Kremlin security agency to buy typewriters 'to avoid leaks'

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**Velour_Fog**

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-23282308

Russia's agency responsible for the Kremlin security is buying typewriters - a move reportedly prompted by recent leaks by WikiLeaks and Edward Snowden.

A 486,540-rouble (£9,860) order for electric typewriters has been placed by the FSO agency on the state procurement website.

The FSO has not commented on why it needs the old-fashioned devices.

But an agency source told Russia's Izvestiya newspaper the aim was to prevent leaks from computer hardware.

"After scandals with the distribution of secret documents by WikiLeaks, the exposes by Edward Snowden, reports about Dmitry Medvedev being bugged during his visit to the G20 London summit (in 2009), it has been decided to expand the practice of creating paper documents," the source said.

The source added that typewriters were already being used at Russia's defence and emergencies ministries for drafts and secret notes, and some reports had been prepared for President Vladimir Putin by typewriter.

Unlike printers, every typewriter had its own individual typing pattern which made it possible to link every document to a particular machine, Izvestiya said.

Mr Snowden, a former CIA contractor, has recently leaked thousands of classified US intelligence documents.

He is currently on the run from the US authorities, and is believed to be at Moscow's airport.

WikiLeaks grabbed world headlines in 2010 by releasing hundreds of thousands of US state department diplomatic cables, including secret files relating to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Saw this and thought it was funny. Had to share.

I can see where they're coming from, though. You can't copy/paste stuff from a filing cabinet.

**Super Ready**

Funny? Yes. Necessary to keep secrets in this day and age? Absolutely.

I just hope for their sake they have the common sense to confiscate all recording-and-imaging-capable equipment, including smartphones, prior to entry.

**poda_t**

Right, because, photocopiers with a scanning capability don't exist...

Not to mention,it can be quite easy to break a flash drive down to parts, reassemble it, and then break it down again..

**Peregrine**

You're missing the key point here:

Unlike printers, every typewriter had its own individual typing pattern which made it possible to link every document to a particular machine, Izvestiya said.

So you might not stop the leak, but it's a lot easier to find out who leaked something and punish them. And if the potential leaker knows this they might be more reluctant to take the risk.

**poda_t**

There are ways to get around that, not every printer or copier can reproduce whatever fancy print pattern.... All you need is patience and the willingness to reduce that first copy to the barest minimum of legibility. Make something idiot or hack proof, and nature will provide wit a bigger idiot, and a better hacker.

**Mr. Burning**

You can also adjust syntax and grammar. add extraneous words, other misinformation etc.

+ You can add dyes and other chemicals to the paper which will react to light sources so will show up specific patterns on photo copies.

**daedalus**

Another classic trick is to release multiple variants of documents with trivial details altered in them to better isolate who it was that let the security slip occur. All you need is an envelope with a copy of the message in it and the name of who is was issued to scribbled at the top hidden away in a file somewhere.

**Steve steveson**

Don't forget it's also much more difficult to leak large amounts pf paper documents than computerised records. You can fit thousands of pages on a thumb nail size memory card. Even more than 3 or 4 sheets of a4 is hard to sneak around with, and changing the format (scanning or photographing) takes allot longer than dumping some files to an external drive.

I think this is to stop the wikileaks/Snowden type of stuff rather than hackers and external agents.

**azazel the cat**

Isn't this basically the mentality that was needed in Battlestar Galactica? Go low-tech to avoid corruption by the Cylons?

In any case, perhaps this will mark a return to the old steal-the-microfilm days of spy movies.

**Frazzled**

azazel the cat wrote:
Isn't this basically the mentality that was needed in Battlestar Galactica? Go low-tech to avoid corruption by the Cylons?

In any case, perhaps this will mark a return to the old steal-the-microfilm days of spy movies.

Yes it is.
You can have computers where the flash drives are locked down - nothing will upload or download. A lot of banks are like that. You can also have a simple desktop that is not hooked up to a phone line. cameras everywhere. Lots of things.

**purplefood**

azazel the cat wrote:
Isn't this basically the mentality that was needed in Battlestar Galactica? Go low-tech to avoid corruption by the Cylons?

In any case, perhaps this will mark a return to the old steal-the-microfilm days of spy movies.

Nah, they should start using faxes. Then when people break in the bug things they will joke and say 'Who uses fax anymore?' little do they know that everyone with a fax machine uses them to communicate with the illuminati and their alien masters. This is also how the moon landing was co-ordinated (Faked on Mars) by the royal family who are secretly vampire lizards and killed Princess Di because she was a werewolf...

**KalashnikovMarine**

The CIA uses a method similar to the individual patterns for typewriters in it's documents. They can track leaks to individual copies based on sentences if they're quoted in say, a new article.