[extropy-chat] codes in scam letters

[kevinfreels.com]

> kevinfreels.com wrote:
>
> >A huge amount of spam is trapped at the ISP level before getting to the
> >consumer, so I doubt this would be an effective way to send code to
> >terrorists. They would be better served sending genuine personal messages
> >that are coded with one-time cyphers.
> >
> >Dan Clemmensen wrote:

> But it is trivially easy to set up an e-mail server of your own: an
> e-business.
> The ISP does not in general filter on behalf of an e-business: it is the
> responsibility
> of the business to defend itself.
>
> Furthermore, even if a "huge amount" is filtered, a "huge amount" still
> gets through.

Kevin Freels writes:

Right, but who are we speaking of when we refer to the receiver? My
impression of this idea was that the spam was broadcast to the general
population to be picked up by terrorists who appear in all ways to be
"average users". Once they start setting up mail servers and such they begin
to draw attention to themselves and make themselves easier to isolate. If
they want to appear average they will have a regular ISP, possibly AOL, and
maybe even dial-up.

Also, given the amount of spam out there, wouldn't there be an additional
risk of the receivers interpreting real spam as messages.

____________________

Kevin Freels wrote:

>>A huge amount of spam is trapped at the ISP level before getting to the
>>consumer, so I doubt this would be an effective way to send code to
>>terrorists. They would be better served sending genuine personal messages
>>that are coded with one-time cyphers.

>David Lubkin wrote:

>Any traffic that appears to be encrypted will be scrutinized by their
>opponents, as will any traffic from or to a suspect. The best ways to
>communicate will not draw attention. In the WW II model, signalling
>by the radio broadcast of a particular popular song is preferable to
>"the crows fly at dawn."

>Because encrypted traffic is relatively rare, it draws attention.
>Those who want strong crypto should also want it to be an automatic,
>default feature in all popular software for communicating through
>Internet protocols (email, chat, HTTP, SMS, VOIP, etc.).

True, but in the WWII model, the point is that the signal is buried in a ton
of irrelevant information. I'm talking about regular daily conversation
between a "student" and his "mother" oversees and such. Moreover, the sender
sends messages to dozens of other people who are not part of the
"conspiracy" and the mother does as well. They both receive dozens of
messages daily as well. Every day they talk back and forth and a message
would only be buried occasionally. We're not talking about a single
broadcast like "the crows fly at dawn".  More like "I failed my test today"
or "Your father hurt his back today changing a lightbulb". Each sender
becomes their own radio station and with more radio stations only increases
the complexity for those who would listen in.

When you add to it that they would want to appear to be average users and
sign up with a regular ISP with spam filtering and then include the
possibility that real spam might be misinterpreted by the receiver as a
message, I just don;t think that spam makes the best vehicle for such
messages.

I did have a thought though. A better medium would be these stupid chain
letters with nice little christian poems that say "forward to at least 10
loved ones and you will be blessed". Or neat faked images of events like the
tsunamis and the supposed "unknown" species of fish stranded on the beach.
Or photos of US troops with giant spiders. Or groups of arabs supposedly
holding anti-american signs that were written by hired translators that
happened to be retired army generals. etc etc ad naseum.





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