Listen to Partisan Radio, Volume 11 for an introduction to One Time Pads.
Then, study the resources linked from this posting to decode the encrypted message below.
This week’s training message:
28106 59657 49684 81840 11426 07980 41233 07235 97989 89491 76194 13027
15348 58243 88022
One Time Pads Training Resources:
One Time Pads (The Complete Guide, by DIRK RIJMENANTS (Updated February 2022)
One Time Pad – A Simplified Exercise by JJS
‘TREE Series’ One Time Pads (for training purposes only)
Additional Materials to learn more about One Time Pad Encryption:
EXCELLENT information from Dirk Rijmenants (the guy is amazing).
Numbers 9.0 Cipher Pad Generator –> https://www.ciphermachinesandcryptology.com/en/numbersgen.htm
More about cipher pads on this site
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Straddling checkerboards Various different systems to convert plain text into digits prior to encryption
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Numbers Stations The mysterious spy stations that broadcast numbers messages
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Guide to Secure Communications with the One-time Pad Cipher
how to use one-time pads and set up secure communications with them
Dirk Rijmenants also wrote a One-Time-Pad generation program that can be found here:
http://users.telenet.be/d.rijmenants/en/numbersgen.htm
More OTP info and instructions can be found in my Signals Handbook for Small Teams, which can be found here:
http://citizenmilitem.com/?page_id=176
RB
After processing the message, I am supposed to ‘thoroughly destroy’ my pad and message materials. SO, does this mean that my laptop goes into the incinerator, then stir it’s ashes?
Haaar!
Popeye
Ps. No backdoors , keystroke captures & etc. in paper and pencil systems. Easy transfer of OTP via Morse code too – to be totally Old School 😉
RR – I love how all of us greyheads jumped on this like recess.
Now I just need to find an EASY way to generate the pads. LOL. Yes, just like a kid going to recess.
I use 10-sided dice to generate numeric one time pads. You can pick them up cheaply at any gaming store. It can be a bit tedious to roll a handful of dice over and over, but it is cryptologically secure, as long as you don’t record the results on a computer. *NEVER* keep plaintext or pads on a computer.
So what you want to do is pick up an old manual typewriter and sit down with that and type out the pads, group by group. You roll 5 dice, then type the results. If you can get some two-part carbonless forms, that makes the job even easier, because you can use that to generate both copies of the pads and be done with it. Sometimes you can get carbon paper from manual forms at office supply stores. If you do that, you have to destroy the carbon. Otherwise, you make have to either manually re-type them, or if you feel confident enough a used printer/scanner/copier that isn’t connected to anything (no wireless, no connection to a computer) could be used.
You also need to destroy the typewriter ribbon once you’re done with it, *UNLESS* it’s a well-used fabric ribbon. If it’s been typed over and over, the chances of getting usable intelligence off it is minimal.
You’d be surprised, once you get into it, how quickly you can generate a decent amount of pads. Generally, I’ll do it while doing something else like watching TV.
For messages that don’t require absolute, permanent security, but still require decent security I prefer strip ciphers. Provided you make your own strips using some random process (I pull Scrabble tiles out of a bag), and you make your keys (ie., what strip order you use for that day) random, and you use some random number of strips, like 25 to 35 out of 50 or 100 strips available, it’s very secure for reasonable amounts of traffic.
End of second paragraph, with reference to using a copier, please note that many copiers keep copies of everything on internal mass-storage, and can be used in forensics. Because of this, I think the copier is a weak link. Thanks, and I wish well to the efforts of patriots to “secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.”
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Oh, you can use a computer to make your random number pads, BUT that computer must have NEVER been connected to the net, CANNOT be connected to the net, ever, must be totally locked up and unavailable to anyone but you when you aren’t using it, and must automatically destroy itself, and preferably burnt to absolute ashes and melted into slag if it is ever even smelled, let alone touched, by anyone but you! Ha!! 🙂
I noticed that the Cipher pad generator linked above is no longer found.
I did find this site which may be useful if you need to make a couple in a hurry, even though it’s online.
https://www.fourmilab.ch/onetime/otpjs.html
I think this is the current location of the Numbers 9.0 Cipher Pad Generator
https://www.ciphermachinesandcryptology.com/en/numbersgen.htm
Yes indeed. Thanks for helping us keep the posting updated. I’ve added the updated link. -JJS
My pleasure!
Of course, whether or not a computer should be used for OTPs is a whole other topic…
😀