Schneier on Security

Clive Robinson • February 19, 2022 6:57 AM

The Politicians solution for when the $5 wrench cryptanalysis does not work

https://digirig.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/troubleshooting-700×350.jpg.webp

Clive Robinson • February 19, 2022 11:11 AM

@ MarkH,

<

blockquote>Did you notice that this is the “exit wound?” The exterior hole is much smaller than the interior rim of the conical opening.

Such a conical hole from a high velosity shell is caused by a shockwave.

Now look at the bricks… See any sign of a shockwave?

Now have another look, if your observational abilities are upto it you will see several other tell tails that the hole was not caused by a high velocity shell.

Also ask yourself a question, if it was an item of munitions, where is it? It certainly did not explode, so they would have been able to film it “as proof” but they did not…

Again look around and you will see other evidence it’s been staged.

Clive Robinson • February 19, 2022 1:42 PM

@ Winter,

It also forces Europe et all to act.

They already have but they are trying to keep it quiet.

Have a look around the Ukrainian Company “Motor Sich”. With little doubt it is one of the worlds most advanced manufacture of aircraft engines for military drones, cruise missiles and the like.

Not so long ago Chinese company “Skyrizon” attempted to buy them, but almost at the last moment the sale was blocked in 2017 by the Ukranian president Zelensky on “national security grounds”.

The Chinese company was so upset by this that towards the end of 2021 it took the highly unusual aproach of going to the European based “Permanent Court of Arbitration” in the Hague to seek, according to media reporting, financial redressss to the tune of $4.5Billion from the Ukrainian government… (which is unlikely to happen as the “National Security” exemption argument is allowable under the rules).

But… You should ask what happened to Motor Sich since then? And that is where things get very interesting…

As you probably know there is no love between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Because Erdogan has put Putin “in his place” on a number of occasions. So Putin knows Erdogan will not hesitate to not just point weapons at the Russian Military, but Erdogan will quite happily pull the trigger, just to make a point to Putin that he’s not the “Big Man” Putin trys to portray to his home audience. And Putin knows Erdogan will do it because Erdogan already has done so on several occasions, and each time Russia backed down. The most memorable being the shooting down of Russian aircraft that were involved with supporting the Syria leader, by attacking those Syrians and others who were opposed to the “dentists” behaviours.

What is not so well known is that Ukranian President Zelensky went to Ankara where he had talks with President Erdogan.

So what did Zelensky and Erdogan chat about in Ankara? Well we don’t know about all of it but we do know of one relevant thing…

Turkey makes a lot of military equipment part of which is they make the Akinci strike drones made by Turkish defence company Baykar. The result was Baykar getting 30 of Motor Sich’s turboprop engines back in October last year…

But… In early February President Erdogan visited Kiev and eight defence agreements were signed.

But… they also signed a deal to build more TB2 drones together in both countries. So Motor Sich has become a partner in this Turkish-Ukrainian joint drone development to not just supply engines for the drones but build the drones under licence in the Ukraine. But that is not all, Turkey has also significantly strengthening it’s defence cooperation with Ukraine

We know the Ukranians like the drones because a number of them have already seen action in the Ukrainan Donbas region keeping the pro-Russia separatists in check last year.

So, Motor Sich has found a new investor – Turkey, and the Ukraine has gained a stratigic defense partner – Turkey. Not good news for Putin and his “Big Man” of “Strong Russia” stance he gives for his home audiance.

But it goes further, because although Turkey has it’s own arms industry it still “buys from abroad”. And it might suprise many to find out that they buy quite a lot from EU nations. One of which is “5000 Helmets” Germany. The problem for Turkey is all of those EU nations are Nato members which in effect could cause Turkey problems so the Ukranian deal gives Turkey some much needed diversification.

But what has “5000 Helmets” sold to Turkey that it realy does not want to talk about currently?

Well the answer is apparabtly “quite a lot” in fact a little over a third of all Germany’s defence sales in 2019. That is according to German media reports Germany sent €250.4 million worth of weapons to Turkey in the first eight months of 2019 alone, the highest sales in over 14 years.

