Add to this topic area by submitting your own article/ideas!

Speaking in Tongues - Open Codes
Scenario:
	You've been conscripted by "The Regime" as a cab driver. All of your movements are 
	monitored by GPS. There are cameras and microphones in your cab, but you have 
	almost unlimited license to travel throughout the city. You know some "people" who 
	are in the resistance. They want you to set up a networking system for them...
How To Speak In Code Simply And Effectively
This technique is from: http://www.andinia.com/articles/survival_survivalism/urban_survival/a04996.shtml 
Have you ever wondered how you could communicate with someone else to pass very sensitive information 
without calling the attention of others but right in front of them? Well... Here we have a technique for you.
You do not need any encryption device to pass secret information right in front of the noses of bystanders. It is 
indeed possible to talk in a foreign language, but that requires that you and your interloper, the sender and 
receptor, understand it well and besides, that could seem rude to others or call the attention of - say - the guards 
of the concentration camp where you are being kept as a prisoner of war, or maybe the tax agency is tapping into 
your phone to find out how to get more of your hard earned money, a competitor, or just about anyone willing to 
intrude into your privacy.
Summam scrutemur, a lot of situations could require effective and discrete confidential communications with simple 
means available, and this system allows precisely for that with minimum training.
As in the case of any code, this one requires a key; it is based on a technique used in the jails of Russia, where 
even prisoners are adept to playing chess, and it consists in simply sending fractions of the intended message 
embedded in simple, innocuous conversations that take place as two people just play with a chess board.
The key in each session is one of the board's pieces - say, a tower - and the whole thing consists in the fact that 
each time one player touches the key piece or moves it, he should say a word that forms part of the secret 
message that is being passed, just as a word that forms part of the normal conversation in which the message is 
embedded. In other words, it allows for sustaining two conversations at the same time.
Once the communication is finished, the receiver only has to put those words together in order to reconstruct the 
message. The only thing that you have to do is play while conversing just about anything. Only those words 
mentioned while moving the key piece will matter.
Experience shows that this code is extremely hard to crack, even for trained and experienced intelligence 
operatives. You can become fluent in it - so to speak - with minimum practice and of course, it could be adapted to 
any other game or activity.
SSRsi Note:
This technique can also be extrapolated to fit almost any situation. For instance, touching a body part or a piece 
of clothing could indicate the relevant words or phrase. Or putting a hand in a pocket, or picking up a beverage 
container, flipping a cigarette or taking a drag from it. Reversing or twirling an item could mean that what you say 
should be taken to mean the opposite of what is said. With a little innovation, the keys and clues are endless and 
you can speak openly without detection of the embedded message.
Response:

Meg,
Simple one time pads used in War Two, and up to this day can be used to convey info from one point to another 
via any mode of communication. All of the Services still use them when a regular encryption system is not 
available.
Choose an out of print book, or little known book to use as a basis for the code, and a page number (or numbers 
depending on the length of the message), then use a number system to choose the right words for the message 
(say every third or 8th word). Or you can use your computer to generate random words and numbers to be used 
as a basis for the code of the day. 
This type system is REAL and it WORKS. Publications, books, magazines, newspaper articles (most like to use the
editorial pages, as most of the words you want are already there), or even the Bible has been used successfully 
(although the Bible is sort of obvious, as it has been used too much). You don't have to be a rocket scientist to gin 
up a list of one time pads, and interception/interpretation is almost impossible, due to the computer time it takes to 
decode the pad system. By the time the computer system decodes the info, it is too old to have any intelligence 
value. 
If you are into math of any kind, fractal encryption systems are impossible to decode, as are using prime numbers 
to represent words (although this system is rather limited), and simple word substitution codes.
Cryptology may make people fear the use because it looks so complicated, but when given a quick going over, it is
really simple to use. I know, as a Communicator in the Navy, I had to work closely with the "cryppies". Some of the
simplest codes are the most effective if you choose your basic material carefully. AND a "one time pad" is exactly 
that. You use it once, and once only, then destroy it (burn it, then destroy the ashes in water, don't shred it). Then 
go to the next code sheet on the pad for the next time. If you are ever compromised, use a simple word to indicate 
so in the next message ( a simple word not normally used in normal conversation would do). 
Privacy is a precious thing, its protection is paramount.
My 2 cents FWIW
Reply:
	I agree with you (good post, by the way) that one-time pads are the way to go with 
	messages that are either lengthy or need to be precise and can or must be transmitted 
	in hard copy. The embedded speech method, however is for code-talking when the 
	message is brief or there is no possibility of safely transmitting a hard copy message via 
	drop or other transfer method. It is for when one or the other party is being closely 
	monitored and any transfer could be intercepted - such as warning an agent that the 
	meeting is blown and where/when to try again. 
	At least, that's the way I would use it. Anything more than a sentence or two would get too 
	confusing anyway.

Please Read The Website Disclaimer!
Copyright 1986-2012, The Survival & Self-Reliance Studies Institute (SSRsi), All Rights Reserved
Site conceptualized, designed, created & maintained by MEG Raven
Snail Mail: SSRsi, PO Box 2572 Dillon, CO. 80435-2572