TEMPEST and other "neat stuff"

[fergp@sytex.com (Paul Ferguson)]

This is an interesting extract that I came across this morning.
I thought that I'd post  a portion of it (the entire paper is almost
900 lines) to the group since the topic of TEMPEST had surfaced -
 
8<------ Snip, Snip ------[ edited ]------
 
(c) 1990 Christopher J. Seline
cjs@cwru.cwru.edu
cjs@cwru.bitnet
 
                         Eavesdropping On
                  the Electromagnetic Emanations
                       of Digital Equipment:
                        The Laws of Canada,
                   England and the United States
 
                    This  document is  a rough
                    draft.        The    Legal
                    Sections  are   overviews.
                    T h e y    w i l l     b e
                    significantly expanded  in
                    the next version.
 
        We in this country, in this generation, are -- by
        destiny rather than choice -- the watchmen on the
        walls of world freedom.[1]
                                      -President John F.
                                           Kennedy
 
   _____________________
 
   1.  Undelivered  speech  of  President  John  F.  Kennedy,
   Dallas  Citizens Council (Nov. 22, 1963) 35-36.
 
             In the novel 1984, George Orwell foretold a future
   where individuals had no expectation  of privacy because the
   state monopolized the technology of  spying.  The government
   watched the actions of its subjects from birth to death.  No
   one could protect himself because  surveillance and counter-
   surveillance technology was controlled by the government.
        This note explores  the legal status of  a surveillance
   technology  ruefully  known  as  TEMPEST[2].    Using  TEMPEST
   technology  the  information in  any  digital device  may be
   intercepted  and  reconstructed  into   useful  intelligence
   without the  operative ever having to come  near his target.
   The technology is  especially useful in the  interception of
   information  stored  in  digital computers  or  displayed on
   computer terminals.
        The use of TEMPEST is not illegal under the laws of the
   United  States[3],  or  England.    Canada has  specific  laws
   criminalizing TEMPEST eavesdropping but the  laws do more to
   hinder surveillance countermeasures than to prevent  TEMPEST
   surveillance.  In  the United  States it is  illegal for  an
   individual  to  take   effective  counter-measures   against
   TEMPEST surveillance.  This  leads to the conundrum that  it
   is legal  for individuals and  the government to  invade the
   privacy of others but illegal for  individuals to take steps
   to protect their privacy.
        The author would  like to suggest that the  solution to
   this   conundrum   is  straightforward.      Information  on
   _____________________
 
   2.  TEMPEST  is an  acronym for  Transient Electromagnetic  Pulse
   Emanation Standard.   This standard sets forth the official views
   of the United  States on the amount  of electromagnetic radiation
   that a device may emit without compromising the information it is
   processing.   TEMPEST  is  a defensive  standard; a  device which
   conforms to this standard is referred to as TEMPEST Certified.
        The United States  government has refused to  declassify the
   acronym  for  devices  used   to  intercept  the  electromagnetic
   information of  non-TEMPEST Certified  devices.   For this  note,
   these  devices  and  the  technology  behind  them  will  also be
   referred  to as  TEMPEST;  in  which  case,  TEMPEST  stands  for
   Transient Electromagnetic Pulse Surveillance Technology.
        The  United  States  government refuses  to  release details
   regarding TEMPEST and continues an organized effort to censor the
   dissemination of  information  about it.    For example  the  NSA
   succeeded in shutting  down a  Wang Laboratories presentation  on
   TEMPEST Certified equipment  by classifying  the contents of  the
   speech and threatening  to prosecute  the speaker with  revealing
   classified information.  [cite coming].
 
   3.  This  Note  will not  discuses  how  TEMPEST relates  to  the
   Warrant Requirement under  the United  States Constitution.   Nor
   will it discuss the Constitutional exclusion of foreign nationals
   from the Warrant Requirement.
 
<New page>
   protecting  privacy  under  TEMPEST should  be  made  freely
   available;  TEMPEST  Certified equipment  should  be legally
   available; and organizations possessing  private information
   should  be  required  by  law  to protect  that  information
   through  good  computer security  practices  and the  use of
   TEMPEST Certified equipment.

Paul Ferguson               |  The future is now.
Network Integrator          |  History will tell the tale;
Centreville, Virginia USA   |  We must endure and struggle
fergp@sytex.com             |  to shape it.
 
          Stop the Wiretap (Clipper/Capstone) Chip.