Which journalist Nikos Fragkakis who is Greek and thus quite woried about Turkey’s expanshionist plans under Erdogan, has cimmented on,

“German companies sell hi-tech defence material to Turkey for the production of the Bayraktar at a time when the west imposed an embargo on defence systems to Turkey.”

Fragkakis, goes on to say Germany is Turkeys main enabler.

Hmm a bit embarrassing perhaps… But it actually gets worse,

After Germany imposed a ban on weapons sales to Turkey, following Turkish Military assaults and near ethnic cleansing of Syrian Kurds, the German government agreed to supply Turkey with key components for the construction of six German submarines in July 2020, amoungst many other sales.

But why are the submarine sales so important? Well many believe it to have shifted the balance of power in the Eastern Mediterranean in favour of Turkey. Oh and of course that little patch of water south of the Ukraine that Russia sees as being so important it invaded it.

So has Russia anything to worry about? Well yes according to a Moscow based defence analyst quoted in various MSM articles.

He says both Germany and US aid Turkey while exploiting the Turkish millitary and Erdogan’s expansionist plans. Going on to point out that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflicts have given Turkey rather more than a toehold in the South Caucasus. He further indicates that this will enable Erdogan to push into Central Asia, challenging Russia. As well as southward down into the Persian Gulf. So challenging not just Russia, but Russian allies like Iran. The implication is that Turkey is going to reclaim the Ottoman Empire it once had, that the Russian Empire took away from it over more than a century ago.

He rather pointedly ignores the fact that if Turkey were to do that then the modern state of Israel would also be on his list, which kind of negates his argument about US support for any southwards move.

But Russia should be worried because Turkey, blocks Russian access into the East Mediteranian and six top of the line submarines would cause the Russians very significant issues…

Because there is also another “Elephant in the room”. The Ukraine used to be where a very great deal of Russia’s nuclear capability was manufactured. So the Ukraine certainly has the knowledge and the ability, the only question is one of the raw materials and resources…

We know that one of Russias nightmares was nuclear weapons on Turkish Soil…

But it’s not just Russia’s nightmare, it is also Greece’s and other nations on the west of Turkey. But also, if Turkey does push south and east into asia with little to stop them they will become that much closer to India. One of the last things India wants is what it sees as another nuclear armed Muslim nation on it’s western boarders. Something that has already been red-flagged by the Indian National Investigative Agency…

So what appears to be a minor issue of a few million Rus in East Ukraine and Putin’s silly posturing at home actually has way way more geo-politics behind it than the Western MSM is talking about.

One asspect being that the US and Germany actually view Turkey’s expansionism as a way of dealing with Syria and Afghanistan… Also by arming them rather than bringing them directly into NATO, they can keep Turkey and thus the Ukraine usefully within their sphere of influance with little expenditure…

But… Some myself included view this as “enabling Turkey” to stand militarily strong. Whilst having significant geo-political influance if not control from Eastern Europe around to “the Stans” if not further.

Clive Robinson • February 19, 2022 2:33 PM

@ Winter,

A puzzle? I am very bad at this.

OK, so first ask yourself,

“What’s missing?”

That is a very large hole in the wall, where has all the rubble gone?

If it was a high velocity impact from a shell it would have spread in a cone like pattern well into the room, almost like a giant shotgun blast.

But that’s not what we see, we see it piled up on the top of a bookcase/cupboard immediatly below the hole and in the hole…

So what happened to the “inertia effect” you get with a “Newton’s cradle or similar”?

So it’s odd, so you take a look at the rubble… and if you do you will see more “odd” things.

That will then take your thinking to the plaster and wall paper…

But that’s the easy stuff to spot, now have a think about the shape of the hole, and how coincidently high it is with regards to the cupboard / bookcase.

There are way to many “coincidents” in that image…

But what other coincidences are there?

Well we are told three adults received injuries but no children did…

Perhaps you should ask yourself why that might be?

There is a semi-military saying of,

Once is happenstance,
Twice is coincidence,
Thrice is enemy action.

But what of six or seven odd coincidences? What does that make it?

Clive Robinson • February 19, 2022 4:07 PM

@ somebody,

I may have misunderstood, but Turkey is already a NATO member. No need to bring Turkey into NATO.

The trouble with trying to be concise.

First though you need to understand “The nuclear problem” and why the Ukraine is currently in the position it is[1].

