secure channel and that shouldn't rely on encryption, because it would miss the point. Essentially, you need to meet in person, in a secure location. Then, you need to make sure that the one-time pad really is one-time. It should be securely destroyed after each use, preferably on both ends.

VLM 5y ago
IF you want to send arbitrary data. Usually people don't need that. For something like coke smuggling you just need to know its on the way, get ready. So the OTP could be something as lame as "if you get a phone call from some rando who says 'Taste the Feeling'" then the next boat is full of coke, or if not, then the next boat is not full of coke". Actually terrible idea as taste the feeling was a coke company slogan a couple years back, but you get the general idea.
- rtkwe 5y ago
  You generally need more information flow than that to successfully coordinate a big logistics move like this though which is where you need arbitrary messages.
- vkou 5y ago
  Most criminal activity involves communicating arbitrary data. Communicating that a drug boat is coming across a border is a tiny fraction of the communication in a criminal organization. In the scenario you described, planning out the communication protocol itself is an example of communicating arbitrary data... That needs to happen, at every physical hand-off point.
  - VLM 5y ago
    Interestingly, no. I had recently finished reading both books by Robert Mason, who started out flying helicopters for the Army in Vietnam and ended up smuggling literal tons of weed and got caught and did federal time. Pretty interesting autobiography. Anyway my comments fit pretty well with his description contained in his second book. Mr Mason got caught by bad luck. There will always be small timers who do things small timer style who get caught by being verbose and oversharing, and to catch those we'll have "encrypted" smartphones.

VLM 5y ago

In this situation that would leave you open to network analysis and location analysis, even if no payloads were decryptable. Using enough data warehousing and artificial intelligence, eventually some algorithm would notice that every time some dude gets a phone call, next month the same boat gets a bill for servicing its water intakes, and a month later coke supply increases in .au decreasing the price. Might take a few times, but someone's getting caught. The best part is if they go in shooting on a warrant and kill some random completely uninvolved people, it was all an algorithm's fault and nobody is to blame and I guess we just need more police involvement and surveillance to prevent future tragedies.

notyourday 5y ago

If you have a way to security distribute one time pads you don't actually need one time pads as you have a way to security distribute the messages as the one time pads are higher than the size of the messages you are distributing.

isoprophlex 5y ago
Nevertheless you can distribute your pad once and communicate over clear channels for a long time. You might even schedule regular communications to avoid being caught by traffic metadata analysis.