GSSA Spy School Level Three - Steganography: The Null Cipher

One common form of steganography is called a null cipher. In this type of stego, the hidden message is formed by taking the first (or other fixed) letter of each word in the covertext.

Use the first letter of each word in the covertext below (between the names) to decipher the secret message:

Chris~

So, Amy bought every lamp?! Lucky Amy! I've started auctioning decent old unsigned books. Luckily every auction's going excellent! News tomorrow!

~Gareth

(Answer: TNEGA ELBUOD A SI ALLEBAS)

GSSA Spy School Level Three - Cryptography: The Pig Pen Cypher

CLICK FOR LARGER IMAGE

The Pigpen cipher (sometimes called the Masonic cipher or Freemason's cipher) is a simple substitution cipher exchanging letters for symbols based on a grid (or the "pigpen") surrounding it.

Now, using the information above, decode the following message:


(Answer: TOPS EHT SKRAM X)

MORE EXCITING CONNECTIONS:

Click here to use an on-line Pigpen cipher creation tool courtesy of the SIGNAL CORPS ASSOCIATION

Click here to download a pigpen true type font for your computer courtesy of Andrew West's BABELSTONE

Click here to see an actual gravestone containing a Pigpen cypher courtesy of the BLACK CHAMBER

Special thanks to Wikipedia

GSSA Spy School Level Three - Communication Without Words

Hand signals can provide spies with a way to talk to each other without being heard by enemies.

American Sign Language is a system made up of hand gestures, representing words, used by the deaf to communicate. Wouldn't that be a fun way to speak secretly?!

Did you also know you can form the letters of the alphabet with your hands to spell out words? You can! Here's how:

CLICK FOR LARGER IMAGE

Using what you have learned from above, decipher the following message:

Now you practice! Soon you too will be communicating without words!


(ANSWER: PLEH DEEN)

GSSA Spy School Level Two - Cryptography: The Substitution Cypher

Today's lesson in GSSA Spy School is a refresher on the substitution cypher. Do you remember what you have learned? Try to decode the message below using your cypher wheel or this key:

B=A

If you can't remember or have trouble, you can research substitution cyphers by doing a search within this blog on all of our posts about substitution cyphers. Simply type in the words "substitution cypher" in the Blogger search box above our main title, and click {search this blog}. GOOD LUCK! (Answer below)

DSZQUPHSBQIZ JT B GVO BOE VTFGVM TLJMM UP MFBSO




Answer: NRAEL OT LLIKS LUFESU DNA NUF A SI YHPARGOTPYRC

GSSA Spy School Level Two - Steganography: Puzzles

Puzzles are not only clever, but a fun way to pass a secret message!


Try it yourself. Find the following in the word search puzzle above:

.......ACADEMY.............CRAZY.................GET.................KNOW...............SECRET..
.......ADEN......................CYPHER..............HELP...............NOW..................SPY.........
.......BAD.........................GARETH..............JUDGE...........RISK..................TRUE......
.......CHAT......................GEAR....................KID................RUN.....................ZACH...

Once you have found all the words - use the remaining letters to form a secret message!

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _!



Answer: NEVES TA EM LLAC

GSSA Spy School Level Two - Cryptography: ADFGX Cipher

Created by the Germans during World War I, the ADFGX cipher uses only five letters — A, D, F, G, and X. It’s based in a five-by-five grid.

It works kind of like Battleship - if you have ever played that game! The first letter of the sequence referring to the column down and the second letter referring to the row across. So... DF would equal M and FX would equal H.

Using that code, the word SPY would appear like this:

DG AD AA

Notice that the letters I and J appear in the same box. This is because there is only 25 boxes available, and 26 letters in the alphabet! However, the letter J does not get used very often, thus the code is still quite easy to decipher with the key.

Now you try it! (Answer below)


XX GA AG FG AF AF FX FG FA XX FA XX FD

Since some letters appear more frequently than others in words, the ADFGX cipher would have been pretty easy to crack if the same grid was used for weeks at a time.

However, the Germans changed the letter locations in the grid every day, making it more difficult to decipher intercepted messages.

Answer: (TI DID OHW WONK I)

GSSA Spy School Level Two - Cryptography: Image Messages

One way to keep a message secret is to use images and a decoder.

Agents can send each other messages written in images instead of letters, as long as they all know which image represents which letter. An enemy would have a difficult time figuring it out — unless they got your decoder! Don't let it fall into the wrong hands!

Now you try! (Answer below)

Share the decoder key with your fellow agents.
Memorize it, or keep it in a VERY safe place.

Answer: (NUF SI TAHT LOOHCS A SI ASSG)

GSSA Spy School Level One - Steganography: Messages in Print 2

A note or e-mail to a friend may look ordinary, but in the spy world, things are not always what they seem. If spies have a code system in place, a secret message can be hidden in an innocent letter. Try to find the message hidden in the note below.

Gareth,

Our family reunion is coming up soon. Meeting some of our relatives we have never seen before should be exciting! Is it something you are looking forward to? At the moment, I am, but things may change as it gets closer. The truth is, I have never been to a reunion before, and don't know what to expect. Pool will be one of the activities, dad says, as will a buffet, video games and cards. At least that's what I think he said. 5 times you have beat me in pool, so I hope you are ready for a challenge! See, I have been practicing! You know what that means! There is no escape - ha ha!