Whilst Turkey is a member of NATO on paper, it is different to just about all the other EU NATO countries and very realistically feels it is treated as a non-member…

Whilst it “hosts” between 50 and 90 US cold war era “gravity drop” nuclear devices they are of limited yield and not what Turkey wants (they are seen as obsolete[2]). Turkey under Erdogan want’s to be a full nuclear state[3]. In part this is because Turkey has got Russia on it’s door step, and it’s seen what has happened to other nations on Russia’s doorstep that were persuaded by the US and other Western nations to relinquish nuclear deterant thirty odd years ago.

You may remember a few years back Russia went spare about the fact that Turkey being a member of NATO would alow the US to put nuclear missiles back in Turkey right up close to Russia.

The reason Russia got so up tight was that prior to the Cuban Missile crisis the US had put liquid fueled Jupiter nuclear missiles in Turkey. The nature of the Jupiter was that it was a “first strike” not “defensive” IRBM. Most people do not realise that the Cubban Missile Crisis was not “won” it had nothing to do with “Staring the other fellow down” and all that nonsense. It was actually a compromise. The actual agreement was that Russia would remove it’s missile systems if the US removed their missile systems from Turkey[4]. So from Russia’s point of view the US putting nuclear missiles back in Turkey was a breach of the agreement.

It’s also the reason the US gets twitchy about Erdagon wanting to make Turkey like France, the only other Nucular Capable country in the EU.

Turkey in turn sees all those EU nations in NATO against it and the US getting twitchy as further confirmation they are not realy part of NATO and that none of NATO will come to it’s defence if it is attacjed by Russia. A prediciment the Ukraine finds it’s self in.

Further Turkish involvment in Syria caused further alienation by most EU NATO members. Germany calling for sanctions against Turkey did nothing to help that either (though Germany was happy to sell lots of arms to Turkey provided they kept quiet about it, after all $38billion in trade made Turkey Germany’s number one trading partner).

So from most perspectives including how Turkey sees it themselves “They are a NATO member in name only”.

Oh and that they also see themselves as the only NATO member that stands up to not just Russian but also Middle Eastern Aggression.

Something we now have been shown the US is more than happy to encirage them to do.

Thus the geo-politics behind Turkey quietly aligning it’s self with the Ukraine, and Germany and the US giving Turkey armaments support that they should well know will probably go towards helping the Ukraine, alows some politicians to keep their hands clean with their voters.

As I’ve said for a while now, the best outcome for Russia and it’s people is that it stops the dreams of “Empire” that Putin pushes as “Strong Russia” and gets down to peacfully building up the Russian economy. By firstly freeing it of corruption, and then equitably trading with other nations. But that’s not going to work for Putin and the oligarchs and Russian mafia and other criminal organisations that he supports and they support him in return.

[1] https://www.politico.eu/article/ukraines-nuclear-lesson-with-russia-written-guarantees-can-be-worth-little/

[2] http://www.hscentre.org/security-and-defence/us-nuclear-weapons-turkey-obsolete-dangerous/

[3] https://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-nuclear-erdogan-idUSKCN1VP2QN

[4] https://daily.jstor.org/us-nuclear-weapons-turkey-part-2/

Clive Robinson • February 19, 2022 7:07 PM

@ SpaceLifeForm, MarkH,

What would make more sense is if it was a small bomb slapped onto outside wall with a timer.

Look at the interior shot @MarkH provides…

Look on the otherside of the room, do you see any hole in the opposit wall?

So not a projectile weapon.

But if it was an explosive device, it most certainly did not happen in the room, there are no burn marks or blown out windows.

And take a carefull look at the rubble, its all broken up, but the bricks in the wall are not…

Kind of odd. Then there is a thick layer of dust all over the floor with bricks on top without dust on them… Oh and look no dust on the balls, but a thick layer of dust on the first shelf going down in the cupboard…

That is some real magic dust…

Then there are the soft shapes in the lefthand corner, not buried under rubble but sitting on top.

I could on pointing out odd coincidences like how come the rug is all crinkled up under all that dust and rubble…

I’m just going to leave it at I’m totally unconvinced by it.

