Throwing Sand in the All-Seeing Eye

by Paul McGinnis

Original article posted April 24, 1994.

I've often wondered if various entities of the US government monitor the public messages in groups such as this or monitor unencrypted electronic mail. I've worked in the communications industry since 1987 and I know how easy it is to monitor digital communications -- in fact, it is often necessary to monitor data communications to find problems in the hardware or software.

There have been rumors that NSA can scan international links for keywords like "MX missile" or "Stealth bomber". It's very easy to set up this kind of filter program -- for instance, if you mention Kibo in a Usenet public message, he will respond. With that in mind, I'd like to propose an experiment (maybe prank is a better description...). The following is a list of phrases that are put at the beginning of classified files by the US government. They are taken from Department of Defense manual DOD 5220.22-M and Title 32, Section 2001 Code of Federal Regulations.

Note: comments are placed between square brackets, i.e. [this is a comment].

My experiment is to see what happens if you start putting some of these at the beginning of your Internet messages...

Primary markings:

TOP SECRET
(TS)
[markings shown in parentheses are accepted abbreviations. For example, you could just put (TS) on a document, instead of TOP SECRET]

SECRET
(S)

CONFIDENTIAL
(C)

Additional markings:

SENSITIVE COMPARTMENTED INFORMATION
[very secret intelligence information]
SCI

DISSEMINATION AND EXTRACTION OF INFORMATION CONTROLLED BY ORIGINATOR
[this marking, also written as ORCON, is used on information that clearly identifies a US intelligence source or method]
ORCON

WARNING NOTICE - INTELLIGENCE SOURCES OR METHODS INVOLVED
[this marking is used on information that could identify an intelligence source or method]
WNINTEL

SINGLE INTEGRATED OPERATIONAL PLAN - EXTREMELY SENSITIVE INFORMATION
[US nuclear war fighting plans]
SIOP-ESI

CRITICAL NUCLEAR WEAPON DESIGN INFORMATION
CNWDI

RESTRICTED DATA - This material contains RESTRICTED DATA as defined in the Atomic Energy Act of 1954. Unauthorized disclosure subject to administrative and criminal sanctions.
[used for nuclear secrets that are below CNWDI]

FORMERLY RESTRICTED DATA - Unauthorized disclosure subject to administrative and criminal sanctions. Handle as RESTRICTED DATA in foreign dissemination. Section 144b, AEC 1954.
[this label applies to nuclear secrets that have been transferred to a military agency from the Department of Energy or its predecessor, the Atomic Energy Commission]

LIMITED DISSEMINATION
[used on information in Special Access Programs]
LIMDIS

FOREIGN GOVERNMENT INFORMATION
[classified material that originated with a US ally]
FGI

COSMIC TOP SECRET
[NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) document that is classified TOP SECRET]

NATO SECRET

NATO CONFIDENTIAL

NATO RESTRICTED

ATOMAL
[NATO nuclear secrets]

NOT RELEASABLE TO CONTRACTORS/CONSULTANTS
[this might be used if the powers-that-be are discussing cancelling a contract with an aerospace company...]
NOCONTRACT

CAUTION - PROPRIETARY INFORMATION INVOLVED
[this marking is used on documents that would prove harmful to a company. For example, it could be marked on TRW documents that weren't supposed to go to Martin Marietta Co.]
PROPIN

REPRODUCTION REQUIRES APPROVAL OF ORIGINATOR OR HIGHER GOVERNMENT AUTHORITY.

CLASSIFIED BY MULTIPLE SOURCES

NOT RELEASABLE TO FOREIGN NATIONALS
[under no circumstances can this data be released, not even to a US ally]
NOFORN
[this is the dreaded NOFORN marking that Cliff Stoll jokingly said meant 'No Fornication' in his book "The Cuckoo's Egg"...]