Posted on 01/01/2017 5:24:11 PM PST by 11th_VA
The Kremlin is returning to typewriters in an attempt to avoid damaging leaks from computer hardware, it has been claimed.
A source at Russia's Federal Guard Service (FSO), which is in charge of safeguarding Kremlin communications and protecting President Vladimir Putin, claimed that the return to typewriters has been prompted by the publication of secret documents by WikiLeaks, the whistle-blowing website, as well as Edward Snowden, the fugitive US intelligence contractor.
The FSO is looking to spend 486,000 roubles around £10,000 on a number of electric typewriters, according to the site of state procurement agency, zakupki.gov.ru. The notice included ribbons for German-made Triumph Adlew TWEN 180 typewriters, although it was not clear if the typewriters themselves were this kind.
The service declined to comment on the notice, which was posted last week.
However an FSO source told Izvestiya newspaper: After scandals with the distribution of secret documents by WikiLeaks, the exposes by Edward Snowden, reports about Dmitry Medvedev being listened in on during his visit to the G20 summit in London, it has been decided to expand the practice of creating paper documents.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Commodore 64s would probably be OK.
Or use old 8-bit computers so you can have some word processing ability with internet connectivity crippled at best.
Yeah. The Russians fear that someone might hack in and try to manipulate their elections....
IBM Selectrics for the win.
There is just something satisfying about old tech. Didn’t I just read on here recently that McAfee uses an early cell phone for security reasons?
It’s interesting how the farther back you go, the more reliable and secure are the storage media. To wit:
-stone / clay tablets
-metallic engravings
-papyrus
-paper
-photographs
-vinyl records
-magnetic tape / hard disk
-CD rom
-DVD
-digital / electronic
Each one seems to have become less permanent than the last. Imagine 500 years from now, archeologists trying to figure out what is on a floppy disk...
When high tech fails, old school - rules!
Next: carbon paper hacking
The Hill reports that Trump is considering using couriers - and not email - to send sensitive information.
I bought a portable manual typewriter from an estate sale for $30 or so.
The case was worn but the typewriter looked almost new. There was a little wear on a couple of the letters. It seemed to work OK.
I also got an old timey hand crank adding machine that weighs a ton and has wooden rollers on it. The thing seems functional. It must weigh 60 to 70 pounds and eats up some space.
The sale was from a house down the street. I bought the stuff on the third day.
The house was for sale too. I loved the wide open floor plan but the interior screamed late 70s. If we sold our house for even close to what it’s worth, everything would have had to go into the new place up to par.
A couple of weeks later when the floods and winds came through, a really big pine fell on the roof. At least no one was there.
iPhones make printed document transmission trivial.
Typer-writer ribbon hacking....
Trump said that sensitive documents should be put on paper and couriered to avoid hacking when the press asked him about hacking yesterday.
That reminds me of a story a friend of mine, who is in his 70’s, told me about when he was a Yeoman in the Navy. One of his jobs, as he had a top secret clearance, was to over see the disposal and burning of all the type writer ribbons used in his office.
Those were good typewriters. I miss the electric typewriters. I still have my daddy’s manual typewriter.
Old school. There were still procedures to deal with ribbons and carbons etc...
The Russians should not be too quick in implementing this idea.
Remember, there are whiz kids out there that will figure a way to hack a typewriter. After all Jill Stein was certain paper ballots were hacked with floppy discs.
Seriously, they can still use just about any computer they want. Just fix it so it can never be connected to any internet or intranet.
I had a boat anchor Underwood and then a small portable briefcase sized. It was much different. Oh, and the desktop processor was a
a Websters dictionary and a Harbrace Grammer handbook.
Raise your R. hand if you've never used a typewriter.
Raise your L. hand if you've never heard of a "typewriter".
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