Which brings us to the “exterior view” shot,

The first thing you notice is that the wall was double clad in fiber board which has interestingly come away from the wall as though pulled or pushed off of it.

But take a look at the edges of the hole, notice the difference in the bricks? Also notice the dust all over the exteria wall…

The way the bricks are broken is consistant with being compressed by either hammering or small blast. You can also see where the motar has come away from the bricks.

Now look at the window, how it’s “shock crazed” yet the other side of the window in the photograph I gave a link to is not. So double or triple glazing?

By the way that “shock crazing” can be caused in a couple of ways. In an an explosion it happens when the blast wave moves across the surface of the glass not towards it (think explosion on the wall the blast wave would cross the glass surface).

But there is a way you can fake it. If you use a “cutting torch” or “braising torch/burner” you heat the surface of the glass rapidly with the gas flame then quench it with a fine water spray.

So if it was an explosive device, I would say it was something like a “breaching charge” made with det-cord or thin layer of explosive with a result not unlike a petard or shaped charge.

But not something propelled like an artillery shell, mortar round, or rocket propelled grenade.

Clive Robinson • February 20, 2022 5:02 AM

@ MarkH,

For the amateur ballistic scientists (is anybody here a professional at it?) …

As I’ve mentioned before I had the pleasure of learbing a few things from a real “nutty proffessor ” type expert, who just for fun would play “marbles” with rocks and small amounts of plastic explosives to demonstrate certain effects.

He was the research expert who taught me about how to make shaped charges and the stand off distances required. Compared to him even the “professionals” in the demolition business etc are just amateurs.

But as a subject there is so much that is unknown that he used to joke he was just “an amateur experimenting” as the theory was not at all accurate (look up hydro-codes). One of his gripes was about resonance effects. That is all sold objects that can transmit energy by conduction are actually resonators. That is they “ring like tapped bells”. A lot of the damage to solid objects in an explosion are caused by the resonance effects. Which as he noted “might explain” the wierd effects that get seen.

With regards,

The way I visualize the matter, in the first fraction of a millisecond of energy release

But you do not say where you thing the actuall center of detonation is, which is very important.

So makes what you say next just a generalised observation, and also probably irrelevant in this case.

To see why take a closer look at that cladding, it’s not solid “wood” but “fiber board” designed as thermal clading thus it has lots of void space in it like felt or a “wooly jumper”. Whilst it does compress, if stores little or no mechanical energy, but it does disipate it, which is why it also gets used as secondary sound insulation.

Clive Robinson • February 20, 2022 8:48 AM

@ SpaceLifeForm, ALL,

[There are a lot of people that are paying attention]…

The map looks like an output from a TAK program.

Look up ATAK for Android or WinTAK.

There is a civilian version you can download called CivTAK or TAK.Civ depending on who talks about it.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bxYgCpZgQ9k

Oh and I gather you can add your own “Python Extentions” or other “Plug-ins”.

Not sure if you know about MESHtastic, it’s a LoRa based mesh networking system, where a BLE device talks to a “pocket change” 900MHz –or there abouts– LoRa board and gives AES256 encrypted links for data transmission.

Well a plugin has been developed that links ATAK and MeshTastic together. So your Android mobile talks via BLE to a LoRa board that gives you a working network,

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mb2OBIw-1Oc

Oh the video has one not quite true thing in it about “jamming”. You can in fact actually work through jamming by techniques using high gain antennas which at 900megish are not to big and not to small and you can dowbload build plans easily enough. Use of such antennas also cuts down interference from the myriad of other stuff in the 900Megish band. Oh and they also make your radios even harder to direction find as you can use even lower power.

Oh the trick with “Digital Radio” is every node can very easily become “store and forward” which can be used to help make “Traffic Analysis” way way harder.

But… You Obviously can use a different comms plug-in so ATAK can work over say through the Amateur Radio APRS service through say the ISS if it’s above your horizon or if you realy know what you are doing via a geostationary satelite. But also via those dirt cheap Chinese VHF/UHF handhelds that are available PMR repeaters and Trunked Radio Systems (see what DMR can do for you). Or other networking across say HF radios including “CB” that can get you an easy 500mile diameter coverage (see NVIS it’s what the mil types do as it’s very dificult to DF). Or at the right time of day all around the world…

ATAK is an interesting system that when I’ve some time I might get some real “hands on” with.

