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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.	    :-)