Moments in Intelligence History from Red Mill Group Ancient Steganography Steganography is the most simplistic form of cryptography, and unlike other types, it does not require the message to be scrambled or ciphered. Steganography is basically the science of hiding or concealing messages, perhaps more appropriate in ancient times than it is today. One of the earliest examples of steganography originated in ancient China when military officers would shave a soldier's head and write a message. The soldier would let his hair grow back and then travel to his destination where his head was shaved to reveal the message. This was probably not the best method for transmission as it was very time consuming and carried the risk of the messenger being intercepted by an enemy barber. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Top Secret Johnny Cash "The Air Force taught me the things every military service imparts to its enlisted men . . . plus one skill that's pretty unusual: if you ever need to know what one Russian is signaling to another in Morse code, I'm your man. I had such a talent for that particular line of work and such a good left ear, that in Landsberg, where the United States Air Force Security Service ran radio intercept operations worldwide, I was the ace. I was who they called when the hardest jobs came up. I copied the first news of Stalin's death. I located the signal when the first Soviet jet bomber made its first flight from Moscow to Smolensk; we all knew what to listen for, but I was the one who heard it. I couldn't believe that Russian operator. He was sending at thirty-five words a minute by hand, a rate so fast I thought it was a machine transmitting until I heard him screw up. He was truly exceptional, but most of his comrades were fast enough to make the best Americans sound like amateurs, sloppy and slow. It didn't matter, though. Our equipment was so good that they couldn't make a noise anywhere in the world without us hearing it. Our receiver worked pretty well bringing in WSM, too. Some Sunday mornings I could sit there in Germany and listen to Saturday night at the Grand Ole Opry live from Nashville, Tennessee, just like at home. I heard the enemy every day in the Air Force, but I never saw combat or even came close to it. I enlisted a week before the Korean War broke out, so I was already in the system, and once they'd discovered my aptitude, trained me, and assigned me to the Security Service, Korea wasn't an option. My only choice was between Germany and Adak Island, the Aleutian archipelago off Alaska. that wasn't hard: frozen everything or food and Frauleins? I chose Landsberg. Cash, Johnny and Carr, Patrick. Johnny Cash: The Autobiography. New York: Harper Paperbacks, 1997. 79-80. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Limping Lady of the OSS Virginia Hall, a young woman from a wealthy Baltimore family, was known as the "limping lady of the OSS." With her wooden leg "Cuthbert" (she lost her leg in a hunting accident), she played a key intelligence role during World War II. Turned down for a position in the foreign service, she went to work for the British Special Operations Executive in France in 1941-1942, operating with the "Maquis", the French Underground. In 1941, as the Nazis were closing in on her, she escaped on foot over the Pyrenees into Spain. Having become fluent in German and French as well as Morse code during her tenure with the SOE, she joined the OSS in 1942, spying on the Germans using a milkmaid cover. Again, the Gestapo attempted to capture the "woman with the limp" but were unable to do so because of her exquisite disguise and the fact that she had taught herself to walk without a limp. Having left again, she parachuted back into France in 1944 carrying "Cuthbert", where she re-joined the French Underground. She was instrumental in collecting intelligence data, training Maquis in guerilla warfare and sabotage, and actively participating in sabotaging German communications during the D-Day Invasion. William Donovan presented the Distinguished Service Cross for bravery to her in 1945, and she was also awarded the MBE, Member of the British Empire. Virginia Hall worked for the OSS, and subsequently the CIA, until her retirement in 1966. America lost this amazing patriot in 1982. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Was Herbert Yardley a Gentleman? Herbert Osborne Yardley was an American Army Cryptologist in World War I. Although he originally had wanted to become a lawyer, Yardley ended up with a job in the State Department where he decoded messages sent to President Wilson. This wasn't his official job, however. Yardley decoded the messages to prove that the American codes were terribly outdated, and his talent would eventually ruffle a few high-level feathers. In 1929, President Hoover's Secretary of State Henry Stimson was the man who put an end to Yardley's pioneering career. By that time Yardley's many accomplishments included being the head of the Army's MI-8 (an operation he dubbed The American Black Chamber). Yet Secretary Stimson was not impressed, proclaiming that "Gentlemen do not read each other's mail," and put the Chamber and Yardley out of business. Thrown into financial straits, Yardley wrote the notorious 1931 book "The American Black Chamber," which was loved by the public but hated by Congress which eventually passed Public Law 37, which criminalized using the material in official codes for personal reasons. Not surprisingly, in his later years Yardley wrote "The Education of a Poker Player," a primer for would-be poker masters. What's codebreaking after all, if not an effort to decipher the cards the other fellow is holding close to his vest? In 1999, Yardley was posthumously inducted into the NSA Hall of Honor (http://www.nsa.gov/honor/honor00006.cfm), and if your personal library would benefit from a first edition of "The American Black Chamber," it can be purchased on the Internet for $100 to $300. So was Herbert Yardley a gentleman? Maybe or maybe not, but he definitely was one of the most important codebreakers in American history, whose successes laid the foundation for the many cryptologists to come. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Where in the world is Jaime Ramon Mercader del Rio Hernandez?" "What's in a name? That which we call a rose By any other word would smell as sweet." - William Shakespeare What's in a name? From the mid-1930s until 1978 Jaime Ramon Mercader del Rio Hernandez was a man of many names. Born in Barcelona in 1914, he was recruited by his Mother to become a communist activist and organizer in the 1930's. Later he was trained by the Russian NKVD's* dreaded SMERSH unit, which was named for Joseph Stalin's "Smert Shpionam," which translates as "Death to Spies." Mercader was code-named "Gnome" and given a license to kill, applying his unique talents to NKVD mayhem in Europe under the name Jacques Mornard until 1939. He was eventually dispatched to Mexico, arriving as Frank Jacson, a Canadian businessman. This is where Mercader found fame as the person who eventually succeeded in assassinating Lev Davidovich Bronshtein on Stalin's orders in August 1940. We know Lev Davidovich Bronshtein as Leon Trotsky, the co-founder of the Bolshevik movement. Trotsky was killed by the Man of Many Names with the pick of an ice hatchet (a favorite of the NKVD). Mercader was caught and convicted for his crime by a Mexican court, and sentenced to twenty years in prison - where he served his sentence as Jacques Mornard. It was not until 1953 that his true identity was discovered, although his NKVD affiliation was a secret until the fall of the Soviet Union. After his release from prison in 1960, Mercader traveled to Havana as Jacques Vendendreschd, then flew to Moscow to be honored as Ramon Lopez, Hero of the Soviet Union. Mercader spent the last eighteen years of his life as Ramon Lopez with his Mexican wife in Russia and Havana, finally dying in Cuba in 1978 at 64. Now where in the world is Jaime Ramon Mercader del Rio Hernandez? He's buried in Moscow's Kuntsevo Cemetery as Lopez Ramon Iwanowitsch, the Man of Many Names' headstone being his final misnomer. Sic Transit Gloria. *(The NKVD became the KGB after 1948 and is now the FSP) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The "Thing" On July 4, 1945, as a token of esteem for American Independence Day, a group of schoolchildren in Moscow presented a hand-carved Great Seal of the United States to Averell Harriman (the U.S. Ambassador to the USSR). Harriman hung the Seal over his desk, and it turned out that this was indeed a gift that kept on giving . . . at least to Russian intelligence. The 'Thing' was a device concealed in a hollowed-out portion of the Seal, and for seven years it transmitted everything said in the Ambassador's office. When the device was eventually discovered, U.S. experts could not figure out how it worked, hence the sobriquet, the 'Thing.' The U.K.'s MI5 finally determined that the Thing was the world's first passive cavity resonator. A small hole in the eagle's beak on the Great Seal allowed sound to enter the device, and the sound vibrations inside the cavity charged the antenna at the bottom of the Seal which sent a high-frequency radio wave to a nearby building. In 1952, the CIA withdrew its approval of the Seal, rendering the Thing 'hors de combat' in the Cold War. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ John Wayne and the KGB John Wayne was such a staunch anti-Communist that Joseph Stalin put out a contract on him, says Michael Munn in John Wayne - The Man Behind The Myth. In 1983 Orson Welles told Munn that the KGB had been given an assassination order by Stalin in the early 1950's, because Wayne's views presented a threat to the USSR. On learning this, Wayne took matters in his own hands telling the FBI that he would deal with the assassins and refusing FBI protection. He then had Hollywood stuntmen infiltrate Communist cells to uncover plots to kill him, which eventually led to Wayne's participation in dangerous fights at Communist meetings. The book claims that the order was cancelled by Nikita Krushchev after Stalin's death in 1953, and that Krushchev later told Wayne in a private meeting that the order to kill him "was a decision of Stalin's during his last five mad years. When Stalin died, I rescinded that order." Not to be outdone by Stalin, it is said that Mao Tse Tung had also put a price on Wayne's head, and that snipers attempted to kill him during a visit to Vietnam in 1966. Now listen, and listen good, Pilgrim . . . John Wayne - The Man Behind the Myth - Michael Munn Hardcover - 288 pages (28 June, 2003) Robson Books; ISBN: 1861056141 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~