Clive Robinson • February 21, 2022 5:49 AM

@ Bruce, ALL,

An update to a file…

You may remember “SmartWater” from quite a few years back now.

Basically it was a liquid with a UV fluorescent dye in it you could put on your property that provided a unique code when subject to testing.

It kind of never became the success some thought it should…

Well it appears they have found a new use for it,

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-60414452

Clive Robinson • February 21, 2022 5:19 PM

@ SpaceLifeForm, Anders,

They are moving now.

As far as I can tell it started about 20:00 GMT, or 23:00 Moscow time.

The Guardian has a live update.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2022/feb/21/russia-ukraine-news-latest-crisis-putin-biden-summit-kyiv-kiev-russian-invasion-threat-live-updates

Clive Robinson • February 21, 2022 7:34 PM

@ name.withheld…, ALL,

By enriching himself, the ultimate Ayn Randian egalitarian[1], and craving out industry and economic markets to lackeys and cronies, the people of Russia are endlessly abused under Putin’s thuggish rule.

Which means,

1, The economy fails to function.
2, He has to seek Empire to pay off the lackeys, cronies, criminals and worse.

Putin’s “Strong Russia” is a nonsense as I’ve indicated, as it is predicated on Russia being an oppressive parasite, accruing rapidly diminishing wealth to less and less people who will turn on Putin, unless he pays Danegelt. Which will as there is no economy to back it greate Hyper-inflation, unless he has a “fire sale of natural resources” which just delays the inevitable.

We’ve seen this before in Africa where a function nation was led into war by an idiot, who then had to “pay-off” the returning soldiers. Which he did by grabing wealth producing farm land and giving it to the soldiers. Who knowing nothing about farming sold off assets to buy luxury cars and the like and significantly failed to save for crop replenishment. With the result that the country went from a major exporter of food and other crops into an importer with no means to pay other than by printing money.

Clive Robinson • February 21, 2022 7:56 PM

@ SpaceLifeForm,

But Russia is reporting a lot of fake crap, so, just saying, be careful. Do not inadvertingly create misinformation that can later can be discredited.

The info I have has not come via Russian spokespersons or even their MSM.

Let’s just say that the Russian’s already have a “resistance problem”. Quite a few people in those “breakaways” don’t want to be broken away from Ukraine. So they have been planing for half a decade or so for what they saw as “inevitable” to ensure information “gets out”, not just over the border but over several borders.

Clive Robinson • February 21, 2022 9:01 PM

@ SpaceLifeForm, John,

With regards your earlier link to all things navigational.

To work well the system needs three transmitters in a pattern that gives orthogonal radiation paths in the area of interest.

Currently one is in Crimea which is technically Ukranian territory still. It is well within strike distance of Ukranian military weapons also Turkish and any vessel in international waters…

Now consider the definition of a “primary act of war” it applies only to recognised states taking action against the territory of anothor recogbised state.

That is it does not cover a nation taking action against those who have invaded it’s territory.

Therefore that radio mast and the transmitter at the bottom of it would be fair game for those Ukranian-Turkish drones / missiles I mentioned the other day.

As for the other two transmitters the moment it is shown that military forces have come across the boarder from those nations the “right of self defence” definately applies and as Russia has made those navigation systems part of their military planning, they are millitary not civilian targets, so can be legitimately attacked.

So it’s a political decision as to if and when those masts and transmitters go on the target list, and when the list becomes active.

But the question as to if it would produce any benifit or not.

The systems are all based on work originated in the UK by Deca. There is still quite a bit of expertise in those and enhanced systems in the UK[1]. There is a joke that the “e” in e-Loran is not for enhanced but “EU”.

The EU feels that “time and radio navigation” is important enough, and satellite systems not reliable enough especially in higher latitudes to have not just secondary but tertiary time and navigation systems in place (much of which was from UK organisations).

The advent of modern technology helps get over the “water-body” issue[2] presented by rivers, lakes, and even seas, rather rapidly thus “local systems” can be fairly easily established.

But certainly the UK and US military have been looking into “doing a Google” that is using other EM emissions from “known locations” such as broadcast transmitters and using the likes of cell towers and even WiFi access points.

