
Mum’s the Word: on the NSA's Series of Cold War Security Posters - benbreen
https://www.bunkhistory.org/resources/3220?related=2223&relationship_name=CORE%20IDEA
======
chriselles
I’m surprised we don’t see a modern reinterpretation of security awareness /
counter intelligence communication reminders.

During the Cold War if the Soviets acquired state of the art semiconductors
there would be little chance in them reverse engineering it successfully
without a massive investment of further IP theft and CAPEX in the form of a
chip fab.

Nowadays the vast majority of total R&D is for commercial use(with military
application) rather than trickle down commercial use from military R&D in the
post WWII environment.

An argument could be made that with an increasing proportion of military
capability being a combination of Commercial technology “A” mashed up with
Commercial technology “B”(with some minor modifications) that the need for
security is greater due to accessibility of commercial technology being near
ubiquitous.

Were the powers that be too paranoid back then, and not paranoid enough now?

Steve Blank’s Secret History of Silicon Valley is relevant:

[https://steveblank.com/secret-history/](https://steveblank.com/secret-
history/)

Especially the inversion of R&D from military to commercial.

------
stephen_g
This article starts OK, but the conclusions don't make any sense to me...
Print advertising isn't dead, it still lives on (of course) in print, and even
if newspapers and magazines are diminishing, billboards and other outdoor
advertising certainly are not. Sure, there is way less of an emphasis on it
with new types of media that have popped up in the meantime, but it's crazy to
say the Internet has killed it...

It says "It’s hard to imagine the NSA launching a similar campaign today" and
"We’ll never see their likes again" \- but of course they still produce this
kind of stuff internally... Sure, the style has evolved and changed from the
mid-century aesthetic, and the way the message is communicated has changed a
bit, but 'creative/artistic' posters for this purpose still exist and will
continue to... I literally saw a cartoon poster reminding people not to share
classified information produced by the Australian Defence Department last week
on a site visit to a Navy facility that uses some of our hardware...

------
NeedMoreTea
Well those look like something made for the original Twilight Zone. Or a
parody of them.

The British equivalents frequently look dated and anachronistic but without
the disturbing vibe. One or two of the WW2 Brit posters had a slightly Soviet
feel - mainly from the art style.

------
ta_egdhs
I don't get the creepy vibe the author is claiming. looks like mundane office
posters of the period to me.

~~~
crummy
a phone in a noose isn't creepy?

