
Soviet Russia Bugged an American Embassy’s Typewriters - docdeek
https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-history/silicon-revolution/the-crazy-story-of-how-soviet-russia-bugged-an-american-embassys-typewriters
======
elteto
The Americans, in turn, bugged the Xerox copiers in the Soviet embassy [0].
The copier machines were so complex that even the Soviets bought them from
Xerox, instead of trying to make their own clones.

Edit: this link [1] has more details about the story.

[0] [https://www.p4photel.com/topic/at-the-height-of-the-cold-
war...](https://www.p4photel.com/topic/at-the-height-of-the-cold-war-xerox-
was-one-of-america-s-top-spies)

[1] [https://electricalstrategies.com/about/in-the-news/spies-
in-...](https://electricalstrategies.com/about/in-the-news/spies-in-the-xerox-
machine/)

~~~
duxup
What amazes me is that some of these schemes work.

Like a machine that copies official documents. How do you not EXPECT that to
be bugged?

~~~
elteto
I remember reading somewhere that the Soviets _did_ suspect it, but finding
the bug was non-trivial due to the mechanical complexity of the machines.

------
samdung
Another, more popular one:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thing_(listening_device)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thing_\(listening_device\))

~~~
swarnie_
Great read.

I do wonder what procedures are now required to display foreign gifts in
government buildings. I know its a common courtesy for heads of state to
exchange gifts and a few of these get prominently displayed in very secure
places.

Just one of many examples is the Resolute desk gifted by the British now
sitting in the oval office.

------
Tepix
I have a high security crosscut paper shredder that is better than class DIN
66399-2 P-7. I'm wondering: Are there any known cases of bugged paper
shredders?

~~~
T3OU-736
It feels like there should be, but nothing jumped out after searches.

On the face of it, a camera right before the blades works _sorta_ make sense,
but then you how do you account for multiple pages being shredded as one, be
the lack of light, the extremely wide angle needed, and likely a myriad of
things not mentioned.

If you find some, please share :)

------
intc
More details & pictures:
[https://www.cryptomuseum.com/covert/bugs/selectric/](https://www.cryptomuseum.com/covert/bugs/selectric/)

------
B1FF_PSUVM
_" This month [Dec.2019] marks the end of an era for IEEE Spectrum. This issue
is the last in which Robert W. Lucky’s Reflections column will make a regular
appearance."_

A good thing coming to an end.

------
ptah
There's been a number of similar articles on HN about different ways the
soviet spied on US. I wonder if anything is written about coldwar US spy tech

~~~
simonblack
"Blind Man's Bluff"

[https://www.amazon.com/Blind-Mans-Bluff-Submarine-
Espionage/...](https://www.amazon.com/Blind-Mans-Bluff-Submarine-
Espionage/dp/1610393589)

------
Stierlitz
covered earlier:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21947924](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21947924)