Judge

The secret: The first word in each sentence forms a secret message!

Knowing the secret makes the message easy to decode, but to someone who doesn't, the email would just look like two competitive cousins talking about a reunion! (Answer below.)

ANSWER: !ereht uoy eeS .5 ta loop eht ta si gniteem ruO

Definitions: Steganography vs. Cryptography

Steganography is the art and science of writing hidden messages in such a way that no one apart from the sender and intended recipient even realizes there is a hidden message.

By contrast, cryptography obscures the meaning of a message, but it does not conceal the fact that there is a message.

Generally, a steganographic message will appear to be something else: a picture, an article, a shopping list, or some other message. This apparent message is the covertext. For instance, a message may be hidden by using invisible ink between the visible lines of innocuous documents.

The advantage of steganography over cryptography alone is that messages do not attract attention to themselves, to messengers, or to recipients. An unhidden coded message, no matter how unbreakable it is, will arouse suspicion and may in itself be incriminating, as in countries where encryption is illegal.

Often, steganography and cryptography are used together to ensure security of the covert message.

GSSA Spy School Level One - The Power of Observation

Powers of observation are probably the most important skill a spy can develop. Being observant is essential to a spy’s work, and can even save your life. You need to be able to notice everything,

including little details that seem unimportant. A good way to practice is to observe a scene, and then test your memory. Study the above picture for one minute, to see how many details you can find, and then answer the questions below....

1. How many pumpkins are in the picture?
2. The scarecrow is standing on the left or the right of the picture?
3. In the picture there is also: a squirrel, an automobile, or an American flag?
4. The rooster in the picture is facing left or right?
5. The cart that this scene is posed on is: brown, green, or black?

Now check your answers!

Answers: neerG .5 tfeL .4 galf naciremA na .3 thgiR .2 owT .1

How did you do?

5 correct - You are a top agent in observation!
3 to 4 correct - You did well, but you could probably brush up on your observation skills!
1 to 2 correct - Back to Spy School for you!

GSSA Spy School Level One - Cryptography: Messages in Print

If you need to get a secret letter to a fellow spy - you can highlight, circle or bold the letters that form your message in a page from a book, newspaper, magazine, or online article. Then make sure it gets in the right hands!

HOW TO DO IT:

To code:
Select your article, book or magazine.
Highlight, bold, or circle letter with in the message to create your secret message.
Deliver it to the receiver. (Perhaps you can use your pre-assigned dead drop!)

To decode:
Write down all the circled, bold, or highlighted letters in order.
Separate them into individual words...
and.... now you have your secret message!

Try to decode this:

from Profile: Alex Allen (answer below)

Alex Allan, who is seriously ill in hospital, is the colorful head of the UK's Joint Intelligence Committee.

As chairman of the committee, his role is to collate intelligence from MI5, MI6 and GCHQ, and brief ministers.

Mr Allan, 57, is a big fan of the 60s rock group the Grateful Dead, and in the 1980s windsurfed to work along the River Thames during a train strike.

He was appointed to the Joint Intelligence Committee despite having no background in the field.

Mr Allan runs a website for "Deadheads", fans of the Grateful Dead, which features a lyric and song search engine for work of the Californian rockers.

(All answers will now be printed backwards for security reasons!)
ANSWER: thginot 8 ta em teem (meet me at 8 tonight)

GSSA Spy School Level One - Cryptography: Reflections

One easy way spies can disguise a message is to write it so it’s readable only when held up to a mirror. Mirror writing is hard to read. This makes it useful for writing secret codes. See if you can read the above message, then hold up a mirror and read the reflection.

Mirror image writing is not a great way to hide top secret information, as it’s fairly easy to decipher. But it’s a good method in a pinch—and especially useful when the words are actually code words for something else. That way, if the wrong person finds the message and deciphers it, they still will not know what it means.

HOW TO DO IT:

Write your message backward, from left to right. You have to write the word backwards AND you have to write each letter backwards in order for it to look perfect when held up to a mirror.

For example, the letters O and V look the same when viewed in a mirror or on paper, but letters like R, L, K, and S have to be written backward.

Top UK Spy Collapses

Courtesy of the HERALD SUN

MYSTERY deepens over the sudden illness of Britain's top spy after a neighbor said he was found covered in blood.

Alex Allan, 57, the chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee, was still in a coma under police guard as doctors ran tests to try to identify what caused him to collapse.

He was found by painter Dominique Salm, who took over the studio in his home when his artist wife of 29 years died of cancer last year.

Neighbors said Ms Salm, 35, told them she found him slumped unconscious and "blood everywhere".

But Whitehall sources blamed pneumonia.

Experts say pneumonia sufferers may cough up some blood but rarely much.

Ms Salm's mother, Sally Ann Salm, said: "Some very serious people have asked Dominique not to comment on any of this until it has been fully investigated and she is doing just that. So am I."