There has been a suggested doctrine of “Leave Cell Systems functioning” not just for navigation but tracking people down not just as individuals but as groups.

Mobile phones give up their location, whilst finding a particular mobile may be hard, finding groups of phones or phones that are in odd places is fairly easy if not trivial. So a soldier with his phone on broadcasts his position. Several phones at the same location in a field or other odd place is very likely a target of a millitary nature.

But that is the “obvious stuff” as you say “join the dots”.

Any way it’s time for me to get my head down for four of rack time.

[1] As I’ve previously mentioned I’ve worked on the design of not just recievers but the realy low frequency transmitters for more localised systems.

[2] At ground level radio waves do not propagate in a way you might expect from high school physics. At the lower frequencies “bodies of water” effect the way they propagate thus the accuracy of such radio navigation systems. When you get out above the MF bands and low HF bands it becomes less and less of a problem.

Clive Robinson • February 22, 2022 9:00 AM

@ Winter,

Every genocide starts with dehumanizing the (future) victims.

What went on under Stalin carried out by the NKVD (earlier OGPU, later KGB, now FSB etc) was so horrific it is rarely talked about, even by those who realy should talk about it.

The “Holodomor” or “enforced starvation plague”, killed over 10million Ukranian’s but was kept secret untill the end of the 1980’s.

Unfortunately it has been “tut-tuted” by certain “politically correct” people because it has been called by some the “Ukranian Holocaust”. The PCers argue that to do so is not just anti-Semitic but downplays the “true holocaust” and that the Ukramian claims are overblown and actually the fault of the Ukranians themselves. Both are untrue as records clearly show. But worse, these PCers have become “deniers” in their own right and so cognatively biased that some of their rhetoric is so filled with bile, hate, and dishonesty they have become “Stalin Promoters”…

It’s a matter of record that cannibalism started and getting on for three thousand families were prosecuted where they had eaten their children. There are records that show village elders in effect defending the cannibalism by saying things like “They are ours, not yours” when the Soviet Authorities tried to take corpses away.

But it was not just the Ukraine where this happened. People were rounded up without reason to fill quotas for Gulags. The history of what went on in 1932-33 is rather more than shocking,

https://www.rferl.org/a/cannibal-island-in-1933-nearly-5-000-died-in-one-of-stalin-s-most-horrific-labor-camps/29341167.html

https://slate.com/human-interest/2011/02/stalin-cannibalism-and-the-true-nature-of-evil.html

Remember Putin is not just a “Stalinist Apologist” of “the first water” he’s a furvent Acolyte and emulator. Demonstrated in various ways such as his recent attempts to criminalise those who show “Stalin’s evil”.

He can not be reasoned with just blocked in and endless brinkmanship that few have the commitment to, hence what happened to Belarus, is a warning as is 2014.

It’s been argued that “Mad dogs get euthanized” rather than have them harm individuals in society again… Something we argue civilised society should not do to humans. Putin has killed unknown numbers of his fellow hunans, at what point do you say he is an uncivilized “mad dog” and a danger to not Just Russia, but every nation he has expansionist plans to take over?

Clive Robinson • February 22, 2022 12:03 PM

@ Winter,

No need to link it to a specific campaign whose original meaning was linked to the crematoria where so many victims ended.

The word “holocaust” means “whole burnt offering” from the adjoining of two Greek words to give “holokaustos”. How far back this goes is not known but it could easily be many centuries.

The first use of the modern spelling goes back to at least the late 1800’s. Which is in turn atleast 40 years before what occured in Germany started. It was certainly used in the New York Times back then to describe the massacre of Armenian Christians by the Ottomans, who we now call Turks. Oh and Armenia is not a million miles from the Ukraine, in fact it’s less than a thousand miles to the east and both were under the Ottoman influance long prior to Russia (Though Putin would have you believe otherwise).

But the usage of the term “Holocaust” has evolved and is now very different to the meaning of the word “genocide”.

Genocide simply referes to mass deaths that are an existential threat to a culture or race. Importantly it ascribes no meaning, motive or cause to the deaths. The question of what the cause is be it from human, biological, or environmental source, or if the agency if any, is good, bad, evil or even sentient.

