Inside the Russian Short Wave Radio Enigma (2011)

Re:Inside the Russian Short Wave Radio Enigma (2011) by awakened on Tuesday September 02, 2014 @07:24PM (#8260752)

UVB-76 is a number station transmitting one-time pad encrypted messages. Old transport technology (radio) sending old, unbreakable crypto technology (one-time pad encrypted messages) at the speed of light all across the world. These technologies (as old as they are) will never be replaced with new infrastructure dependent technologies. The key is that they allow for decentralized, secure comms at the speed of light. No satellites or fiber required. It only takes a handful of guys to do it too. You can even run them from solar panels and battery packs from caves in Timbukto. Take that, nation state controlled Internet.

The Great FireWall of X, does not stop radio. Try to jam omni-directional NVIS. Better yet, try to locate the guys receiving it.

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Re:Inside the Russian Short Wave Radio Enigma (2011) by toyg on Tuesday September 02, 2014 @07:34PM (#8260776)

To be fair though, this is broadcasting, i.e. a one-way tech. It's also "decentralized" up to a point.

I see your point though. It's what I feel when I see 70-year-old cars still running: any car made after 2000 relies on electronics in a way that will make them unusable in a few years from now; but those old tin-boxes will still be around then and beyond.

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Re:Inside the Russian Short Wave Radio Enigma (2011) by bagels on Tuesday September 02, 2014 @10:36PM (#8261275)

There's open source computers for the important bits, the locomotion.

Of course the climate controls, radio and other stuff will eventually become useless with no direct replacement parts.

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Re:Inside the Russian Short Wave Radio Enigma (2011) by cbd1984 on Wednesday September 03, 2014 @01:39AM (#8261653)

> The key is that they allow for decentralized, secure comms at the speed of light.

Until someone sends in a drone with a radio-seeking attachment on it and a few hundred pounds of high explosives strapped to its ass. It's hardly infrastructure-free when the infrastructure it relies on has just been blown to Hell.

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Re:Inside the Russian Short Wave Radio Enigma (2011) by hessenwolf on Wednesday September 03, 2014 @03:48AM (#8261913)

The sentry gun is always going to re-aim faster, because it does not have to travel along as large a circumference to be at a different angle.

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Re:Inside the Russian Short Wave Radio Enigma (2011) by gambiting on Wednesday September 03, 2014 @11:12AM (#8263369)

But antennas are neither difficult nor expensive to make. If it's destroyed another one can be erected within a day.

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