A police source said it was "quickly established there was a medical reason for how he was found. He is being treated as a medical patient, not the victim of any kind of poisoning or other attempt on his life".

Mr Allan oversees the committee analyzing intelligence from MI5, MI6, GCHQ, and other sources.

See also: Profile: Spy Chief Alex Allan

GSSA Spy School

Starting tomorrow, Gareth's Secret Spy Academy will begin GSSA Spy School, in association with Scholastic, Spy X, and the American Spy Academy. There will be 16 courses offered with difficulty levels of one through four.

By studying the courses as they are offered - you will learn many different spy techniques, that will eventually allow you to complete your on-line Spy X training and receive a printable diploma from the American Spy Academy!

Have fun!

Danger Room & Threat Level Join Our Site!

What better way to keep up on what is going on in the intelligence community, with national security, and the world of terrorist threats and solutions than a up-to-date news feed or two?

Well, from the annals of the Wired Blog Network, The Danger Room: What's Next in National Security and Threat Level: Privacy, Security, Politics & Crime Online; have now joined our site.

Check these out!

Danger Room articles:

• The Microwave Scream Inside Your Skull

• Spies Want a Second Life of Their Own

• U.S. Satellites Snooping on Iraqi Army

• Top Spook: Facebookers, Gamers May Be Unfit to Spy

• FBI Data-Mining Slashed After G-Men Dis Congress

Threat Level articles:

• Analysis: NSA Spying Judge Defends Rule of Law, Congress Set to Strip His Power

• Judge: President's 'State Secrets' Privilege Can't Shield Wiretapping

• New FBI Database to Include Photos and Palm Prints

• Senate to Consider Spy Bill With Telecom Amnesty

• Senate Postpones Spy Bill Vote Unitl July 8

• McCain: I'd Spy on Americans Secretly, Too

For the above articles and more check out our new site feed! (Located in our right sidebar, middle. Use menu button to select either Danger Room or Threat Level feed.)

The package....

You are a top secret agent...

a mysterious package is delivered to your office...

you open it...

It's a BOMB!!!!

CAN YOU DIFFUSE IT IN TIME?!?!?
(Click here to find out)

Cryptography: The Rail Fence Cipher

The original Rail Fence Cipher (also called a zigzag cipher) is a form of transposition cipher that gets its name from the way in which it is encoded. In the rail fence cipher, the message is written downwards and diagonally on successive "rails" of an imaginary fence, then moving up when we reach the bottom rail. When we reach the top rail, the message is written downwards again until the whole plaintext is written out. The message is then read off in rows.

For example, if we have 3 "rails" and a message of 'WE ARE DISCOVERED. FLEE AT ONCE', the cipherer writes out:

W . . . E . . . C . . . R . . . L . . . T . . . E
. E . R . D . S . O . E . E . F . E . A . O . C .
. . A . . . I . . . V . . . D . . . E . . . N . .

Then they would read off the rows, to get the ciphertext: WECRLTE ERDSOEEFEAOC AIVDEN



The modern version of Rail Fence Cipher is created by writing messages so that alternate letters are written on separate upper and lower lines, and are more rectangular than zig zag.

Let's use the words: SECRET SPY ACADEMY

First let's take out all the spaces: SECRETSPYACADEMY

Then decide how many "rails" (rows) you want to use. Let's use 2.

So, starting with the S in Secret, I am going to write down every second letter until I get to the end of the message.

Like this: SCESYCDM

Directly behind those letters I will write the letters I skipped.

Like this: SCESYCDMERTPAAEY

I then put the number 2 at the beginning to tell the receiver how many rails I used - and to know what to divide by.

Like this: 2SCESYCDMERTPAAEY

That is the message that the other secret agent would receive...!

2SCESYCDMERTPAAEY

To decipher an encrypted message, you will need to divide the message (number of letters total) by the number of rails.

Ask yourself this way: How many rails of ___ can I get from ___ letters? (Do not count the number! It is the key!)

The message we created has 16 letters. So let's use our formula: How many rails of 2 can I get from 16 letters? The answer is eight. So your first line should have 8 letters and your second line should have 8 letters.

Then we will write out the first 8 letters, and put the remaining 8 letters directly below them to make 2 rails (or rows).

Like this: S C E S Y C D M
---------->E R T P A A E Y

Starting at the S, you can then write out the message column by column.

Like this: SE CR ET SP YA CA DE MY

Take out the spaces and you get: SECRETSPYACADEMY;
which is easy to break into the original message: SECRET-SPY-ACADEMY

(If for some reason your message has an odd number of letters; first use your formula: How many rails of 3 can I get from 17 letters? Answer 5 (because 17 divided by 3 is 5 with 2 left over.) Use the 2 left over letters in your first 2 lines, and the remaining 5 in your last!) Answer: 6, 6, 5

(However many extra letters you have left over, will be how many lines you have to add 1 extra letter to at the end)

Another example: 4 rails, 15 letters ;(15 divided by 4 is 3 remainder 3) so each of the first three lines get an extra letter and the answer is 4, 4, 3!

(The security of the cipher can be improved by choosing more than two lines to encrypt your message with.)

