Schneier on Security

Slime Mold with Mustard • March 22, 2017 12:36 PM

Random Observations:
Although there are many documents relating to Japanese codes, there are none specifically related to the Washington Naval Conference from November 1921 to February 1922, which was the “Black Chamber’s” (see Bruce’s post of <a href=https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2017/03/friedman_commen.html”> March 20 ) single greatest accomplishment (although it also infuriated the entire Japanese people when revealed in 1931).

There are repeated references to one Agnes May Meyer (later Driscoll). Turns out she joined the Naval Reserves in 1918, wound up in code and signal, testing codes under consideration for US use. She later joined MI-8 (Black Chamber) and then the Navy as a civilian when Stimson closed that.

The NSA wrote a four page bio, and in 2014, a 69 page embarrassing hagiography.

The Japan Cotton Trading Company has a hundred or more references. Their first project outside Osaka were mills in Manchuria. By the First World War, they were also in India, Burma, and East Africa. I suppose the Americans may have viewed them either as extensions of Japanese influence, or a cover for the Kempeitai or Black Dragon Society operatives.

Pages 48 through 50 mostly refer to bootleggers. Seems that Elizabeth Friedman (William’s wife) was decrypting their traffic for Treasury.

I tried to make some sense of the document ID numbers, without much luck. My best guess is that the documents were acquired in batches from different agencies, they were either winnowed before or when submitted to archives, and that the current reference system was not adopted until perhaps as late as the 1960’s.