From: "Randy H" 

(from Politech)

----- Forwarded message from Tim May -----
From: Tim May
Subject: Crypto in Baghdad--Jaguar and Saddam's Bunker
To: cypherpunks
Date: Tue, 8 Apr 2003 20:02:01 -0700
X-Mailer: Apple Mail (2.551)
I heard an intriguing story about 24 hours ago while channel surfing
between CNN, MSNBC, and Fox. I came in late on a story where a woman
reporter or anchor was explaining in detail how the U.S. and British had
broken Saddam's supposedly secure communications system. I hear her mention
"Jaguar."
This was in connection with the 4 2000-lb bombs dropped where he was
believed to be staying.
Then the main anchor said something about this maybe being sensitive information.
I listened for a repeat of this story--usually the same reports are
recycled ad nauseum, picked up by other networks, etc. I figured a reliable
report that the "Coalition" (I hate that word, but I'm tired of
saying "U.S. and Brits") had broken all of Saddam's
communications would be interesting.
Nothing. At least nothing on the 3 satellite channels I monitor. However,
it looks like the story got picked up some in the press. And, sure enough,
the Fox report is credited. Considering how Geraldo was chased out of Iraq
for drawing a sketch in the sand, I wonder what will happen to the reporter
who broke this story? Needless to say, it reaffirms what we have long known
about the dangers of buying crypto gear from First World countries, who
only sell gear they know how to break.
Saddam should have been using PGP.
Here's an excerpt from the online story: "But Fox News Channel
reported that coalition forces were guided to the site after breaking into
Saddam's coded communication system, known as a Jaguar security encryption
system. "He reportedly bought the system 20 years ago from the
British, when it was guaranteed secure. But the Brits had since figured out
how to infiltrate the system they designed - and passed on the information
to the United States, Fox reported. "
http://www.nypost.com/news/worldnews/72979.htm>
Other reports are saying it was a Racal Jaguar V, a system sold to Iraq
almost 20 years ago. Some excerpts:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,932739,00.html>
--begin excerpt--
"On Monday, however, some outdated British technology was involved.
Saddam's hunters zeroed in on an old communications system made by the
British company Racal, which the Iraqi leadership bought during the
Iran-Iraq war for sending encrypted communications among themselves. At the
time, the Racal Jaguar V was a sophisticated secure combat radio system,
equipped with two main security mechanisms: encryption to scramble message
content and frequency-hopping at the rate of up to 200 times a second to
make eavesdropping difficult and defeat enemy electronic jamming measures.
According to the New York Post yesterday, the British cracked the
encryption code for the radios some time ago and passed the information to
the Americans.
Steven Aftergood, a senior intelligence technology researcher at the
Federation of American Scientists, said: "If it was really a
20-year-old system, then one has to assume that the encryption is obsolete,
that it has been penetrated." Other military analysts said it was just
as likely that the British government would only have granted Racal export
licences for the radios if it had already been satisfied it could break the
encryption. Ruper Pengelly, the technical editor of Jane's, said: "All
of these exports had to be approved by the government, particularly
encryption. It was generally understood that only encryption up to a
certain level would be licensed for export, so if they allowed it out of
the country it was a safe bet that it was crackable, although that is
something they could never say publicly."
The first consignment of Jaguar radios to Iraq was in 1985, says Kenneth
Timmerman, a journalist specialising in the Middle East and arms sale
networks. Four years later, the British government licensed the sale of 13
Jaguar radios at a cost of $360,000 (#225,000). In the same year, according
to Timmerman, Saddam bought 2,000 Jaguar kits worth $48m, and $4m of
encryption technology.
--end excerpt--

--Tim May
(.sig for Everything list background) Corralitos, CA. Born in 1951. Retired
from Intel in 1986. Current main interest: category and topos theory, math,
quantum reality, cosmology.
Background: physics, Intel, crypto, Cypherpunks
----- End forwarded message -----


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