Now you try it:

2IIFNORAAOETSUTBEKCD

(Hint: Use your formula! How many rails of 2 can I get from 19 letters? Answer 9 (18 divided by 2 is 9 with 1 remaining.) Use the 1 extra letter in line 1 and problem solved!) Answer below!

Try it again with 3 rails:

3KWDIORNLGSWOEEPE

(Hint: Use your formula! How many rails of 3 can I get from 16 letters? (16 divided by 3 is 5 with 1 remaining. So your first line gets the extra letter, for 6 letters in that line and your remaining 2 lines each have 5 letters apiece!) Answer below.

Challangers:

5STCYOALESAIOCECPDSLEARYEAPTREAMCLON

4GSSDYLOPNMSLOIEAKSDEENI

To play with a rail fence cipher creator of your own: CLICK HERE

Answers:



it is fun to break a code


knowledge is power


secret spy academy is a cool place to learn


good spies need many skills

Spy School: A History of Spy Techniques

Some of the techniques formerly used by spies were clever, some were strange, and some just downright silly. Below are several real spy techniques used by actual spies throughout history! Hope you enjoy them!

One way to send a secret messages is to shave someones head, tattoo your message on his or her scalp, then wait until the hair grows back. Presto! Your message remains safely concealed (until the next haircut). A Greek ruler in ancient times discovered this spy technique. He used the head of his slave as a notepad. Note: This technique is not useful for urgent messages or bald spies... and probably won't make parents very happy if tried at home!

In feudal Japan, the fearsome Ninja were military spies known for 'their stealthy techniques, clever disguises, and general trickiness. In combat they sometimes wore two false heads to confuse opponents, who would not know which one to hit! When pursued, they dropped small metal spikes that could dig into the straw-bottomed sandals most people wore. They could even "disappear" by crushing a hollow egg filled with dust and blowing the dust in the enemy's face, giving them time to escape before the enemy could clearly see again.

During the Civil War; Elizabeth Van Lew was a Southern belle living in the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia. Because she visited Union soldiers in prison and spoke openly against slavery, people called her Crazy Bet. In fact, she was one of the Union's most successful spies. She smuggled the secrets she learned out of the Confederate prison in hollow eggshells hidden in baskets of eggs. She kept a secret room in her house for escaped prisoners. She even hid her horse there for a time, in case she needed to make a quick getaway.

When you're about to be captured, it's really important to destroy your codebook. Spies have burnt, flushed, even eaten!, their codes. But make sure you do a good job. In World War I, while his zeppelin was crashing over enemy territory, a German captain and his crew tore their codebook into tiny pieces and sent the scraps fluttering across miles of English countryside. They thought they were safe. But the British carefully collected the pieces-gathering 22 sackfuls of paper-and glued them back together. (Guess the Germans should have had codebook for dinner instead.)

There were many spies during the Revolutionary War. But Anna Strong, a member of the Culper Spy Ring reporting to General George Washington, had an unusual way of sending messages... her clothesline. She hung a black petticoat on her line as a coded signal to her spy neighbor across the bay, who watched the line with his telescope. The order in which she hung the clothes indicated which of six coves along the coast was that night's meeting place.

French captain Georges Painvin was a brilliant paleontologist and cellist. He was also a genius at code breaking. But breaking the super-complicated German ADFGVX cipher during World War I, nearly broke him! Exerting his enormous brain power on the problem was so stressful that Painvin lost 33 pounds and had to spend six months in the hospital to recover.

Make a Book Safe

Secrets don't have to be locked away in a vault, you can hide them in plain sight with this book safe!

You might think that secrets need to be be put in a place where other spies can't get to, such as a big safe. The problem with that is, that a safe is known for holding valuables, and crooks know this too!

Sometimes it's better to hide your secrets in plain sight. For this you can modify a regular (hard cover) book to be a great hiding place. It may not be as well protected as in a safe, but the upside is that other spies won't know where to look for it!

What you need to make a book safe:

• Hard cover book that nobody wants to read anymore (double-check with your parents).
• Sharp Stanley or Exacto knife (get your parent to help!)
  
• Ruler
• Pencil

Assembly instructions:

1. Open the book near the beginning, but not on page 1. If needed, you can put another book under the front cover to support it, so the pages in which you are going to cut are lying flat.
2. With the pencil and ruler, draw a rectangle on the right page. Don't draw to close to the edge of the page!
3. Now we're going to cut into the book. Cutting is done with a sharp knife and should be done by an adult! Put the ruler on one edge of the drawn rectangle, and cut through the pages with the knife against the ruler. Watch your fingers! Don't cut all the way to the edge of the page, and don't go to deep, as it's difficult to cut, plus you can skip the pages you just cut, and cut deeper from that point on.
4. After you have cut rectangles out of the pages you wanted, you'll have a void in the book, much like the picture above.
5. Some like to glue the cut pages together with wallpaper paste. It isn't necessary to hide your stuff though.
6. Now hide your secrets in your book safe, and lastly put your secret book on a book shelf with many more books. Others won't know where to look for it!

The Dead Drop

A dead drop or dead letter box, is a location used to secretly pass items between two people, without requiring them to meet.