That is “genocide” requires no agency, no directing mind, it simply describes an outcome of some not even necessarily known causation.

It’s why when an observer looking at the remains of humans can sensibly ask the question of,

“What caused this genocide?”

We have other terms for types of act such as “ethnic cleansing” which are frequently quite specific to the reason for the genocide.

Holocaust, however refers to the actions of a directing mind, not the reasons. Which should be clear from “whole burnt offerings”. That is what was done, not the reason it was done.

It was the Israeli use of “Holocaust” in a broader sense to cover all Jewish deaths no matter how they occured that made the word mean less than it once might have.

So now “Holocaust” refers to the “act of evil” irrespective of method by which “genocide” is attempted or achieved.

The Israelis pulled the cork out of the bottle and let the genie out to cover all manner of deaths. They and their agents of PCers and similar have absolutly no right to claim “Holocaust” as their own, and squeeze it into their bottle labled Jewish, nor should anyone alow them to.

As others will no doubt note the stable door is banging in the wind and the sound of drumming hoves is long long out of ear shot if not well over the horizon.

Clive Robinson • February 23, 2022 12:43 AM

@ SpaceLifeForm, ALL,

National Timing Resilience and Security Act of 2018

It was supposed to have been implemented by Dec 2020, but there is no sight of any work being done to implement it…

It was a bipartisan bill based on a very clear abd preaent danger to the National Security of the USA, as Space based Global Possitioning Systems are known to ve highly vulnerable to both local and distant spoofing and jaming (as I’ve mentioned a few times in the past).

So reliance on Satellite GPS is very far from a good idea. Both China and Russia are well aware of this and have but various secondary abd tertiary systems in place.

It appears that Trump tried to kill NTRSA with an EO, and even now OMB and DoT are still trying their best to kill the NTRSA in various ways. They’ve already had three studies that tell them NTRSA is of vital importance to National Security the most recent from Rand telling then it has to be done. So the OMB / DoT have decided they need to spend another million or so on a new study… In the UK we call such nonsense “Kicking it into the long grass”.

Apparently their beef is that it should be “market led” by “industry” to stop businesses being disadvantaged…

Which is complete Bovine Excrement.

If left to industry we know that what will arise will be a compleate and utter disaster security wise, and less reliable than a milk chocolate tea pot at a Summer fair in Death Valley.

Hopefully this issue in East Europe will wake a few idiots up and the Dumb Time-servers over at OMB / DoT will get their backsides handed to them on a plate, or better still there heads served on the preverbial silver platter.

You can read more at,

https://www.gpsworld.com/17m-proposed-for-dot-resilient-pnt-initiatives/

Oh the Trump EO was a typical power play, even though it was the equivalent of handing both Russia and China a very stratigic and tactical victory.

The days of Military Global Positioning Systems in space are over, the whole premise on them was that they were “out of range” to any prospective enemy…

Well there are three other nations that have very clearly shown that they can,

1, Spoof the system.
2, Disable the satellites.

But… The US military and most NATO nations have trillions of dollars invested in “smart weapons” that are way way to reliant on the US spaced based GPS…

The entire Order of Battle in the US Mil is predicated on a functioning GPS good to 1meter…

Yeah think about that. Smart bombs are kittle bombs, so you can carry more on a delivery system. The problem is that the effectiveness of an expkosive device goes done as 1/(r^2) at best to 1/(r^4). So a little bomb that might do the job if it gets within a meter or two, is very unlikely to even scratch the paint at 150-300 meters which is what the acuracy drops to without that “smart” system functioning correctly (in practice it’s worse than gravity bombs because the smart systems cause significant issues when they fail).

Now if I know this, and you know this, then what is the odds that Brazil, China, India, Iran, North Korea, Russia and one or two other nation do not?

The answer I know as they have all developed and tested anti-GPS systems that target the US spaced based GPS, is of course they know it and most have people that collectively are a lot more knowledgable than you or I, and certainly a lot smarter than those time-servers in the OMB and DoT (who appear to be even dumber than technically illiterate politicians…).

Clive Robinson • February 23, 2022 1:49 AM

@ ResearcherZero,

Speaking of Australia and Russian influance…

Apparently PM “Scotty from Marketing”,

Has announced sanctions on Russia with,

“Australians will always stand-up to bullies, and we will be standing-up to Russia.”

