Schneier on Security

Clive Robinson • August 15, 2026 6:10 AM

@ r, ALL,

Like many others Matthew Green has the history and facts of what eventually became a manufactured nonsense by the FBI wrong, if not totally backward…

I tried to “make a post” on his site using the “email option” but it just disappeared…

But the real reasons are,

Firstly the US got politically embarrassed by the Soviets and thus made the stupid mistake way back last century of cutting back with “boots on the ground” HumInt “methods and sources” and instead went down the technological rabbit hole of ElInt etc and “watching from space” (which is now rather more in danger of “going dark” due to anti-sat missiles etc).

HumInt when conducted properly is orders of magnitude better than ElInt etc. So the US became overly dependent on it’s diplomates tittle-tattle[1] and Sovereign Nation partners HumInt sources and methods (the UK being but one[2]).

Secondly Law Enforcment got fat and lazy again back last century long before the “public internet” became a thing in the later 1990s. And it was the 5th FBI Director Louis Freeh that started the nonsense that much later became “Going Dark”.

As I point out from time to time the work of Claude Shannon, and Gus Simmons gave proof of both “Perfect Secrecy” and that it would also be “Covert” way before that. And I’ve described here in the past in detail exactly how to do this with just a pencil and paper OTP and phrase Code Book, basic technology available from before WWII and in everyday use just about everywhere in WWI, so well understood in use.

The real issue is I also point out from time to time is,

“user convenience”

and Law Enforcement reliance on people taking the “easy route”. That is ordinary people going for “convenience” rather than the minor inconvenience of OpSec that would give them guaranteed Communications Security.

In effect the FBI and other Guard Labour have become,

“Donut munching keyboard warriors with ever expanding waistlines and need of type II meds, scared whit less of what the public might do to them if they chose to.”

The thing is there is plenty of proof of two things with criminals,

1, They want hi-grade privacy.
2, The less smart ones want convenience more.

Just read up on the fake secure mobile phones that so many got caught by like “Encro-Chat”,

‘https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EncroChat

And how the whole operation got blown due to a “gym-bunnie”…

‘https://www.essexnewsandinvestigations.com/single-post/corrupt-police-analyst-who-leaked-encrochat-op-was-promoted-after-moving-into-suspected-crook-s-home

Yup you could not make it up… But this is the real thing that scares not just the Guard Labour, but their political bosses that want everything on the cheap or for free.

[1] What Chelsea Manning was accused of giving to Wikileaks via it’s founder and public face Julian Assange.

[2] Because of US politicians “burning” other Sovereign Nations HumInt “Methods and sources” for “press sound bites” etc (most notably the UK and Dutch). The US is finding that they are nolonger considered “trustworthy” and this means “no raw intelligence”. Which is a significant issue as anyone who remembers the “Yellow-Cake” nonsense will know,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niger_uranium_forgeries

Clive Robinson • August 15, 2026 7:34 AM

@ ResearcherZero,

Something else to add to the list,

https://militarnyi.com/en/articles/attacks-on-wildberries-warehouses-what-do-russian-banks-have-to-do-with-it/

It’s actually putting quite a ding in Russian activities.

Because a lot of what would have traditionally fallen under “military logistics” like “food, bandages, clothing and basic non kinetic equipment” has been neglected by the incompetence of Russian leaders, thus private individuals have taken up the very necessary supply of such items “through Wildberries”.

Thus taking out distribution centers etc has a significant impact on Russian combat readiness/efficiency that ripples back all the way to Putin and down the line to many “Conscriptoviches”…