Spies have been known to use dead drops, using various techniques to hide items (such as money, secrets or instructions) and to signal that the drop has been made.

The system involves using signals and locations which have been agreed in advance. These signals and locations must be common everyday things to which most people would not give a second glance.

The location (the Dead Letter Box) could be a loose brick in a wall, a library book, a hole in a tree or a shrub in a park etc. It should be something common and from which the items can be picked up without the operatives being seen by a member of the public or the security forces who may be watching them.

The signaling devices can include a chalk mark on a wall, a piece of chewing-gum on a lamppost, a newspaper left on a park bench etc.

For example, Aldrich Ames left chalk marks on a mail box located at 37th and R Streets NW in Washington, DC to signal his Russian handlers that he had made a dead drop. The number of marks on the box prompted some local residents to speculate, somewhat jokingly, that it was used by spies.

The dead drop is often used as a cut-out* device. In this use the operatives who use the device to communicate or exchange materials or information do not know one another and should never see one another. While this type of device is useful in preventing the roll up of an entire espionage network. It is not foolproof. If the lower level operative is compromised he or she may reveal the location of and signal for the use of the dead drop. Then the counter espionage agents simply use the signal to indicate that the dead drop is ready for pickup. They then keep the spot under continuous surveillance until it is picked up. They can then capture the operative who picked up the material from the dead drop.

The dead drop spike (shown above) is a concealment device similar to a microcache which has been used since the late 1960s to hide money, maps, documents, microfilm, and other items. The spike is waterproof and mildew-proof and can be shoved into the ground or placed in a shallow stream to be retrieved at a later time.

Modern dead drop techniques:

On January 23, 2006, the Russian FSB accused Britain of using wireless dead drops concealed inside hollowed-out rocks to collect espionage information from agents in Russia. According to the Russian authorities, the agent delivering information would approach the rock and transmit data wirelessly into it from a hand-held device, and later his British handlers would pick up the stored data by similar means.

• Russians accuse 4 Britons of spying IHT January 24, 2006
• Old spying lives on in new ways BBC News 23 January 2006

A British al-Qaeda related terrorist cell, convicted of terrorist offences on April 30, 2007, used an email account as a dead drop technique. By sharing the account's password, members of the group could write messages for each other and save them as drafts, without leaving a permanent recording by actually transmitting them.

• Madrid suspects tied to e-mail ruse International Herald Tribune April 28, 2006

*SPY TALK: a cutout is a mutually trusted channel of communication which aids in the exchange of information between agents.

Spy Toys

You want to have the same tools spies do? Of course you do! Whether you are looking for toys for kids - or the real thing you can find it on one of the links listed below:

• Spy Toys for Kids

• New 'Spy Gear' Spy Toys

• Spyxtreme Adult Spy Gear

• The Spy Store Adult Spy Gear

Have fun! (Hope you get some great stuff!)

Invisible Ink Recipes

Spies often need to send secret messages. Now you can too, with this Invisible Ink recipe and a little top-secret know how!

Getting information and communicating are the two of the most important skills of any spy. If you must communicate by means of paper, you basically have two choices: coding and concealing.

Coding has one problem. Anyone who comes across an encoded message, knows it is a secret message... ...and that you are (most likely) a spy. Your cover could be blown. Not good!

Another possibility is to conceal your message. In other words, make it invisible to the naked eye. But how? You can make invisible ink, and write with that!

******************HOT TIPS!******************

Don't write your message on an empty page. An empty page is strange... why would you want to send an empty page to someone? When people start asking such questions, they may investigate further. So make sure you write a message on it. Something harmless, that anybody may read. Another idea is to write a message with loads of clues that lead nowhere, throwing your enemy off track.

Even better: encode your message first, THEN write it in invisible ink on the harmless message. When it comes to secrecy, there's no such thing as doing too much!

*****************************************************

Invisible Ink Recipes

Recipe #1 - Material Needed:

• Baking Soda
• Water
• A toothpick , fountain pen, or even just a Q-Tip
• A piece of paper
• A source of heat (light bulb etc)

Recipe # 1 - The Method

Step 1 - Mix one table spoon of baking Soda to two tablespoon of water. This is your ink solution.

Step 2 - Now take your Q-tip, toothpick or fountain pen and dip it in your solution and write your message on the paper.

Step 3 - Let it dry

Step 4 - To read your message: Hold the paper with the secret writing near a light bulb*
(or other heat source). You will soon see the message appear in a brown color.

*CHILDREN: Be sure to ask your parents for help, as paper + heat can = FIRE!

Recipe #2 - Material Needed:

• Lemon Juice
• A toothpick , fountain pen, or even just a Q-Tip
• A piece of paper
• A source of heat (light bulb etc)

Step 1 - Pour or squeeze some lemon juice into a small dish. This is your ink solution.

Step 2 - Now take your Q-tip, toothpick or fountain pen and dip it in your solution and write your message on the paper.

Step 3 - Let it dry

Step 4 - To read your message: Hold the paper with the secret writing near a light bulb*
(or other heat source). You will soon see the message appear in a brown color.