I guess we will have to wait to see if it’s “More substance than Soundbite”.

But… Think back in history to the axis of evil in WWII. When war was happening in Europe, –as now it effectively is again– Asia was being subjected to an unwanted “co-prosperity sphere” push by an undesirable Empire, much in line with what Russia is currently starting in Europe.

China is currently trying to force nations in the South China Sea and on the Pacific West coast into it’s political control.

It’s no secret that,

1, Tiawan
2, South Korea
3, Japan

Are on China’s hit list in that order. But what of,

4, Indonesia
5, Australia
6, New Zeland
7, Pacific Islands.

They too will be on China’s list for obvious reasons.

So I wonder what is “Scotty from Marketing” going to spin up in potentially a very short time when China makes moves on Tiawan?

Oh and remember, neither Russia or China appear to think much of the nuclear “Mutually Assured Destruction”(MAD) doctrine any longer…

As with the first Sunday morning in December back in 1941, the US almost certainly will not be able to stay out of the conflicts now arising. It will not be a matter of choice for the US or it’s citizens, the only real question is where will it be started…

The thing is it’s rather different now, back in WWII the US had abundent recources and industry to call on. That’s nolonger true, whilst Russia has abundant resources it’s industry is a mess, but over in China they not only have resources they have a well functioning industry…

You might have noticed I’ve not mentioned Iran… I suspect they will do their best to remain neutral and supply both sides secretly if necessary and just wait it out.

Clive Robinson • February 23, 2022 3:35 AM

@ ALL,

In the Ukraine they are “calling up the reservists”,

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/23/ukraine-president-calls-up-reservists-as-russia-moves-troops-into-countrys-east

Which should make people stop and think for a moment. If this mess does escalate and it looks like it has the potential to do so, the question of millitary response rather than just sanctions arises. Which means the “Calling to the Flag” or worse Draft may happen.

Therefore I suspect that reservists in most Western Nations, will be getting their “part 2 or 3’s”[1] in the post in the not to distant future.

What you get in the US I’m nolonger sure as I’ve not had reason to enquire in over a third of a century…

In the UK there is a story going around again –probably untrue– that due to the fact the Army has a dire shortage of cannon fodder they are going to lift the “call up age” to that of the retirment age… So not so much “Dad’s Army” as “Gramps Platoon under Capt Zimmer Frame”…

The story I’ve been told is one that has come up before, which is it is intended to “release” younger fitter military personal from administrative duties so they can become bullet catchers rather than REMF’s…

I’m not fit enough to climb a flight of stairs, so I guess I’d be assigned the tea trolly pushing duties or worse :-S I don’t think my back could take the “Bog Brush Detail”…

[1] Part 2’s as they were once called is a little booklet of “personal details” relating to administrative and similar. Attached were call up “kitting vouchers” you were supposed to keep the booklet with you. Part 3 orders were the same as part 2’s but were for those not of the regiment they were to serve in. So Royal Signals, Royal Elec/mech engineers etc who get “loaned out” to regiments where their capabilities are required. Once that little book arived as a reservist you were supposed to show it to your employer and keep it with you at all times should “Queen’s Orders” be issued. These days I believe in the UK it’s now called a “Mobalisation pack”.

Clive Robinson • February 23, 2022 10:45 AM

@ SpaceLifeForm,

Disable Bluetooth when traveling

Have you posted this on the wrong thread?

It’s just that it is appropriate for todays thread on Apple AirTags.

I’ve a comment over there that is also a sort of reply to your posting here,

https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2022/02/bypassing-apples-airtag-security.html/#comment-400725

Sadly most do not get that any kind of RF beacon you have on you can track your location, including your Mobile Phone, Fitness devices, Medical Devices, and oh so many more like the cordless headsets that are now fashionable with music players.

Even non powered devices like the RFID tags in your expensive underpants can give up your location via Near Field tech built into phones and the likes of all your credit / debit / store cards, in your wallet. The combination of which fairly positively IDs you uniquely.

So even criminals that pass “burner phones” around can be sibject to “Find Fix Finish”(FFF) of “death by meta-data”.