riddle@ut-sally.UUCP (Prentiss Riddle) (11/13/84)
I saw the following in the December issue of "Mother Jones;" anybody know more
about it?
The latest wrinkle in computer pilferage is called Tempest, the
monitoring and deciphering of incidental radio waves given off by all
computers. The cost of such interception is high, but well within the
budgets of most intelligence agencies. It *is* possible to make a
computer secure from Tempest interception, but that, too, is expensive.
That's all they say. What are they talking about? Is there such a thing?
How does it work? And where does the name "Tempest" come from?
[The article from which this reference comes, by the way, is simply entitled
"Surveillance" and attempts to be an all-inclusive rundown of the current
state of affairs of everything from spy satellites and phone taps to private
political surveillance and computer security issues. I'm afraid that the
author tries to cover far more material than he can do justice to in the
space allotted to him. As in the above paragraph, he raises more questions
than he answers. But still it's an interesting article, if you're concerned
about such things.]
--- Prentiss Riddle ("Aprendiz de todo, maestro de nada.")
--- {ihnp4,harvard,seismo,gatech,ctvax}!ut-sally!riddle