*CHILDREN: Be sure to ask your parents for help, as paper + heat can = FIRE!

NOTE: Lemon juice invisible ink, while quick and handy, isn't completely invisible. It's a good idea to write on paper that's not bright white. Recycle paper (as used by newspapers) is ideal for this!

James Bond 007 - FOREVER!!!

James Bond is a high-profile, dashing secret agent!

If you have ever seen him in his movies, you've probably wanted to be just like him! Now, you too can know everything there is to know about James Bond!

Simply click the title link above to visit mi6 - the home of James bond!

...and if you are interested in having a list of the 007 movies; or just want to know titles, characters or other facts: CLICK HERE

Another good source of information for James Bond or other spy movies is IMDb.com; the greatest internet movie database ever! (Remember: It's important for a spy to have excellent resources!) Check it out!

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE OF JAMES BOND TRIVIA: click here to play!

AgentKevin78 - Advanced Spy Fighting Technique "Highly Explosive"

THIS IS A PARODY - DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS AT HOME
THE STUNTS DEPICTED IN THESE VIDEOS ARE DANGEROUS!
**CHILDREN SHOULD NOT VIEW VIDEO**

AgentKevin78 is up to his usual not-so-bright antics.
This video episode covers Advanced Spy Fighting Technique "Highly Explosive"
Click on the title link to access the video.

Secret Meetings

A spy needs to sometimes meet with a contact to pass on information... but how can it be done without being caught?

A security service like the KGB can only achieve its objectives by intercepting communication between people. This means you can beat the security service if you can deny them the ability to overhear your meetings with your contacts.

What you'll learn here... (TRADECRAFT)
This article teaches you how to check for surveillance* before you meet with a clandestine* contact. You'll learn a protocol* that will beat security services like the FBI, BATF, DEA, and others. The method is particularly effective against standard police surveillance. It also works against the so-called inspection teams of the IRS.

*DEFINITIONS:
clandestine - marked by, held in, or conducted with secrecy
protocol - a detailed plan or procedure
surveillance - close watch kept over someone or something (as by a detective)

*********************
SPY TALK: Spies in North America call this seven-step protocol (below) for counter surveillance "drycleaning". In Europe, it is called parcours de sécurité – a French phrase which can be translated as security run or security circuit.
***********************

7 Step-by-step instructions for holding a secret meeting...

Here's a hypothetical situation. Assume that you and I wish to meet clandestinely. We wish to ensure that our meeting is not observed by a surveillance team. You and I have previously agreed upon a place, date, and time. In addition, we are familiar with each other's appearance – we can recognize each other on sight.

Step 1

You and I independently arrive at the previously agreed-upon general location. Rather than fixing a specific location, we agree to be only in the general vicinity. This is an important principle. This might be a large park, a residential district, etc. The location must be outdoors and free of video surveillance cameras. It should also be selected with the intention of thwarting telephoto lenses. You and I should each know the area well. The location should provide reasonable cover for each of us being there – strolling in the park, walking through a residential area to a bus stop, convenience store, etc.

Step 2

You and I will eventually make eye contact at some distance from each other. We do this discretely, so others are unaware. I use a pre-arranged signal to alert you that I have spotted you. Perhaps I'll throw my jacket over my shoulder, or remove and clean my sunglasses, etc. The signal must be a natural movement that does not attract unwanted attention. Safety first. Even though you and I have seen each other, we do NOT approach each other. This is an important safety valve. If either of us has grown a tail we do not want to compromise the other person.

*********************
SPYTALK: The phrase grown a tail is spy-talk for being under surveillance. The phrase is somewhat inaccurate, because they don't just follow you, they often surround you.
*********************

Step 3

When you see my signal you simply walk off. Then I follow you in order to ensure that you're not being watched. I carefully check for the presence of a floating-box foot surveillance team. I check for agents at fixed observation posts. I also watch for drive-by support from a floating-box vehicle surveillance team.

NOTE – In particular, I may follow you, I may walk parallel to you, I may occasionally walk ahead of you. The goal is simply to be nearby so I'm in a position to detect surveillance around you. I always remain at a distance from you, of course, never approaching too closely.

Step 4

When I have satisfied myself that you are clean, I again signal you. Perhaps I re-tie my shoe laces.

Step 5

Now we reverse roles and this time it is I who simply walks off. You begin to follow me in order to ensure that I'm not being watched. You check for floating-box foot surveillance, fixed observation post foot surveillance, and drive-by support by a vehicle surveillance team.

What to look for: You carefully watch for persons who are pacing me or moving parallel with me. You check for persons loitering at positions with a good line-of-sight to my location. You watch for an ongoing pattern of people coming and going that results in someone always being in a position to monitor me. You watch for vehicles dropping someone off ahead of me.

Step 6

When you are satisfied that I am clean, you signal me that I'm not being watched. (On the other hand, if you suspect that a surveillance team is in the vicinity, you simply abort the operation and walk away.)

NOTE – You must trust your instincts, because if something seems not quite right it's better to be safe than sorry. Many people are surprised to learn that it is not difficult to detect a surveillance team watching someone else. This is the subtle elegance of Blunt's countersurveillance system. And the goons are helpless against it.

