On the Caribbean Rhythms episode I recently did with
@bronzeagemantis(ep. 157) he asked a question that was essentially: “What value do you think there is in distributed open-source communication? Should someone lobby to legalize the use of encrypted radio systems?” I used it as an opportunity to discuss the phone project I’ve been working on. I just wanted to add some thoughts to that discussion and on communications security in general. 1. Having seen Apps banned from the App Stores, companies denied access by cloud service providers or even having been myself debanked by Wells Fargo I acutely feel the need for more open source and distributed systems across sectors and industries. Regarding communications it is also personal as I had my electronics seized by the FBI during the Mueller investigation and multiple times had privileged communications leaked to the press by western intelligence services. 2. Some thoughts on radios: radios have their place but they are inconvenient and certainly not going to see wide adoption by large swathes of the population. Projects like what S2 Underground is working on are excellent and I hope he and others like him continue their efforts with fervor. Unless a person owns satellites or a substantial amount of terrestrial communications infrastructure, the only way to own one’s beyond-line-of-sight message is either HF radio (two devices) or a repeater/mesh network (three+ devices)— since it is taxing to maintain a distributed network of radios as a single entity, it certainly makes sense to work as a community. However as I said earlier, this will see use by a small percentage of people. And regarding encryption— if there ever was a set of circumstances that required use of such a system with encryption, the laws forbidding it would no longer matter. All that said— radios should be in everyone’s contingency plan. 3. A few thoughts on communications security in general: understand— technology can always be compromised, the more complex the technology, the larger the number of potential exploitation vectors. Security/Privacy and convenience exist with an inverse relationship. Learning tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) is FAR more important than merely having encrypted radios, or a reasonably secure smartphone. The Unplugged phone I discussed is reasonably convenient but by its nature won’t match the convenience of an iPhone or standard Android device. A burner phone is reasonably inconvenient but doesn’t build the long term patterns a daily driver does. A VHF radio has its strengths and limitations, and so do chalk marks on park benches— each has its place in the continuum of secure communication. A motivated, well resourced entity can use many different methods to understand patterns in metadata. EVERYTHING we do generates some measurable entropy that provides an intelligible signature to a sufficiently motivated and advanced adversary. Just to put it into perspective— there are satellites that can track the millimeter tall disturbance a submarine in motion makes— from orbit. Understanding cutting edge collection capabilities and limitations, learning how to limit one’s signature and having the discipline required to effectively limit one’s signature are far more important than any single device that can be purchased. 4. Thoughts on the Unplugged phone: in addition to what I described on the show regarding its features there are a few points with expanding on. While it’s true that cellphones require infrastructure that users don’t control, smartphones are ubiquitous— it is virtually impossible to move through life without one. NEXT