Great Britain: Boffins to crack al-Qaeda (Codebreaking effort launched, much like 'Enigma' of WW2)

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2006060947,00.html ^ | February 10, 2006 | GEORGE PASCOE-WATSON

[Stoat]

Boffins to crack al-Qaeda

Code breakers ... Bletchley Park
 

By GEORGE PASCOE-WATSON

 GORDON Brown will use the brains that won World War Two to break al-Qaeda’s secret computer codes.

The Chancellor will spend millions assembling a star chamber of eggheads — a new Bletchley Park — to defeat Muslim extremists.

Mr Brown will reveal in a keynote speech in London on Monday: “I have found myself immersed in measures designed to cut off sources of terrorist finance.

“This requires an operation using modern methods of forensic accounting as imaginative and pathbreaking as the Enigma codebreakers at Bletchley Park.”

The Chancellor wants to gather the greatest brains in Britain — and across the world — to work on al-Qaeda messages.

The aim is to intercept emails and uncover the secret codes used by terrorist extremists to fund their spectacular outrages.

Mr Brown’s decision to take control of the terror crisis West shows he is gradually planning for the Premiership.

Bletchley Park — the top secret centre for codebreakers based near Oxford — was immortalised in Kate Winslet film Enigma in 2001.

Boffins broke the famous Nazi Enigma code, allowing the Allies to eavesdrop on Hitler’s war plans.

Mr Brown has held talks already with MI5 and MI6.

[Stoat]

I must confess that I was rather surprised to learn that this sort of thing was not already in place and working....on both sides of the pond.

Biography of Gordon Brown

 

Rt Hon Gordon Brown MP
Chancellor of the Exchequer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gordon Brown was appointed as Chancellor of the Exchequer on 2 May 1997. He has been MP for Dunfermline East since 1983 and was Opposition spokesperson on Treasury and Economic Affairs (Shadow Chancellor) from 1992.

Mr Brown was born in 1951 and educated at Kirkcaldy High School and Edinburgh University where he gained 1st Class Honours and then a Doctorate. He was Rector of Edinburgh University and Chairman of the University Court between 1972 and 1975. From 1976 to 1980, Mr Brown lectured at Edinburgh University and then Caledonian University before taking up a post at Scottish TV (1980 - 1983).

After becoming an MP, Mr Brown was the Chair of the Labour Party Scottish Council (1983 - 1984). Before becoming Shadow Chancellor he held two other senior posts on the Opposition front bench - Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury (1987 - 1989) and Shadow Trade and Industry Secretary (1989 -1992).

Mr Brown has had a number of works published including Maxton, The Politics of Nationalism and Devolution and Where There is Greed. He has edited a number of books including John Smith: Life and Soul of the Party and Values, Visions and Voices.

Outside of work, Mr Brown`s interests include football, tennis and film.

Internal links

Chancellor´s speeches

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See Also:

Brown hails Bush's war (Great Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer delivers glowing endorsement)

 

Biography of Gordon Brown

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

ping for later read

[capt. norm]

It's all over for Osama and the A-Q.

The nerds are going after them now!

[Brad's Gramma]

Geez, would someone PLEASE inform the Mayor of LA before proceeding any further? I'm SICK of listening to him whine that no one tells him ANYTHING!!!!

[LibFreeOrDie]

Hope they have better luck than the FBI did with this project:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/05/AR2005060501213.html

(And I hope they find an equal to Alan Turing.)

[bybybill]

The Brits should buy TV time in Arab land and let them all know our next project.

[claudiustg]

Shouldn't someone tell them these "code machines" to longer have those nifty little gears and tumblers?

[M Kehoe]

Well, why don't we just give the a$$holes the codes? It's like these stupid hearings on Capitol Hill. Better yet, why don't we give al-Queda Fourth, Fifth, and Eighth amendment protection under OUR Constitution? Sheesh. Under the Geneva Conventions, most of these animals would be SHOT.

In my time, if I'd have given the nyt launch code verification procedures, and it was published, I would have been tried for treason, convicted, sentenced, and hung.

We are at war. If anyone reading this doubts we are at war, then I will be courteous, and not call them a richard cranium.

5.56mm

[peyton randolph]

The Brits should buy TV time in Arab land and let them all know our next project.

Cheaper to tell the CIA or Jay Rockefeller and have it passed on to the NY Slimes.

[vbmoneyspender]

I guess things move quicker nowadays. After WWII ended, it took decades for the story of Enigma to come out. But nowadays we've details of our codebreaking efforts coming out before the war has even ended.

[Cindy]

ON THE NET...

http://www.internet-haganah.com/jihadi
http://www.sofir.org
http://www.memri.org/jihad.html
http://www.memritv.org
http://www.jihadwatch.org
http://www.truthusa.com/911news.html

[caveat emptor]

(And I hope they find an equal to Alan Turing.)

Big shoes to fill

[308MBR]

What, if anything, will happen when it is found the trail leads right back to the house of Saud, Iran, Syria, MEMRI, CAIR, and the United Way?

Nothing will be done. It's just like the war on drugs or the EPA; a bunch of bureaucrats trying to justify their position by perpetuating an easily resolved problem while not impacting (or enhancing) their wallets.

[capt. norm]

house of Saud

The time-tested theory: "Follow the Money" makes perfect sense once again.

Thank you for helping me connect the dots.

[LibFreeOrDie]

Turing machines are really interesting. Studied them in a Formal Languages course.

I saw "Breaking the Code" starring Derek Jacobi, but I was disappointed that it dealt more with Turing's personal life instead of his ideas.