Step 7

You and I can now approach each other and meet. After our discussion we agree upon the date, time, and location of our next clandestine meeting – as well as two backup plans in case the meeting is thwarted by surveillance. If we are unable to meet at the first venue we will use our fallback position and we will meet at the same time and place one week later. If we are unable to make that meeting happen, we will shift to a previously agreed-upon failsafe plan and we will meet at a different location at an agreed-upon date and time. Neither you nor I writes down the particulars of our next meeting. We commit the details to memory.

NOTE 1 – If you have any documents to give me, I will not accept those documents until the final moments of our meeting. I will have already started making my getaway when I accept the documents. This reduces the chance of discovery and arrest by a surveillance team that has managed to elude our counter surveillance protocol. If the security service acts too quickly, they will have no evidence against me, because the documents have not yet been passed to me.

NOTE 2 – The best agents never mix discussion and documents. If a document is to be passed, no discussion occurs. The entire contact takes only a moment – the perfect brushpass. The principle is simple. It is foolhardy to stand around holding incriminating documents.

MORE INFORMATION ON TRADECRAFT:

Tradecraft origins. The method described in this article was originally devised in 1943-1944 by countersurveillance expert Anthony Blunt for Britain's MI.5. Unfortunately for the British, Blunt was a deep-cover agent for the KGB. Six years later, Blunt taught the protocol to his new KGB controller, Yuri Modin. Together they perfected the technique as it is known today. They successfully thwarted MI.5 surveillance for three years, sometimes even meeting daily to exchange information and top secret documents. In effect, Blunt was using his inside knowledge of MI.5's surveillance techniques to beat them at their own game.

Proliferation. This counter surveillance method has since been adopted by Israel's Mossad, Germany's BND, Russia's KGB (now the SVR), the American CIA, and many others. The protocol is taught by intelligence agencies to their controllers – these are the intelligence officers who manage and meet with deep cover agents in foreign countries. The method is also being used today by resistance movements and urban guerrilla groups. When this countersurveillance protocol is methodically applied, it is extremely difficult for a security service to breach your security.

AgentKevin78 - Advanced Spy Fighting Technique "Human Shield"

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AgentKevin78 is up to his usual not-so-bright antics.
This video episode covers Advanced Spy Fighting Technique "Human Shield"
Click on the title link to access the video.

Breaking a cryptogram...

Cryptograms are simple cypher puzzles that often appear in newspapers, just like crosswords!

Cryptograms are simple substitution cyphers, like the Caesar cypher we learned about. You can always use your cryptowheel to solve cryptograms... but first you need the key to the puzzle.

For example, in this code:

TQJFT BSF DPPM!

The key is P=O.

It is a simple Caesar cipher. Using that key you can break the code to the secret message above, with your cryptowheel, or on your own! (Correct answer is below)

So again, how do you find the key if you don't know it?

Try these tools:

• Check for one-letter words. The word is A nine times out of ten. If A doesn't work, try I.

• A three-letter word may be THE especially if it begins the crypogram, both first and last letters are of high frequency, or the same three letter word appears more than once.

• Memorize the first six letters of the frequency alphabet, E, T, A, O, N, and I. The complete frequency alphabet is: E T A O N I S R H D L U F C M W P G Y B V K X J Q Z

• Try to identify vowels. One way is to examine how many different letters adjoin a high-frequency cipher letter. The four most used vowels, A, E, I, O must touch the 20 consonants more often than the consonants touch the different vowels. Also, every sequence of five or six letters most always contains a vowel.

• Look for doubled letters. The most often used doubles are L, E, S, O and T.

• Check the final letters of the cipher’s words. Letters that appear often as final letters include E, W, T, D, N, R, G, K, and Y.

With these helpful tools you are well on your way to solving most cryptograms that are published today!

Now, wanna test your skills by breaking a cryptogram?
CLICK HERE to solve a puzzle of your own!

GOOD LUCK!

(Correct answer to cryptogram above: Spies are cool!)

AgentKevin78 - Advanced Spy Fighting Technique "Blind Fire"

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THE STUNTS DEPICTED IN THESE VIDEOS ARE DANGEROUS!
**CHILDREN SHOULD NOT VIEW VIDEO**

AgentKevin78 is up to his usual not-so-bright antics.
This video episode covers Advanced Spy Fighting Technique "Blind Fire"
Click on the title link to access the video.

Make your own fingerprint powder!

Every spy needs to be able to dust for prints!

Fingers, even dry ones, leave a thin fatty substance on objects. When left on glass, or some other shiny surface, you can put some fine dark powder on it, and lift it with some clear tape.

Real-life CSI forensic experts dust fingerprints with aluminum powder. But, since you probably don't have that on you right now...

Here's how to make some fingerprint powder yourself!

Fingerprint Powder Recipe

What you need:

• Cornstarch (or starch powder)
  
• A candle
• 2 heat proof dishes
• A plastic knife
• A PARENT'S HELP
  

Put a little starch powder on a dish. Light the candle (let an adult help you with this!), and hold the second dish in the flame.

