Germany And Russia Buying Typewriters To Avoid NSA Spying
Germany to revert to type: Country considers return to typewriters in a bid to foil NSA spies
- German MPs considering a return to typewriters to combat spy activity
- Non-electronic models could be used in government, politician suggests
- Comes after claims German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s phone was bugged by U.S agents last year
- German officials unearthed two suspected spies in the country last week
German politicians are considering a new way of keeping sensitive information away from spies – reverting to typewriters.
The idea of re-introducing manual typewriters was floated by the man fronting an inquiry into U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) activity in Germany.
Christian Democrat politician Patrick Sensburg, head of the Bundestag’s parliamentary inquiry into the NSA surveillance scandal, was asked on television whether politicians were considering a return to older technology.
Speaking on the Morgenmagazin TV programme, he replied ‘As a matter of fact, we have – and not electronic models either’ before adding ‘Yes, no joke,’ The Guardian reports.
It comes a year after allegations surfaced that the mobile telephone of German Chancellor Angela Merkel had been bugged by American agents.
Just last week her government told the CIA station chief in Berlin to leave the country, in a dramatic display of anger after German officials unearthed two suspected spies.
Ar Technica had this to say about the German spy arrest:
“Markus allegedly approached the CIA via e-mail in 2012 to share German intelligence, and the offer was accepted. He is accused of providing 218 documents over three in-person meetings with CIA agents in Austria, and he was paid about $34,000. Local authorities only detected Markus in May 2014 because he allegedly sent an unencrypted e-mail to the Russian consulate in Munich that was intercepted by German intelligence.”
Germany and Russia are frantically seeking old-fashioned typewriters to embark on a low-tech OPSEC approach to communications to avoid NSA spying. Portions of the German government are going retro to avoid high-tech snooping by the United States government.
The head of the German parliament’s NSA investigative committee stated during a news show segment earlier this week that his office could begin using manual typewriters to avoid the prying eyes and ears of the U.S. National Security Agency. Patrick Sensburg, the German committee head, was charged with discovering how much spying from America and the English-speaking world, is going on in Germany. The NSA investigation head has been working for several months to set up a manner in which Edward Snowden could testify before his committee.
According to Sensburg, the German government is particularly interested in emphasizing the importance of operational security in the country. His committee has already purchased at least one manual typewriter for use by the government.
“We have to try to keep our internal communication sure to send encrypted emails, use crypto phones and other things, and other things I won’t mention, of course,” Sensburg said. The German official also endorsed security measures which include smartphone security audits.