It’s likely that anyone born in the 1980s has probably never used a typewriter before. Prior to personal computers and word processing programs, the typewriter was the device to use for any type of writing task, though there are still remote parts of the world that use the typewriter. IBM, Remington, Smith Corona, Adler and Olivetti were some of the biggest brands for the typewriter, an antiquated and perhaps romantic tool for prolific writers of the 20th century: Ernest Hemingway, Ayn Rand, William Faulkner, Agatha Christie.
Why reminisce about the days of the typewriter? Well, despite all the advancements we have made in the world of computers and technology, the German government is considering using manual typewriters in order to avoid American spies and the National Security Agency (NSA), according to several media reports.
Patrick Sensburg, a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union party, stated in a recent interview with a local news outlet that the government needs to do its best to secure its work from American agents and their attempts to gain access to confidential German documents composed by government employees and civil servants.
Sensburg confirmed that Berlin already maintains a non-electric typewriter.
“Unlike other inquiry committees, we are investigating an ongoing situation. Intelligence activities are still going on, they are happening,” Sensburg told The Local. “And of course we have to keep our internal communication secure, send encrypted emails, use encrypted telephones and other things, which I’m not going to say here of course.”
The announcement from Berlin came the same day as authorities arrested Markus R., an employee for its spy that had been accused of spying for the CIA. According to the allegations, Markus contacted the CIA through email in 2012 to provide German intelligence, which was accepted. Authorities say he gave more than 200 documents to CIA agents in Austria and was paid $34,000.
He was caught accidentally after he purportedly sent an uncrypted email to Munich’s Russian consulate that was then seized by German intelligence.
Also, local media reported two Parliamentary members had their phones compromised.
If Germany does move ahead with its adoption of typewriters then it would be following the same route as Russia. Last year, an arm of Kremlin announced that it wanted to spend nearly $15,000 to acquire 20 electric typewriters as part of an initiative to protect their sensitive information and to avoid digital leaks.
Throughout the Second World War and Cold War, typewriters were considered to be state of the art and they were victims of infiltration and detection much in the same way mobile phone networks, social media outlets and emails are today. For instance, microphones were installed to listen to key taps, spy cameras were implemented over the typist’s shoulders and agents would photograph documents.
Here is what Bruce Brager of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) wrote:
“The same veteran went on a more advanced test, which had him becoming friendly with the managing director of a steel mill in Philadelphia. One day, while waiting in the office of the director to go to lunch, the agent noticed that the secretary was putting used carbon paper into a trashcan. The agent managed to steal a couple of day’s worth of carbon paper from the trash, and determine the planned steel production of the plant. There is no indication as to whether this agent was the inspiration, but it became a basic security technique, until computers replaced typewriters, to securely dispose of carbon paper and lock up typewriter ribbons at night.”
The question remains: will all security agencies return to the typewriter to avoid leaks?