[Canard]

"I guess things move quicker nowadays. After WWII ended, it took decades for the story of Enigma to come out. But nowadays we've details of our codebreaking efforts coming out before the war has even ended."

So, in view of this 'things moving quicker', if we do crack these codes, how long do you think we're looking at before someone makes a movie that claims that it was America that did it really? ;)

[TheZMan]

I guess things move quicker nowadays. After WWII ended, it took decades for the story of Enigma to come out. But nowadays we've details of our codebreaking efforts coming out before the war has even ended.

No no, things don't move quicker.

People back then just knew when it was best to keep their F^$@(&* mouths shut.

[TheClintons-STILLAnti-American]

"Geez, would someone PLEASE inform the Mayor of LA before proceeding any further? I'm SICK of listening to him whine that no one tells him ANYTHING!!!!"

I heard he's having a beer with Mike Holmgren this weekend. They're going to cry in each other's mugs.

[TheClintons-STILLAnti-American]

"The Brits should buy TV time in Arab land and let them all know our next project.

Cheaper to tell the CIA or Jay Rockefeller and have it passed on to the NY Slimes."

So pathetically true.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Something good can always be made better.

But why are they blithering about this to the press anyhow. Trying to warn al-Qaeda to use better codes?

[beaver fever]

Excellent bio of Turing and his work with Wittgenstein.

Good snag.

[devolve]

                                                      CLICK AUDIO

[MindBender26]

Mr. Brown and writer of this story have NO concept of how 4th Generation Warfare operates.

[vimto]

You accusing the UK of being behind the times?

Watch out or I'll throw my typewriter at you!

[MindBender26]

Sorry for taking so long to reply. The tubes in my computer take some time to warm up.

[vimto]

Touche!

[AmericaUnited]

we Americans had the Verona Project

Note: It was Venona, not Verona.

A 128-Digit Encryption Key - now that is a toughie !
Existing Supercomputers would need millions of years to crack such encryption !

Bzzz! Not so, but it good that you and the al-Qaeda think so...

[Grampa Dave]

fyi

[MediaMole]

This sounds like a disinformation campaign.

"We are putting our best men on the task of cracking al-qaeda's as yet uncracked codes which we can't read, so they should just keep using those completely secure codes. ...Yeah, that's the ticket, their codes are completely safe and we can't read anything they say..."

[ASA Vet]

Studied them in a Formal Languages course.

I'll bet that was a very polite school.

[Reily]

Homosexual behavior and showing how society is -oh-so unprogressive & ignorant in its attitudes is more interesting to Hollywood then mathematics!
Besides who in Hollywood is a capable enough writer to make ideas in Formal Language Theory,Abstract Algebra & Group Theory understandable & 'interesting' to the movie going crowd.

[mdmathis6]

The United Way?(!)..Oh come on you threw that one in just for fun, hunh?

[308MBR]

Not for fun at all. I wish the Scouts would get out of that group of mush headed liberals.

[TruthNtegrity]

"The bureau also went ahead with a $17 million testing program last December, even though it was clear by then that the software would have to be scrapped, according to the review."

How pathetic is this?

I interviewed for a testing position on this project, in 1995. No joke. The documentation then was 10' in length and some jerk from the FBI "contracting authority" asked me how I could possibly learn what I needed from that much documentation, to start testing 4 months from the interview date.

First, I was tempted to tell him that I was obviously smarter than he, as I would know where to begin to write test cases.

Second, I was tempted to ask why on earth they waited to interview for testing positions, until it was 4 months before testing was due to commence.

Third, I was tempted to tell him that I was smart enough to stay away from anything having to do with the FBI - when all of the contractor personnel knew that the biggest problem was getting enough information out of people who are busy protecting their fannies, and not interested in helping to design a system that really did what it was supposed to do.

The "system" underwent a major overhaul a year or so later, when some birdbrain finally figured out that they weren't designing, programming and testing a system that the FBI thought they had contracted for.

I know people - both at the FBI and with the "engineering oversight companies" - Mitre, Booz Allen, who have ridden this project right into retirement. I know contractors, who have been doing whatever programming, re-architecture, redesign, and testing and evaluation can be done on an ever-evolving system, who have ridden this project right into retirement.

At $170 Million, this is the biggest WPA project I've ever read of.

If I'd been smart, I should have kept my mouth shut, taken the job, sat around and read books and been employed right up until I wanted to retire - as that's what everyone else connected with this fiasco has done.

This entire project affects Homeland Security and defense or our nation in ways that most people don't understand.

The FBI has mandated that LEO's and Fire engine companies around the US be able to "talk" to them, the FBI, but within each locale, a Police guy still can't talk to a Fireman, much less have the FBI call and ask what's going on.

If that doesn't disgust the readers here, who understand what 9/11 was "supposed to mean" in terms of interagency communication, then I don't know what will. The pathetic truth is - that Police Officers in NYC still can't talk with Firemen, and if another large emergency event were to occur, they wouldn't be any better off than they were on 9/11/2001.

As for the FBI project? As a taxpayer, I want my money back and I'd like to see all those inept Mathematicians, system designers, system architects, programmers, and every darn one of the supposed "FBI liaison team" fired.

I know. I'm not holding my breath.

Lastly, here's the killer quote from the same article.

The system was part of Trilogy, a $581 million FBI program that includes a new computer network and thousands of new high-speed personal computers for agents and analysts.

$581 million flushed down the drain.

[dixiechick2000]

VERY nicely done!

^ 5

[Cargon]

Brute force methods of code breaking will not work on RSA encryption.

All they have to do is increase the crypting key a few extra digits and the complexities expand logarithmically