Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!cmcl2!rutgers!rochester!PT.CS.CMU.EDU!NL.CS.CMU.EDU!mlm From: mlm@NL.CS.CMU.EDU (Michael Mauldin) Newsgroups: rec.ham-radio,sci.crypt Subject: Re: "Numbers" stations (possible answers) Message-ID: <455@PT.CS.CMU.EDU> Date: Sun, 6-Dec-87 00:54:31 EST Article-I.D.: PT.455 Posted: Sun Dec 6 00:54:31 1987 Date-Received: Thu, 10-Dec-87 23:21:20 EST References: <123.003505@adam.DG.COM> <2475@ihuxz.ATT.COM> Sender: netnews@PT.CS.CMU.EDU Organization: Carnegie-Mellon University, CS/RI Lines: 53 Keywords: NSA GCHQ JTLS Rowlands Summary: "Puzzle Palace" confirmation of spy theory 5 digits code groups on radio messages Xref: mnetor rec.ham-radio:3499 sci.crypt:743 In article <2475@ihuxz.ATT.COM>, parnass@ihuxz.ATT.COM (Bob Parnass, AJ9S) writes: > In article <123.003505@adam.DG.COM>, Pete_Simpson@MERCURY.CEO.DG.COM > writes on hearing shortwave broadcasts of coded number groups: > > > "What are these people doing?" > > One prevailing theory is that they are "spy" sta- > tions, sending orders to operatives in foreign countries. Bamford's excellent book about the NSA "The Puzzle Palace" confirms that at least one use of these 5 digits broadcasts is for control of Soviet agents in foreign countries. Page 504: Finally, [Geoffrey] Prime was instructed on how to receive coded radio messages and was given a signal schedule describing the days, times, and frequencies over which they would be sent. The transmissions, which would originate in East Germany, would be sent in five number groups, and to decipher them Prime was provided with a supply of small, gridlike one-time pads. Page 532: [T]here was a strange coded message picked up by a radio operator in England on the evening of July 22, 1982, weeks after Prime had been arrested and placed in jail and nearly a week after the scandal had hit the front pages. Coming from and East German radio station was the monotonous sound of a woman's voice reading in English five-number code groups: "04376 74989 30300 70901 82266 68375 81377 80734 61156 ..." The question is, who else was listening? Page 502 to 505, my summary: Geoffrey Prime was a KGB controlled agent in Britain's Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ, their equivalent to the NSA). His KGB code-name was "Rowlands". He began service with the Joint Technical Language Service (JTLS) of the GCHQ on Sep. 30, 1968, so spy messages were transmitted at least from 1968 to 1982. So to all you people trying to decipher these messages, good luck! Soviet military one-time ciphers are probably about as hard to break as pre-stressed concrete! ------------ Michael L. Mauldin (Fuzzy) Department of Computer Science ARPA: Michael.Mauldin@NL.CS.CMU.EDU Carnegie-Mellon University Phone: (412) 268-3065 Pittsburgh, PA 15213-3890 ------------ Maybe one of the nice people at the NSA who monitor UseNet traffic will read this message and shed some light on this matter. :-)