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From: optilink!cramer@uunet.UU.NET (Clayton Cramer)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: Tempest report (eyes-only).
Message-ID: <1991Feb13.223229.8138@cbnews.att.com>
Date: 13 Feb 91 22:32:29 GMT
References: <1991Feb9.034453.5301@cbnews.att.com> <1991Feb11.052309.4004@cbnews.att.com>
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From: optilink!cramer@uunet.UU.NET (Clayton Cramer)

In article <1991Feb11.052309.4004@cbnews.att.com>, henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer) writes:
> A side note on this, which got made in private mail to me after I posted
> a quick followup on the original, is that even if your gear is *not*
> Tempest-qualified, the odds are excellent that a determined spy can get
> results faster and cheaper by means other than electronic eavesdropping.
> The government's concern with Tempest gear is all basically paranoia;
> there has been no known case of computer emissions actually spilling
> anything to the bad guys.  Espionage cases are almost invariably "inside
> jobs".  It is probably easier to bribe your janitors than to eavesdrop
> on your monitors.

This reminds me of an incident that happened many years ago when I
worked at Jet Propulsion Labs.  Not a military installation, but
they were secured rather like one, and security was made even more
so after terrorists threatened to bomb JPL on July 4, 1976 (both
the U.S. Bicentennial and Viking's landing on Mars).

There were photo id badges required to enter the lab.  Those of
us that worked in the Space Flight Operations Facility had a 
separate magnetic stripe card badge to get us into the building.
Really secure against unauthorized entry, right?  So one night,
the "non-interruptible power supply" for the whole building went
out.  Data had to be recovered from the stations of the Deep
Space Network.  What happened?

One of the janitors hit a big switch downstairs with his mop
handle while cleaning the floor.  So I decided to take a careful
look at the badges used by the janitors in SFOF.  Sure enough,
no picture badges, and a generic mag stripe card to get them
in every room in the building.  All these security precautions
could have been easily circumvented by getting a job with the
janitorial firm (an outside contractor), and just walking in
the door with a mop.

Does it seem like the people responsible for "security" like
to play with neat toys?


-- 
Clayton E. Cramer {uunet,pyramid,pixar,tekbspa}!optilink!cramer
"The tree of liberty must be watered periodically with the blood of tyrants 
and patriots alike.  It is its natural manure." -- Thomas Jefferson
You must be kidding!  No company would hold opinions like mine!