Overview
and Countermeasures
Many foreign governments, including friendly
countries allied with the United States, have large programs to collect economic,
political and military intelligence by intercepting U.S. communications.
Most U.S. long distance telephone and fax
communications goes via the air waves -- and any signals in the air can be and frequently
are intercepted.
Many of the technological advances designed
for our convenience can easily be used against us. Cellular telephones are especially
vulnerable, but cordless phones, e-mail, answering machines and voice mail can all be
exploited in various ways.
Are you a potential target? If eavesdropping
on anything you say or write could increase someone else's wealth or influence, then the
answer must be yes, you are a potential target.
Some countries now focus their communications
intercept programs against the U.S. on collection of competitive economic and industrial
intelligence in addition to traditional military and political targets. Targets now
include information such as marketing plans, customer lists, financial data, contract
negotiations, research and development, and production technology for new products. The
foreign collectors of this information typically pass it to companies in their country to
foster national economic development. U.S. intelligence agencies are prohibited by law
from sharing acquired foreign economic and industrial information with domestic U.S.
commercial organizations. This can and often does put American companies at a distinct
disadvantage.
In most cases, there is no way to know
whether an individual communication is being monitored. Because it is so easy to monitor
communications and happens so often, it is best to assume that any communication which
contains information of great potential value to another person, organization, or country
may be monitored. There are only two ways to counter interception of telephone and fax
communications:
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Do not discuss or even allude indirectly to
sensitive subjects over the telephone or fax.
-
If you must use telephone or fax, encrypt all
sensitive communications.
Sensitive information should not be discussed
by phone or sent by fax on any unencrypted line. Long distance communications and cellular
phone calls are especially vulnerable to monitoring as they go through the airwaves. Many
people think they are being secure by using double-talk, or talking around a sensitive
subject, when using the phone. This may fool a casual eavesdropper who hears only that one
conversation, but it is generally ineffective when someone is monitoring all your calls.
To reduce the chances of your phone number
getting on the target list, avoid key words or phrases that intelligence collectors may
use in automated searches to identify conversations of potential intelligence interest.
Examples are organization names, project code names, product names, names of senior
personnel, and labels such as sensitive and company confidential.
Encryption works. The growth of wireless
communications has prompted a comparable growth in encryption to thwart the many
eavesdroppers. Within the U.S. government and defense industry, the secure telephone unit
(STU-III) provides a secure means for discussing classified information over the
telephone.
If you have a STU-III secure telephone, use it, but
remember that even the STU-III depends upon strict telephone security discipline. A
defector from one of the foreign intelligence services that monitor U.S. communications
reports that STU-III encryption is unbreakable. However, he also advised that the chitchat
that occurs before the STU-III is switched to secure mode and after it is switched off of
secure mode is a bonanza of valuable information.
Communications
monitors can identify STU-III lines, so these phone numbers are obvious targets.
Therefore, a STU-III line being used in non-secure mode may be more likely to be monitored
than another line that never carries encrypted communications.
Related Topics: Using the STU-III, Who's Doing What to Whom?, Overseas Communications.
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