Remember, flames are HOT! Get your parent to help!

The candle flame will deposit soot on the second dish. Scrape this soot from the dish and deposit it on the starch powder. Keep doing this, until the amount of soot matches the amount of starch powder.

Mix the two together, and hey presto!

When your ready to lift a print, dust it generously. Then, blow the excess away from the fingerprint.

To lock the fingerprint in place, cover it with clear tape, and stick it on a clear card.

RECIPE VARIATIONS:

For white finger print powder - (Used to print dark surfaces) Simply use corn starch based baby powder!

A simple finger print powder - Can be made by mixing powdered graphite (available in the key section of your hardware store) with corn starch or talc!

Big fluffy blush brushes - like your mother would use - make great "dusting brushes". (Ask permission first!)

AgentKevin78 - Advanced Spy Fighting Technique "Alley Fighting"

THIS IS A PARODY - DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS AT HOME
THE STUNTS DEPICTED IN THESE VIDEOS ARE DANGEROUS!
**CHILDREN SHOULD NOT VIEW VIDEO**

AgentKevin78 is up to his usual not-so-bright antics.
This video episode covers Advanced Spy Fighting Technique "Alley Fighting"
Click on the title link to access the video.

Cryptography: The Caesar cipher

In cryptography, a Caesar cipher, is one of the simplest and most widely known encryption techniques.

It is a type of substitution cipher in which each letter in the plain text is replaced by a letter some fixed number of positions down the alphabet.

For example, with a shift of 1, A would be replaced by B, B would become c, and so on.

The method is named after Julius Caesar, who used it to communicate with his generals.

The Caesar cipher is AKA (also known as): Caesar's cipher, shift cipher, Caesar's code or Caesar shift.

Try it for yourself! Click here for a usable and downloadable Caesar cipher program!
or
Make your own cypher wheel, and create your own Caesar ciphers!

DEFINITIONS:
cryptography - the procedures, processes, methods, etc., of making and using secret writing, as codes or ciphers
encryption - to encipher or encode

What is "Cryptography"?

Cryptography is the practice and study of hiding information.

The use of cryptography dates back to the beginning of man's use of written language.

The word cryptography comes from the Greek meaning hidden writing.

The oldest physical examples we have of using written codes dates back to the Spartan government's use of scytales. These were special devices in which the sender and recipient each had a special cylinder of the same size. A ribbon was wrapped around the cylinder and the message written vertically on the ribbon. The ribbon was worn as a belt and delivered to the receiver. Once the receiver wrapped the ribbon on the appropriate cylinder the message could be deciphered by reading vertically.

A few noted cryptographers were:

• Julius Caesar: He developed the first use of a substitution alphabet for ciphers.

• Roger Bacon: Quoted as saying "A man is crazy who writes a secret in any other way than one which will conceal it from the vulgar."

• Sir Francis Bacon: He developed the reputed baconian cipher using a bilateral system consisting of 5-bit binary encoding and utilizing a variation in type face as the key. There is ample evidence showing that Bacon was indeed the author of Shakespeare's work and these works are riddled with baconian ciphers.

• Thomas Jefferson: Invented a wheel cipher.

• Charles Babbage: Re-invented another wheel cipher.

• Edgar Allan Poe: He was very fond of and talented at creating and deciphering key word codes.

• Alan Turing: Very interested in cryptography and worked on government code-breaking.

In modern times, cryptography is considered to be a branch of both mathematics and computer science, and is affiliated closely with information theory, computer security, and engineering.

Cryptography has become a very important part of computer technology and an integral part of the Internet. The ability to encrypt and decrypt information is crucial to secure financial transactions and even elementary forms of on-line privacy.

Cryptography is used in present technologically in advanced societies; examples include the security of ATM cards, computer passwords, and electronic commerce, which all depend on cryptography.

AgentKevin78 - Advanced Spy Fighting Technique "Scuba Tactics"

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THE STUNTS DEPICTED IN THESE VIDEOS ARE DANGEROUS!
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AgentKevin78 is up to his usual not-so-bright antics.
This video episode covers Advanced Spy Fighting Technique "Scuba Tactics"
Click on the title link to access the video.

Spy Games...

If you want to sharpen your spy skills and have some fun while you do it, check out some of the following links for some really cool SPY GAMES (and other stuff!)

I SPY for kids by Scholastic - games, puzzles, cool downloads and more!

U-Solve-It Mystery Club by Scholastic - Crack cases, use the code machine, solve a mini mystery, or check out the crime scene photos!

Top Spy Secrets' SPY-DOKU for kids - Much like popular Sudoku puzzles, but with letters instead of numbers! Not too difficult...

Geospy by National Geographic Kids - Test your geosmarts by identifying states, provinces, countries, and continents to earn full GeoSpy agent status!

PBS History Detective games for kids - Play detective games, learn how to crack mysterious codes and become super-sleuths!

British Council Word 2 Word Spy Game - In this game you'll see some instructions for a spy. But the words are in the wrong order! Can you help?

British Council Word Search for Spies - Solve 10 clues to find the 10 words you must discover in this word search puzzle... are you up to the challenge?


HAVE FUN!!!