
Selectric bug - mmastrac
http://www.cryptomuseum.com/covert/bugs/selectric/index.htm
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DawkinsGawd
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thing_%28listening_device%...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thing_%28listening_device%29)

~~~
memracom
So the Russians invented and built the first working RFID in 1945! No wonder
they made such a big deal about being a nation of builders in their opening
show for the Sochi Olympics. What happened to the USA that they began to
underestimate these folks?

Now it becomes clear where all that weaponry and defense systems used in Syria
comes from. And they keep hinting that they are only using a fraction of their
capability, mostly old stuff.

If you think the USA defence establishment is equal or better, then I have to
point out that they have nothing like SpaceX, Tesla or Google's self drive
cars. The secret sauce is that the private sector knows how to innovate and
iterate and deliver working products.

Is it possible that the Russians have their own secret private sector building
stuff? If so, they would need an entire secret economy that is impervious to
sanctions, etc.

~~~
pjc50
_What happened to the USA that they began to underestimate these folks?_

The USA's extreme anticommunism led people to believe in its own supremacy and
manifest destiny. Now, it is true that communism is a terrible system of
economic organisation and capable of the casual deaths of millions, but that
does not reflect on the intellectual capabilities of individual Russians. Or
small teams that managed to achieve enough political protection to deliver
great work.

It's something of an accident of history that HN celebrates Musk rather than
Korolev, Tesla rather than Theremin.

 _Now it becomes clear where all that weaponry and defense systems used in
Syria comes from_

This isn't really a surprise; Russia has been arming Syria since its
independence just after WW2. Much of the weaponry is the ubiquitous AK-47 /
RPG-7 and clones; their air force uses MiG and Sukhoi aircraft.

 _Is it possible that the Russians have their own secret private sector
building stuff?_

No. They do have rather a lot of freebooter ""cyberwarfare"" people, though,
usually engaged in credit card fraud and the like.

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jacquesm
That's one very clever bug. Pity there is no schematic or a more high
resolution photograph. You'd think that since the existence is now public
there would be no harm in that.

~~~
makomk
Apart from anything else, they probably don't want to give people hints on how
to hide bugs from non-linear junction detectors. I think those are still a
critical tool for bug detection at least in the private sector. No idea what
the government's using these days.

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sowbug
It's fun to imagine keeping the typewriters around in the embassy just to
troll the eavesdroppers. But I suspect that at the time, nobody knew for sure
what their capabilities were, so the safer choice was just to remove them.

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walshemj
So how did the bug get into the typewriters?

And surprised that the NSA could not get IBM to provide 220v selectrics.

Or just use a step down transformer to convert 220v to 110v

~~~
lisper
> So how did the bug get into the typewriters?

It's explained in the article:

<quote>

Planting the bug

The bugs were probably planted inside the IBM Selectric typewriters when the
machines were in transit (perhaps in Poland or Moscow itself) awaiting customs
inspection prior to their delivery to the US embassy in Moscow.

</quote>

~~~
walshemj
That's only probably the infection route this begs the question why didn't
they go in the diplomatic bag. I hope some one in the CIA got fired over this
fiasco - the KGB have had people put in front of a firing squad for less.

~~~
jacquesm
If you've never seen a selectric (or lifted one) you would be excused for
wondering why they didn't go 'in the diplomatic bag'.

The article lists about 11 tons of equipment, that would be one hell of a bag.

~~~
germanier
If you've never seen a diplomatic bag you would be excused for wondering how a
Selectric would fit in it ;)

"Bag" (also called "pouch") is a bit of a misnomer. It's not limited in shape,
size or weight by the Vienna Convention so it can really be anything that can
be transported, including ISO containers.

For example, one of the toilet pumps of the ISS was sent in a diplomatic bag
to the US, which is around the same weight as one Selectric
[https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn14017](https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn14017)

I remember reading about one incident in the 1980s were a Russian truck of 9
tons was turned down at first at the Swiss border but could pass through
later.

~~~
gh02t
It's important to note that the "bags" are only exempt from _legal_ search and
seizure at e.g. customs or by police. If they're not equipped with effective
tamper-evident seals and/or escorted by a trustworthy courier at all times
then they can (and probably will) be intercepted. It's tough to gain access to
the small ones, but a shipping container is much harder to keep under watch at
all times. It only matters if you get caught with your hands in the cookie jar
after all.

I'd guess the typewriters weren't shipped in tamper-proof containers and were
simply altered en route. I once read a story that I can't find again about the
CIA intercepting a shipment of (what I think were fighter planes?) and
disassembling them overnight, then putting them back together to be on the
train again the next morning. It was a great story, I wish I could find it
again.

~~~
dmckeon
Perhaps the Lunik space vehicle:

[https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-
intellig...](https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-
intelligence/kent-csi/vol11no1/html/v11i1a04p_0001.htm)

~~~
gh02t
Yes that's it! Thanks, I had a feeling it was something aerospace, but I was
thinking fighter.

