Results 1 to 8 of 8

Thread: Americans advised to avoid computers and send written missives instead

Hybrid View

Previous Post Previous Post   Next Post Next Post
  1. #1
    Golden Ghost Chemyst's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Location
    Massachusetts
    Posts
    174
    Thanks
    556
    Thanked 193 Times in 89 Posts
    Rep Power
    0

    Exclamation Americans advised to avoid computers and send written missives instead

    American president-elect Donald J. Trump has come out in favour of handwritten documents to safeguard important material:

    Quote Originally Posted by The New York Times
    Mr. Trump, who does not use email, also advised people to avoid computers when dealing with delicate material. “It’s very important, if you have something really important, write it out and have it delivered by courier, the old-fashioned way, because I’ll tell you what, no computer is safe,” Mr. Trump said.

    “I don’t care what they say, no computer is safe,” he added. “I have a boy who’s 10 years old; he can do anything with a computer. You want something to really go without detection, write it out and have it sent by courier.”
    Perhaps it is time to stock up on bulletproof inks, sealing wax and courier bags?

  2. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Chemyst For This Useful Post:

    akapulko2020 (January 1st, 2017), Jacoby190 (January 7th, 2017)

  3. #2
    Senior Member SIR's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2016
    Location
    GB
    Posts
    1,635
    Thanks
    725
    Thanked 732 Times in 466 Posts
    Rep Power
    10

    Default Re: Americans advised to avoid computers and send written missives instead

    +1 sound advice, apart from us not all being so well financially enabled as Mr Trump and physical post has inherent security issues too.

    Even better is to only communicate face to face, unless it's with the Borgias in which case email is probably best...

  4. The Following User Says Thank You to SIR For This Useful Post:

    Dreck (February 8th, 2017)

  5. #3
    Senior Member jar's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2012
    Location
    Deep South Texas
    Posts
    4,045
    Thanks
    479
    Thanked 3,712 Times in 1,610 Posts
    Rep Power
    18

    Default Re: Americans advised to avoid computers and send written missives instead

    And as the Dons learned, if you have something really important, don't write it, don't say it don't even whisper it because nothing you write, nothing you say, nothing you whisper is safe from detection.

    Except Twitter of course. You can tweet anything.

  6. The Following 5 Users Say Thank You to jar For This Useful Post:

    Chemyst (October 26th, 2019), fqgouvea (January 1st, 2017), Jacoby190 (January 7th, 2017), NibsForScript (September 9th, 2018), oldstoat (January 1st, 2017)

  7. #4
    Senior Member oldstoat's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Location
    Surrey, England
    Posts
    415
    Thanks
    404
    Thanked 552 Times in 202 Posts
    Rep Power
    11

    Default Re: Americans advised to avoid computers and send written missives instead

    He's a bit behind the times. I recall a report in the paper 3-4 years ago saying that the kremlin was buying up electric typewriters and filing important documents on paper. If they needed to be sent from office to office, they used couriers and office boys. The wheel turns...
    Some days, it's hardly worth chewing through the leather straps....

  8. #5
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2016
    Location
    Kent UK
    Posts
    105
    Thanks
    90
    Thanked 39 Times in 31 Posts
    Rep Power
    8

    Default Re: Americans advised to avoid computers and send written missives instead

    He has a point and it hold true especially in the UK with heavy snooping legislation. You can use encryted email and tor but the hand deliver and burn method does suit if you are paranoid. I am sure there is the possibility of mail and courier interception among spooks though. I like letters and written records as they are the most stable long term method of keeping information.

  9. #6
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Oct 2016
    Location
    Slovenia
    Posts
    555
    Thanks
    54
    Thanked 338 Times in 194 Posts
    Rep Power
    8

    Default Re: Americans advised to avoid computers and send written missives instead

    Quote Originally Posted by jar View Post
    Except Twitter of course. You can tweet anything.
    Hah, that made me chuckle. Nice one.

    Quote Originally Posted by matteob View Post
    I am sure there is the possibility of mail and courier interception among spooks though.
    Oh yeah, definitely. This was still quite popular here just a few decades ago, when under "glorious" Yugoslavia personal correspondence was frequently read by the security agency because of potential "internal enemies". Potential internal enemies were mostly decided based on civilians' self-report; i.e. my neighbour has two cows and I have only one, so he must be a spy. My mother was frequently there, because her mother took her as shield as to not be suicided (you know, the three shots in the head type of suicides) in front of her child.

  10. The Following User Says Thank You to adhoc For This Useful Post:

    Marsilius (February 17th, 2017)

  11. #7
    Senior Member Scrawler's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2013
    Location
    Canada
    Posts
    1,263
    Thanks
    1,818
    Thanked 1,254 Times in 562 Posts
    Rep Power
    13

    Default Re: Americans advised to avoid computers and send written missives instead

    I have spent my whole working life on computer systems. I have designed and built banking systems as well as automation for other large institutions. I do not, and never will, do any online banking. We joyously created because we could, and the moment we made a prototype to show an idea the moneymen wanted to run with it. They often never knew they needed a particular report until they had a computer system to produce it, and with those reports were able to design more, and more complex, banking products. Security was always an afterthought, tacked on when some smarty pants found a way in to do damage. People are happy to use any technology, without understanding it, and without forward thinking about the probable implications of its widespread use.

  12. #8
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Posts
    3,118
    Thanks
    874
    Thanked 2,528 Times in 1,299 Posts
    Rep Power
    13

    Default Re: Americans advised to avoid computers and send written missives instead

    The motive behind Trumpy's suggestion is highly suspect, and I feel it has more to do with him not getting slammed by damning information rather than any generalised security issues.

  13. The Following User Says Thank You to Empty_of_Clouds For This Useful Post:

    NibsForScript (September 9th, 2018)

Tags for this Thread

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •