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Tempest (codename)

TEMPEST is a U.S. National Security Agency specification and a NATO certification[1][2] referring to spying on information systems through leaking emanations, including unintentional radio or electrical signals, sounds, and vibrations.[3][4] TEMPEST covers both methods to spy upon others and how to shield equipment against such spying. The protection efforts are also known as emission security (EMSEC), which is a subset of communications security (COMSEC).[5]

The NSA methods for spying on computer emissions are classified, but some of the protection standards have been released by either the NSA or the Department of Defense.[6] Protecting equipment from spying is done with distance, shielding, filtering, and masking.[7] The TEMPEST standards mandate elements such as equipment distance from walls, amount of shielding in buildings and equipment, and distance separating wires carrying classified vs. unclassified materials,[6] filters on cables, and even distance and shielding between wires or equipment and building pipes. Noise can also protect information by masking the actual data.[7]

Bell 131B2 mixer, used to XOR teleprinter signals with one time tapes, was the first device from which classified plain text was extracted using radiated signals.

While much of TEMPEST is about leaking electromagnetic emanations, it also encompasses sounds and mechanical vibrations.[6] For example, it is possible to log a user's keystrokes using the motion sensor inside smartphones.[8] Compromising emissions are defined as unintentional intelligence-bearing signals which, if intercepted and analyzed (side-channel attack), may disclose the information transmitted, received, handled, or otherwise processed by any information-processing equipment.[9]

History Edit

During World War II, Bell Telephone supplied the U.S. military with the 131-B2 mixer device that encrypted teleprinter signals by XOR’ing them with key material from one-time tapes (the SIGTOT system) or, earlier, a rotor-based key generator called SIGCUM. It used electromechanical relays in its operation. Later, Bell informed the Signal Corps that they were able to detect electromagnetic spikes at a distance from the mixer and recover the plain text. Meeting skepticism over whether the phenomenon they discovered in the laboratory could really be dangerous, they demonstrated their ability to recover plain text from a Signal Corps’ crypto center on Varick Street in Lower Manhattan. Now alarmed, the Signal Corps asked Bell to investigate further. Bell identified three problem areas: radiated signals, signals conducted on wires extending from the facility, and magnetic fields. As possible solutions, they suggested shielding, filtering and masking.

 
Rotor machines, like this SIGCUM, were an early source of compromising TEMPEST effects

Bell developed a modified mixer, the 131-A1 with shielding and filtering, but it proved difficult to maintain and too expensive to deploy. Instead, relevant commanders were warned of the problem and advised to control a 100-foot (30 m)-diameter zone around their communications center to prevent covert interception, and things were left at that. Then in 1951, the CIA rediscovered the problem with the 131-B2 mixer and found they could recover plain text off the line carrying the encrypted signal from a quarter mile away. Filters for signal and power lines were developed, and the recommended control-perimeter radius was extended to 200 feet (61 m), based more on what commanders could be expected to accomplish than any technical criteria.

A long process of evaluating systems and developing possible solutions followed. Other compromising effects were discovered, such as fluctuations in the power line as rotors stepped. The question of exploiting the noise of electromechanical encryption systems had been raised in the late 1940s but was re-evaluated now as a possible threat. Acoustical emanations could reveal plain text, but only if the pick-up device was close to the source. Nevertheless, even mediocre microphones would do. Soundproofing the room made the problem worse by removing reflections and providing a cleaner signal to the recorder.

 
Relay logic, such as in this Flexowriter was another major early source of TEMPEST radiation.

In 1956, the Naval Research Laboratory developed a better mixer that operated at much lower voltages and currents and therefore radiated far less. It was incorporated in newer NSA encryption systems. However, many users needed the higher signal levels to drive teleprinters at greater distances or where multiple teleprinters were connected, so the newer encryption devices included the option to switch the signal back up to the higher strength. The NSA began developing techniques and specifications for isolating sensitive-communications pathways through filtering, shielding, grounding, and physical separation: of those lines that carried sensitive plain text—from those intended to carry only non-sensitive data, the latter often extending outside of the secure environment. This separation effort became known as the Red/Black Concept. A 1958 joint policy called NAG-1 set radiation standards for equipment and installations based on a 50 ft (15 m) limit of control. It also specified the classification levels of various aspects of the TEMPEST problem. The policy was adopted by Canada and the UK the next year. Six organizations—the Navy, Army, Air Force, NSA, CIA, and the State Department—were to provide the bulk of the effort for its implementation.

Difficulties quickly emerged. Computerization was becoming important to processing intelligence data, and computers and their peripherals had to be evaluated, wherein many of them evidenced vulnerabilities. The Friden Flexowriter, a popular I/O typewriter at the time, proved to be among the strongest emitters, readable at distances up to 3,200 ft (0.98 km) in field tests. The U.S. Communications Security Board (USCSB) produced a Flexowriter Policy that banned its use overseas for classified information and limited its use within the U.S. to the Confidential level, and then only within a 400 ft (120 m) security zone, but users found the policy onerous and impractical. Later, the NSA found similar problems with the introduction of cathode-ray-tube displays (CRTs), which were also powerful radiators.

There was a multiyear process of moving from policy recommendations to more strictly enforced TEMPEST rules. The resulting Directive 5200.19, coordinated with 22 separate agencies, was signed by Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara in December 1964, but still took months to fully implement. The NSA's formal implementation took effect in June 1966.

Meanwhile, the problem of acoustic emanations became more critical with the discovery of some 900 microphones in U.S. installations overseas, most behind the Iron Curtain. The response was to build room-within-a-room enclosures, some transparent, nicknamed "fish bowls". Other units[clarification needed] were fully shielded[clarification needed] to contain electronic emanations, but were unpopular with the personnel who were supposed to work inside; they called the enclosures "meat lockers", and sometimes just left their doors open. Nonetheless, they were installed in critical locations, such as the embassy in Moscow, where two were installed: one for State Department use and one for military attachés. A unit installed at the NSA for its key-generation equipment cost $134,000.

Tempest standards continued to evolve in the 1970s and later, with newer testing methods and more nuanced guidelines that took account of the risks in specific locations and situations.[10]: Vol I, Ch. 10  But then as now, security needs often met with resistance. According to NSA's David G. Boak, "Some of what we still hear today in our own circles, when rigorous technical standards are whittled down in the interest of money and time, are frighteningly reminiscent of the arrogant Third Reich with their Enigma cryptomachine." : ibid p. 19 

Shielding standards Edit

Many specifics of the TEMPEST standards are classified, but some elements are public. Current United States and NATO Tempest standards define three levels of protection requirements:[11]

  • NATO SDIP-27 Level A (formerly AMSG 720B) and USA NSTISSAM Level I
"Compromising Emanations Laboratory Test Standard"
This is the strictest standard for devices that will be operated in NATO Zone 0 environments, where it is assumed that an attacker has almost immediate access (e.g. neighbouring room, 1 metre; 3' distance).
  • NATO SDIP-27 Level B (formerly AMSG 788A) and USA NSTISSAM Level II
"Laboratory Test Standard for Protected Facility Equipment"
This is a slightly relaxed standard for devices that are operated in NATO Zone 1 environments, where it is assumed that an attacker cannot get closer than about 20 metres (65') (or where building materials ensure an attenuation equivalent to the free-space attenuation of this distance).
  • NATO SDIP-27 Level C (formerly AMSG 784) and USA NSTISSAM Level III
"Laboratory Test Standard for Tactical Mobile Equipment/Systems"
An even more relaxed standard for devices operated in NATO Zone 2 environments, where attackers have to deal with the equivalent of 100 metres (300') of free-space attenuation (or equivalent attenuation through building materials).

Additional standards include:

  • NATO SDIP-29 (formerly AMSG 719G)
"Installation of Electrical Equipment for the Processing of Classified Information"
This standard defines installation requirements, for example in respect to grounding and cable distances.
  • AMSG 799B
"NATO Zoning Procedures"
Defines an attenuation measurement procedure, according to which individual rooms within a security perimeter can be classified into Zone 0, Zone 1, Zone 2, or Zone 3, which then determines what shielding test standard is required for equipment that processes secret data in these rooms.

The NSA and Department of Defense have declassified some TEMPEST elements after Freedom of Information Act requests, but the documents black out many key values and descriptions. The declassified version of the TEMPEST test standard is heavily redacted, with emanation limits and test procedures blacked out.[citation needed][12] A redacted version of the introductory Tempest handbook NACSIM 5000 was publicly released in December 2000. Additionally, the current NATO standard SDIP-27 (before 2006 known as AMSG 720B, AMSG 788A, and AMSG 784) is still classified.

 
TEMPEST Shielding Requirements

Despite this, some declassified documents give information on the shielding required by TEMPEST standards. For example, Military Handbook 1195 includes the chart at the right, showing electromagnetic shielding requirements at different frequencies. A declassified NSA specification for shielded enclosures offers similar shielding values, requiring, "a minimum of 100 dB insertion loss from 1 KHz to 10 GHz."[13] Since much of the current requirements are still classified, there are no publicly available correlations between this 100 dB shielding requirement and the newer zone-based shielding standards.

In addition, many separation distance requirements and other elements are provided by the declassified NSA red-black installation guidance, NSTISSAM TEMPEST/2-95.[14]

Certification Edit

The information-security agencies of several NATO countries publish lists of accredited testing labs and of equipment that has passed these tests:

  • In Canada: Canadian Industrial TEMPEST Program[15]
  • In Germany: BSI German Zoned Products List[16]
  • In the UK: UK CESG Directory of Infosec Assured Products, Section 12[17]
  • In the U.S.: NSA TEMPEST Certification Program[18]

The United States Army also has a Tempest testing facility, as part of the U.S. Army Information Systems Engineering Command, at Fort Huachuca, Arizona. Similar lists and facilities exist in other NATO countries.

Tempest certification must apply to entire systems, not just to individual components, since connecting a single unshielded component (such as a cable or device) to an otherwise secure system could dramatically alter the system RF characteristics.

RED/BLACK separation Edit

TEMPEST standards require "RED/BLACK separation", i.e., maintaining distance or installing shielding between circuits and equipment used to handle plaintext classified or sensitive information that is not encrypted (RED) and secured circuits and equipment (BLACK), the latter including those carrying encrypted signals. Manufacture of TEMPEST-approved equipment must be done under careful quality control to ensure that additional units are built exactly the same as the units that were tested. Changing even a single wire can invalidate the tests.[citation needed]

Correlated emanations Edit

One aspect of Tempest testing that distinguishes it from limits on spurious emissions (e.g., FCC Part 15) is a requirement of absolute minimal correlation between radiated energy or detectable emissions and any plaintext data that are being processed.

Public research Edit

In 1985, Wim van Eck published the first unclassified technical analysis of the security risks of emanations from computer monitors. This paper caused some consternation in the security community, which had previously believed that such monitoring was a highly sophisticated attack available only to governments; van Eck successfully eavesdropped on a real system, at a range of hundreds of metres, using just $15 worth of equipment plus a television set.

As a consequence of this research, such emanations are sometimes called "van Eck radiation", and the eavesdropping technique van Eck phreaking, although government researchers were already aware of the danger, as Bell Labs noted this vulnerability to secure teleprinter communications during World War II and was able to produce 75% of the plaintext being processed in a secure facility from a distance of 80 feet (24 metres)[19] Additionally the NSA published Tempest Fundamentals, NSA-82-89, NACSIM 5000, National Security Agency (Classified) on February 1, 1982. In addition, the van Eck technique was successfully demonstrated to non-TEMPEST personnel in Korea during the Korean War in the 1950s.[20]

Markus Kuhn has discovered several low-cost techniques for reducing the chances that emanations from computer displays can be monitored remotely.[21] With CRT displays and analog video cables, filtering out high-frequency components from fonts before rendering them on a computer screen will attenuate the energy at which text characters are broadcast.[22][23] With modern flat panel displays, the high-speed digital serial interface (DVI) cables from the graphics controller are a main source of compromising emanations. Adding random noise to the least significant bits of pixel values may render the emanations from flat-panel displays unintelligible to eavesdroppers but is not a secure method. Since DVI uses a certain bit code scheme that tries to transport a balanced signal of 0 bits and 1 bits, there may not be much difference between two pixel colors that differ very much in their color or intensity. The emanations can differ drastically even if only the last bit of a pixel's color is changed. The signal received by the eavesdropper also depends on the frequency where the emanations are detected. The signal can be received on many frequencies at once and each frequency's signal differs in contrast and brightness related to a certain color on the screen. Usually, the technique of smothering the RED signal with noise is not effective unless the power of the noise is sufficient to drive the eavesdropper's receiver into saturation thus overwhelming the receiver input.

LED indicators on computer equipment can be a source of compromising optical emanations.[24] One such technique involves the monitoring of the lights on a dial-up modem. Almost all modems flash an LED to show activity, and it is common for the flashes to be directly taken from the data line. As such, a fast optical system can easily see the changes in the flickers from the data being transmitted down the wire.

Recent research[25] has shown it is possible to detect the radiation corresponding to a keypress event from not only wireless (radio) keyboards, but also from traditional wired keyboards [the PS/2 keyboard, for example, contains a microprocessor which will radiate some amount of radio frequency energy when responding to keypresses], and even from laptop keyboards. From the 1970s onward, Soviet bugging of US Embassy IBM Selectric typewriters allowed the keypress-derived mechanical motion of bails, with attached magnets, to be detected by implanted magnetometers, and converted via hidden electronics to a digital radio frequency signal. Each eight character transmission provided Soviet access to sensitive documents, as they were being typed, at US facilities in Moscow and Leningrad.[26]

In 2014, researchers introduced "AirHopper", a bifurcated attack pattern showing the feasibility of data exfiltration from an isolated computer to a nearby mobile phone, using FM frequency signals.[27]

In 2015, "BitWhisper", a Covert Signaling Channel between Air-Gapped Computers using Thermal Manipulations was introduced. "BitWhisper" supports bidirectional communication and requires no additional dedicated peripheral hardware.[28] Later in 2015, researchers introduced GSMem, a method for exfiltrating data from air-gapped computers over cellular frequencies. The transmission - generated by a standard internal bus - renders the computer into a small cellular transmitter antenna.[29] In February 2018, research was published describing how low frequency magnetic fields can be used to escape sensitive data from Faraday-caged, air-gapped computers with malware code-named ’ODINI’ that can control the low frequency magnetic fields emitted from infected computers by regulating the load of CPU cores.[30]

In 2018, a class of side-channel attack was introduced at ACM and Black Hat by Eurecom's researchers: "Screaming Channels".[31] This kind of attack targets mix-signal chips — containing an analog and digital circuit on the same silicon die — with a radio transmitter. The results of this architecture, often found in connected objects, is that the digital part of the chip will leak some metadata on its computations into the analog part, which leads to metadata's leak being encoded in the noise of the radio transmission. Thanks to signal-processing techniques, researchers were able to extract cryptographic keys used during the communication and decrypt the content. This attack class is supposed, by the authors, to being already known since many years by governmental intelligence agencies.

In popular culture Edit

  • In the television series Numb3rs, season 1 episode "Sacrifice", a wire connected to a high gain antenna was used to "read" from a computer monitor.
  • In the television series Spooks, season 4 episode "The Sting", a failed attempt to read information from a computer that has no network link is described.
  • In the novel Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson, characters use Van Eck phreaking to likewise read information from a computer monitor in a neighboring room.
  • In the television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., season 1 episode "Ragtag", an office is scanned for digital signatures in the UHF spectrum.
  • In the video game Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, part of the final mission involves spying on a meeting in a Tempest-hardened war room. Throughout the entire Splinter Cell series, a laser microphone is used as well.
  • In the video game Rainbow Six: Siege, the operator Mute has experience in TEMPEST specifications. He designed a Signal Disrupter initially to ensure that hidden microphones in sensitive meetings would not transmit, and adapted them for combat, capable of disrupting remotely activated devices like breaching charges.
  • In the novel series The Laundry Files by Charles Stross, the character James Angleton (high-ranking officer of an ultra-secret intelligence agency) always uses low tech devices such as a typewriter or a Memex to defend against TEMPEST (despite the building being tempest-shielded).[32]

See also Edit

References Edit

  1. ^ (PDF), US Air Force, archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-12-29
  2. ^ , NATO Information Assurance, 1981, archived from the original on 2019-02-02, retrieved 2014-09-16
  3. ^ "How Old IsTEMPEST?". Cryptome.org. Retrieved 2015-05-31.
  4. ^ Easter, David (2020-07-26). "The impact of 'Tempest' on Anglo-American communications security and intelligence, 1943–1970". Intelligence and National Security. 36: 1–16. doi:10.1080/02684527.2020.1798604. ISSN 0268-4527. S2CID 225445718.
  5. ^ (PDF). US Air Force. 14 April 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 23, 2013.
  6. ^ a b c Goodman, Cassi (April 18, 2001), An Introduction to TEMPEST, Sans.org
  7. ^ a b N.S.A., (PDF), archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-09-18, retrieved 2014-01-28
  8. ^ Marquardt et al. 2011, pp. 551–562.
  9. ^ "NACSIM 5000 Tempest Fundamentals". Cryptome.org. Retrieved 2015-05-31.
  10. ^ A History of U.S. Communications Security; the David G. Boak Lectures, National Security Agency (NSA), Volumes I, 1973, Volumes II 1981, partially released 2008, additional portions declassified October 14, 2015
  11. ^ "SST: TEMPEST Standards SDIP 27 Level A, Level B & AMSG 784, 720B, 788A". Sst.ws. Retrieved 2015-05-31.
  12. ^ Ulaş, Cihan, Serhat Şahin, Emir Memişoğlu, Ulaş Aşık, Cantürk Karadeniz, Bilal Kılıç, and Uğur Saraç. "Development of an automatic TEMPEST test and analysis system". Scientific Cooperations International Workshops on Electrical and Computer Engineering Subfields.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  13. ^ Specification nsa no. 94-106 national security agency specification for shielded enclosures, Cryptome.info, retrieved 2014-01-28
  14. ^ N.S.A., NSTISSAM TEMPEST/2-95 RED/BLACK INSTALLATION, Cryptome.org, retrieved 2014-01-28
  15. ^ "Canadian Industrial TEMPEST Program". CSE (Communications Security Establishment ). Retrieved 2017-07-27.
  16. ^ "German Zoned Product List". BSI (German Federal Office for Information Security). Retrieved 2015-12-16.
  17. ^ (PDF). CESG. October 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 19, 2011.
  18. ^ "TEMPEST Certification Program - NSA/CSS". iad.gov. Retrieved 2017-07-27.
  19. ^ "A History of U.S. Communications Security (Volumes I and II)"; David G. Boak Lectures" (PDF). National Security Agency. 1973. p. 90.
  20. ^ "1. Der Problembereich der Rechtsinformatik", Rechtsinformatik, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 1977, doi:10.1515/9783110833164-003, ISBN 978-3-11-083316-4, retrieved 2020-11-30
  21. ^ Kuhn, Markus G. (December 2003). "Compromising emanations: eavesdropping risks of computer displays" (PDF). Technical Report. Cambridge, United Kingdom: University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory (577). ISSN 1476-2986. UCAM-CL-TR-577. Retrieved 2010-10-29.
  22. ^ Kubiak 2018, pp. 582–592: Very often the devices do not have enough space on the inside to install new elements such as filters, electromagnetic shielding, and others. [...] a new solution [...] does not change the construction of the devices (e.g., printers, screens). [...] based on computer fonts called TEMPEST fonts (safe fonts). In contrast to traditional fonts (e.g., Arial or Times New Roman), the new fonts are devoid of distinctive features. Without these features the characters of the new fonts are similar each other.
  23. ^ Kubiak 2019: Computer fonts can be one of solutions supporting a protection of information against electromagnetic penetration. This solution is called „Soft TEMPEST”. However, not every font has features which counteract the process of electromagnetic infiltration. The distinctive features of characters of font determine it. This article presents two sets of new computer fonts. These fonts are fully usable in everyday work. Simultaneously they make it impossible to obtain information using the non-invasive method.
  24. ^ J. Loughry and D. A. Umphress. Information Leakage from Optical Emanations (.pdf file), ACM Transactions on Information and System Security, Vol. 5, No. 3, August 2002, pp. 262-289
  25. ^ Vuagnoux, Martin; Pasini, Sylvain. . Lasecwww.epfl.ch. Archived from the original on 2019-09-25. Retrieved 2008-10-29.
  26. ^ Maneki, Sharon (8 January 2007). "Learning from the Enemy: The GUNMAN project" (PDF). Center for Cryptologic History, National Security Agency. Retrieved 30 January 2019. All of the implants were quite sophisticated. Each implant had a magnetometer that converted the mechanical energy of key strokes into local magnetic disturbances. The electronics package in the implant responded to these disturbances, categorized the underlying data, and transmitted the results to a nearby listening post. Data were transmitted via radio frequency. The implant was enabled by remote control.[...] the movement of the bails determined which character had been typed because each character had a unique binary movement corresponding to the bails. The magnetic energy picked up by the sensors in the bar was converted into a digital electrical signal. The signals were compressed into a four-bit frequency select word. The bug was able to store up to eight four-bit characters. When the buffer was full, a transmitter in the bar sent the information out to Soviet sensors.
  27. ^ Guri et al. 2014, pp. 58–67.
  28. ^ Guri et al. 2015, pp. 276–289.
  29. ^ Guri et al. 2015.
  30. ^ Guri, Zadov & Elovici 2018, pp. 1190–1203.
  31. ^ Camurati, Giovanni; Poeplau, Sebastian; Muench, Marius; Hayes, Tom; Francillon, Aurélien (2018). "Screaming Channels: When Electromagnetic Side Channels Meet Radio Transceivers" (PDF). Proceedings of the 25th ACM Conference on Computer and Communications Security (CCS). CCS '18: 163–177.
  32. ^ Stross 2010, p. 98.
  33. ^ Cimpanu, Catalin. "Academics turn RAM into Wi-Fi cards to steal data from air-gapped systems". ZDNet.

Sources Edit

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  • Guri, Mordechai; Kedma, Gabi; Kachlon, Assaf; Elovici, Yuval (2014). "AirHopper: Bridging the air-gap between isolated networks and mobile phones using radio frequencies". Proceedings of the 9th IEEE International Conference on Malicious and Unwanted Software (MALCON 2014). pp. 58–67. arXiv:1411.0237. doi:10.1109/MALWARE.2014.6999418.
  • Guri, Mordechai; Monitz, Matan; Mirski, Yisroel; Elovici, Yuval (2015). "BitWhisper: Covert Signaling Channel between Air-Gapped Computers Using Thermal Manipulations". Proceedings 2015 IEEE 28th Computer Security Foundations Symposium CSF 2015. pp. 276–289. arXiv:1503.07919. doi:10.1109/CSF.2015.26.
  • Guri, Mordechai; Zadov, Boris; Elovici, Yuval (2018). "ODINI: Escaping Sensitive Data From Faraday-Caged, Air-Gapped Computers via Magnetic Fields". IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security. 15: 1190–1203. arXiv:1802.02700. Bibcode:2018arXiv180202700G. doi:10.1109/TIFS.2019.2938404. ISSN 1556-6013. S2CID 3622353.
  • Guri, Mordechai; Kachlon, Assaf; Hasson, Ofer; Kedma, Gabi; Mirsky, Yisroel; Elovici, Yuval (August 2015). "GSMem: Data Exfiltration from Air-Gapped Computers over GSM Frequencies". 24th USENIX Security Symposium (USENIX Security 15): 849–864. ISBN 9781939133113. Video on YouTube.
  • Kubiak, Ireneusz (2018). "TEMPEST font counteracting a noninvasive acquisition of text data". Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering & Computer Sciences. 26: 582–592. doi:10.3906/elk-1704-263. ISSN 1300-0632.
  • Kubiak, Ireneusz (2019). "Font Design—Shape Processing of Text Information Structures in the Process of Non-Invasive Data Acquisition". Computers. 8 (4): 70. doi:10.3390/computers8040070. ISSN 2073-431X.
  • Marquardt, P.; Verma, A.; Carter, H.; Traynor, P. (2011), "(sp)i Phone", Proceedings of the 18th ACM conference on Computer and communications security - CCS '11, pp. 551–561, doi:10.1145/2046707.2046771, ISBN 9781450309486, S2CID 5098788
  • Stross, Charles (2010). The Atrocity Archives: Book 1 in The Laundry Files. Little, Brown. ISBN 978-0-7481-2413-8.
  • Boitan, Alexandru; Halunga, Simona; Bindar, Valerica; Fratu, Octavian (2020). "Compromising electromagnetic emanations of usb mass storage devices". Wireless Personal Communications: 1–26.

tempest, codename, tempest, national, security, agency, specification, nato, certification, referring, spying, information, systems, through, leaking, emanations, including, unintentional, radio, electrical, signals, sounds, vibrations, tempest, covers, both, . TEMPEST is a U S National Security Agency specification and a NATO certification 1 2 referring to spying on information systems through leaking emanations including unintentional radio or electrical signals sounds and vibrations 3 4 TEMPEST covers both methods to spy upon others and how to shield equipment against such spying The protection efforts are also known as emission security EMSEC which is a subset of communications security COMSEC 5 The NSA methods for spying on computer emissions are classified but some of the protection standards have been released by either the NSA or the Department of Defense 6 Protecting equipment from spying is done with distance shielding filtering and masking 7 The TEMPEST standards mandate elements such as equipment distance from walls amount of shielding in buildings and equipment and distance separating wires carrying classified vs unclassified materials 6 filters on cables and even distance and shielding between wires or equipment and building pipes Noise can also protect information by masking the actual data 7 Bell 131B2 mixer used to XOR teleprinter signals with one time tapes was the first device from which classified plain text was extracted using radiated signals While much of TEMPEST is about leaking electromagnetic emanations it also encompasses sounds and mechanical vibrations 6 For example it is possible to log a user s keystrokes using the motion sensor inside smartphones 8 Compromising emissions are defined as unintentional intelligence bearing signals which if intercepted and analyzed side channel attack may disclose the information transmitted received handled or otherwise processed by any information processing equipment 9 Contents 1 History 2 Shielding standards 3 Certification 4 RED BLACK separation 5 Correlated emanations 6 Public research 7 In popular culture 8 See also 9 References 9 1 SourcesHistory EditDuring World War II Bell Telephone supplied the U S military with the 131 B2 mixer device that encrypted teleprinter signals by XOR ing them with key material from one time tapes the SIGTOT system or earlier a rotor based key generator called SIGCUM It used electromechanical relays in its operation Later Bell informed the Signal Corps that they were able to detect electromagnetic spikes at a distance from the mixer and recover the plain text Meeting skepticism over whether the phenomenon they discovered in the laboratory could really be dangerous they demonstrated their ability to recover plain text from a Signal Corps crypto center on Varick Street in Lower Manhattan Now alarmed the Signal Corps asked Bell to investigate further Bell identified three problem areas radiated signals signals conducted on wires extending from the facility and magnetic fields As possible solutions they suggested shielding filtering and masking nbsp Rotor machines like this SIGCUM were an early source of compromising TEMPEST effectsBell developed a modified mixer the 131 A1 with shielding and filtering but it proved difficult to maintain and too expensive to deploy Instead relevant commanders were warned of the problem and advised to control a 100 foot 30 m diameter zone around their communications center to prevent covert interception and things were left at that Then in 1951 the CIA rediscovered the problem with the 131 B2 mixer and found they could recover plain text off the line carrying the encrypted signal from a quarter mile away Filters for signal and power lines were developed and the recommended control perimeter radius was extended to 200 feet 61 m based more on what commanders could be expected to accomplish than any technical criteria A long process of evaluating systems and developing possible solutions followed Other compromising effects were discovered such as fluctuations in the power line as rotors stepped The question of exploiting the noise of electromechanical encryption systems had been raised in the late 1940s but was re evaluated now as a possible threat Acoustical emanations could reveal plain text but only if the pick up device was close to the source Nevertheless even mediocre microphones would do Soundproofing the room made the problem worse by removing reflections and providing a cleaner signal to the recorder nbsp Relay logic such as in this Flexowriter was another major early source of TEMPEST radiation In 1956 the Naval Research Laboratory developed a better mixer that operated at much lower voltages and currents and therefore radiated far less It was incorporated in newer NSA encryption systems However many users needed the higher signal levels to drive teleprinters at greater distances or where multiple teleprinters were connected so the newer encryption devices included the option to switch the signal back up to the higher strength The NSA began developing techniques and specifications for isolating sensitive communications pathways through filtering shielding grounding and physical separation of those lines that carried sensitive plain text from those intended to carry only non sensitive data the latter often extending outside of the secure environment This separation effort became known as the Red Black Concept A 1958 joint policy called NAG 1 set radiation standards for equipment and installations based on a 50 ft 15 m limit of control It also specified the classification levels of various aspects of the TEMPEST problem The policy was adopted by Canada and the UK the next year Six organizations the Navy Army Air Force NSA CIA and the State Department were to provide the bulk of the effort for its implementation Difficulties quickly emerged Computerization was becoming important to processing intelligence data and computers and their peripherals had to be evaluated wherein many of them evidenced vulnerabilities The Friden Flexowriter a popular I O typewriter at the time proved to be among the strongest emitters readable at distances up to 3 200 ft 0 98 km in field tests The U S Communications Security Board USCSB produced a Flexowriter Policy that banned its use overseas for classified information and limited its use within the U S to the Confidential level and then only within a 400 ft 120 m security zone but users found the policy onerous and impractical Later the NSA found similar problems with the introduction of cathode ray tube displays CRTs which were also powerful radiators There was a multiyear process of moving from policy recommendations to more strictly enforced TEMPEST rules The resulting Directive 5200 19 coordinated with 22 separate agencies was signed by Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara in December 1964 but still took months to fully implement The NSA s formal implementation took effect in June 1966 Meanwhile the problem of acoustic emanations became more critical with the discovery of some 900 microphones in U S installations overseas most behind the Iron Curtain The response was to build room within a room enclosures some transparent nicknamed fish bowls Other units clarification needed were fully shielded clarification needed to contain electronic emanations but were unpopular with the personnel who were supposed to work inside they called the enclosures meat lockers and sometimes just left their doors open Nonetheless they were installed in critical locations such as the embassy in Moscow where two were installed one for State Department use and one for military attaches A unit installed at the NSA for its key generation equipment cost 134 000 Tempest standards continued to evolve in the 1970s and later with newer testing methods and more nuanced guidelines that took account of the risks in specific locations and situations 10 Vol I Ch 10 But then as now security needs often met with resistance According to NSA s David G Boak Some of what we still hear today in our own circles when rigorous technical standards are whittled down in the interest of money and time are frighteningly reminiscent of the arrogant Third Reich with their Enigma cryptomachine ibid p 19 Shielding standards EditMany specifics of the TEMPEST standards are classified but some elements are public Current United States and NATO Tempest standards define three levels of protection requirements 11 NATO SDIP 27 Level A formerly AMSG 720B and USA NSTISSAM Level I Compromising Emanations Laboratory Test Standard This is the strictest standard for devices that will be operated in NATO Zone 0 environments where it is assumed that an attacker has almost immediate access e g neighbouring room 1 metre 3 distance NATO SDIP 27 Level B formerly AMSG 788A and USA NSTISSAM Level II Laboratory Test Standard for Protected Facility Equipment This is a slightly relaxed standard for devices that are operated in NATO Zone 1 environments where it is assumed that an attacker cannot get closer than about 20 metres 65 or where building materials ensure an attenuation equivalent to the free space attenuation of this distance NATO SDIP 27 Level C formerly AMSG 784 and USA NSTISSAM Level III Laboratory Test Standard for Tactical Mobile Equipment Systems An even more relaxed standard for devices operated in NATO Zone 2 environments where attackers have to deal with the equivalent of 100 metres 300 of free space attenuation or equivalent attenuation through building materials Additional standards include NATO SDIP 29 formerly AMSG 719G Installation of Electrical Equipment for the Processing of Classified Information This standard defines installation requirements for example in respect to grounding and cable distances AMSG 799B NATO Zoning Procedures Defines an attenuation measurement procedure according to which individual rooms within a security perimeter can be classified into Zone 0 Zone 1 Zone 2 or Zone 3 which then determines what shielding test standard is required for equipment that processes secret data in these rooms The NSA and Department of Defense have declassified some TEMPEST elements after Freedom of Information Act requests but the documents black out many key values and descriptions The declassified version of the TEMPEST test standard is heavily redacted with emanation limits and test procedures blacked out citation needed 12 A redacted version of the introductory Tempest handbook NACSIM 5000 was publicly released in December 2000 Additionally the current NATO standard SDIP 27 before 2006 known as AMSG 720B AMSG 788A and AMSG 784 is still classified nbsp TEMPEST Shielding RequirementsDespite this some declassified documents give information on the shielding required by TEMPEST standards For example Military Handbook 1195 includes the chart at the right showing electromagnetic shielding requirements at different frequencies A declassified NSA specification for shielded enclosures offers similar shielding values requiring a minimum of 100 dB insertion loss from 1 KHz to 10 GHz 13 Since much of the current requirements are still classified there are no publicly available correlations between this 100 dB shielding requirement and the newer zone based shielding standards In addition many separation distance requirements and other elements are provided by the declassified NSA red black installation guidance NSTISSAM TEMPEST 2 95 14 Certification EditThe information security agencies of several NATO countries publish lists of accredited testing labs and of equipment that has passed these tests In Canada Canadian Industrial TEMPEST Program 15 In Germany BSI German Zoned Products List 16 In the UK UK CESG Directory of Infosec Assured Products Section 12 17 In the U S NSA TEMPEST Certification Program 18 The United States Army also has a Tempest testing facility as part of the U S Army Information Systems Engineering Command at Fort Huachuca Arizona Similar lists and facilities exist in other NATO countries Tempest certification must apply to entire systems not just to individual components since connecting a single unshielded component such as a cable or device to an otherwise secure system could dramatically alter the system RF characteristics RED BLACK separation EditTEMPEST standards require RED BLACK separation i e maintaining distance or installing shielding between circuits and equipment used to handle plaintext classified or sensitive information that is not encrypted RED and secured circuits and equipment BLACK the latter including those carrying encrypted signals Manufacture of TEMPEST approved equipment must be done under careful quality control to ensure that additional units are built exactly the same as the units that were tested Changing even a single wire can invalidate the tests citation needed Correlated emanations EditOne aspect of Tempest testing that distinguishes it from limits on spurious emissions e g FCC Part 15 is a requirement of absolute minimal correlation between radiated energy or detectable emissions and any plaintext data that are being processed Public research EditIn 1985 Wim van Eck published the first unclassified technical analysis of the security risks of emanations from computer monitors This paper caused some consternation in the security community which had previously believed that such monitoring was a highly sophisticated attack available only to governments van Eck successfully eavesdropped on a real system at a range of hundreds of metres using just 15 worth of equipment plus a television set As a consequence of this research such emanations are sometimes called van Eck radiation and the eavesdropping technique van Eck phreaking although government researchers were already aware of the danger as Bell Labs noted this vulnerability to secure teleprinter communications during World War II and was able to produce 75 of the plaintext being processed in a secure facility from a distance of 80 feet 24 metres 19 Additionally the NSA published Tempest Fundamentals NSA 82 89 NACSIM 5000 National Security Agency Classified on February 1 1982 In addition the van Eck technique was successfully demonstrated to non TEMPEST personnel in Korea during the Korean War in the 1950s 20 Markus Kuhn has discovered several low cost techniques for reducing the chances that emanations from computer displays can be monitored remotely 21 With CRT displays and analog video cables filtering out high frequency components from fonts before rendering them on a computer screen will attenuate the energy at which text characters are broadcast 22 23 With modern flat panel displays the high speed digital serial interface DVI cables from the graphics controller are a main source of compromising emanations Adding random noise to the least significant bits of pixel values may render the emanations from flat panel displays unintelligible to eavesdroppers but is not a secure method Since DVI uses a certain bit code scheme that tries to transport a balanced signal of 0 bits and 1 bits there may not be much difference between two pixel colors that differ very much in their color or intensity The emanations can differ drastically even if only the last bit of a pixel s color is changed The signal received by the eavesdropper also depends on the frequency where the emanations are detected The signal can be received on many frequencies at once and each frequency s signal differs in contrast and brightness related to a certain color on the screen Usually the technique of smothering the RED signal with noise is not effective unless the power of the noise is sufficient to drive the eavesdropper s receiver into saturation thus overwhelming the receiver input LED indicators on computer equipment can be a source of compromising optical emanations 24 One such technique involves the monitoring of the lights on a dial up modem Almost all modems flash an LED to show activity and it is common for the flashes to be directly taken from the data line As such a fast optical system can easily see the changes in the flickers from the data being transmitted down the wire Recent research 25 has shown it is possible to detect the radiation corresponding to a keypress event from not only wireless radio keyboards but also from traditional wired keyboards the PS 2 keyboard for example contains a microprocessor which will radiate some amount of radio frequency energy when responding to keypresses and even from laptop keyboards From the 1970s onward Soviet bugging of US Embassy IBM Selectric typewriters allowed the keypress derived mechanical motion of bails with attached magnets to be detected by implanted magnetometers and converted via hidden electronics to a digital radio frequency signal Each eight character transmission provided Soviet access to sensitive documents as they were being typed at US facilities in Moscow and Leningrad 26 In 2014 researchers introduced AirHopper a bifurcated attack pattern showing the feasibility of data exfiltration from an isolated computer to a nearby mobile phone using FM frequency signals 27 In 2015 BitWhisper a Covert Signaling Channel between Air Gapped Computers using Thermal Manipulations was introduced BitWhisper supports bidirectional communication and requires no additional dedicated peripheral hardware 28 Later in 2015 researchers introduced GSMem a method for exfiltrating data from air gapped computers over cellular frequencies The transmission generated by a standard internal bus renders the computer into a small cellular transmitter antenna 29 In February 2018 research was published describing how low frequency magnetic fields can be used to escape sensitive data from Faraday caged air gapped computers with malware code named ODINI that can control the low frequency magnetic fields emitted from infected computers by regulating the load of CPU cores 30 In 2018 a class of side channel attack was introduced at ACM and Black Hat by Eurecom s researchers Screaming Channels 31 This kind of attack targets mix signal chips containing an analog and digital circuit on the same silicon die with a radio transmitter The results of this architecture often found in connected objects is that the digital part of the chip will leak some metadata on its computations into the analog part which leads to metadata s leak being encoded in the noise of the radio transmission Thanks to signal processing techniques researchers were able to extract cryptographic keys used during the communication and decrypt the content This attack class is supposed by the authors to being already known since many years by governmental intelligence agencies In popular culture EditIn the television series Numb3rs season 1 episode Sacrifice a wire connected to a high gain antenna was used to read from a computer monitor In the television series Spooks season 4 episode The Sting a failed attempt to read information from a computer that has no network link is described In the novel Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson characters use Van Eck phreaking to likewise read information from a computer monitor in a neighboring room In the television series Agents of S H I E L D season 1 episode Ragtag an office is scanned for digital signatures in the UHF spectrum In the video game Tom Clancy s Splinter Cell Chaos Theory part of the final mission involves spying on a meeting in a Tempest hardened war room Throughout the entire Splinter Cell series a laser microphone is used as well In the video game Rainbow Six Siege the operator Mute has experience in TEMPEST specifications He designed a Signal Disrupter initially to ensure that hidden microphones in sensitive meetings would not transmit and adapted them for combat capable of disrupting remotely activated devices like breaching charges In the novel series The Laundry Files by Charles Stross the character James Angleton high ranking officer of an ultra secret intelligence agency always uses low tech devices such as a typewriter or a Memex to defend against TEMPEST despite the building being tempest shielded 32 See also EditAir gap networking air gaps can be breached by TEMPEST like techniques 33 Computer and network surveillance Computer security MIL STD 461References Edit Product Delivery Order Requirements Package Checklist PDF US Air Force archived from the original PDF on 2014 12 29 TEMPEST Equipment Selection Process NATO Information Assurance 1981 archived from the original on 2019 02 02 retrieved 2014 09 16 How Old IsTEMPEST Cryptome org Retrieved 2015 05 31 Easter David 2020 07 26 The impact of Tempest on Anglo American communications security and intelligence 1943 1970 Intelligence and National Security 36 1 16 doi 10 1080 02684527 2020 1798604 ISSN 0268 4527 S2CID 225445718 Emission Security PDF US Air Force 14 April 2009 Archived from the original PDF on December 23 2013 a b c Goodman Cassi April 18 2001 An Introduction to TEMPEST Sans org a b N S A TEMPEST A Signal Problem PDF archived from the original PDF on 2013 09 18 retrieved 2014 01 28 Marquardt et al 2011 pp 551 562 NACSIM 5000 Tempest Fundamentals Cryptome org Retrieved 2015 05 31 A History of U S Communications Security the David G Boak Lectures National Security Agency NSA Volumes I 1973 Volumes II 1981 partially released 2008 additional portions declassified October 14 2015 SST TEMPEST Standards SDIP 27 Level A Level B amp AMSG 784 720B 788A Sst ws Retrieved 2015 05 31 Ulas Cihan Serhat Sahin Emir Memisoglu Ulas Asik Canturk Karadeniz Bilal Kilic and Ugur Sarac Development of an automatic TEMPEST test and analysis system Scientific Cooperations International Workshops on Electrical and Computer Engineering Subfields a href Template Cite journal html title Template Cite journal cite journal a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link Specification nsa no 94 106 national security agency specification for shielded enclosures Cryptome info retrieved 2014 01 28 N S A NSTISSAM TEMPEST 2 95 RED BLACK INSTALLATION Cryptome org retrieved 2014 01 28 Canadian Industrial TEMPEST Program CSE Communications Security Establishment Retrieved 2017 07 27 German Zoned Product List BSI German Federal Office for Information Security Retrieved 2015 12 16 The Directory of Infosec Assured Products PDF CESG October 2010 Archived from the original PDF on May 19 2011 TEMPEST Certification Program NSA CSS iad gov Retrieved 2017 07 27 A History of U S Communications Security Volumes I and II David G Boak Lectures PDF National Security Agency 1973 p 90 1 Der Problembereich der Rechtsinformatik Rechtsinformatik Berlin Boston De Gruyter 1977 doi 10 1515 9783110833164 003 ISBN 978 3 11 083316 4 retrieved 2020 11 30 Kuhn Markus G December 2003 Compromising emanations eavesdropping risks of computer displays PDF Technical Report Cambridge United Kingdom University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory 577 ISSN 1476 2986 UCAM CL TR 577 Retrieved 2010 10 29 Kubiak 2018 pp 582 592 Very often the devices do not have enough space on the inside to install new elements such as filters electromagnetic shielding and others a new solution does not change the construction of the devices e g printers screens based on computer fonts called TEMPEST fonts safe fonts In contrast to traditional fonts e g Arial or Times New Roman the new fonts are devoid of distinctive features Without these features the characters of the new fonts are similar each other Kubiak 2019 Computer fonts can be one of solutions supporting a protection of information against electromagnetic penetration This solution is called Soft TEMPEST However not every font has features which counteract the process of electromagnetic infiltration The distinctive features of characters of font determine it This article presents two sets of new computer fonts These fonts are fully usable in everyday work Simultaneously they make it impossible to obtain information using the non invasive method J Loughry and D A Umphress Information Leakage from Optical Emanations pdf file ACM Transactions on Information and System Security Vol 5 No 3 August 2002 pp 262 289 Vuagnoux Martin Pasini Sylvain Compromising radiation emanations of wired keyboards Lasecwww epfl ch Archived from the original on 2019 09 25 Retrieved 2008 10 29 Maneki Sharon 8 January 2007 Learning from the Enemy The GUNMAN project PDF Center for Cryptologic History National Security Agency Retrieved 30 January 2019 All of the implants were quite sophisticated Each implant had a magnetometer that converted the mechanical energy of key strokes into local magnetic disturbances The electronics package in the implant responded to these disturbances categorized the underlying data and transmitted the results to a nearby listening post Data were transmitted via radio frequency The implant was enabled by remote control the movement of the bails determined which character had been typed because each character had a unique binary movement corresponding to the bails The magnetic energy picked up by the sensors in the bar was converted into a digital electrical signal The signals were compressed into a four bit frequency select word The bug was able to store up to eight four bit characters When the buffer was full a transmitter in the bar sent the information out to Soviet sensors Guri et al 2014 pp 58 67 Guri et al 2015 pp 276 289 Guri et al 2015 Guri Zadov amp Elovici 2018 pp 1190 1203 Camurati Giovanni Poeplau Sebastian Muench Marius Hayes Tom Francillon Aurelien 2018 Screaming Channels When Electromagnetic Side Channels Meet Radio Transceivers PDF Proceedings of the 25th ACM Conference on Computer and Communications Security CCS CCS 18 163 177 Stross 2010 p 98 Cimpanu Catalin Academics turn RAM into Wi Fi cards to steal data from air gapped systems ZDNet Sources Edit Ciampa Mark 2017 CompTIA Security Guide to Network Security Fundamentals Cengage Learning ISBN 978 1 337 51477 4 Guri Mordechai Kedma Gabi Kachlon Assaf Elovici Yuval 2014 AirHopper Bridging the air gap between isolated networks and mobile phones using radio frequencies Proceedings of the 9th IEEE International Conference on Malicious and Unwanted Software MALCON 2014 pp 58 67 arXiv 1411 0237 doi 10 1109 MALWARE 2014 6999418 Guri Mordechai Monitz Matan Mirski Yisroel Elovici Yuval 2015 BitWhisper Covert Signaling Channel between Air Gapped Computers Using Thermal Manipulations Proceedings 2015 IEEE 28th Computer Security Foundations Symposium CSF 2015 pp 276 289 arXiv 1503 07919 doi 10 1109 CSF 2015 26 Guri Mordechai Zadov Boris Elovici Yuval 2018 ODINI Escaping Sensitive Data From Faraday Caged Air Gapped Computers via Magnetic Fields IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security 15 1190 1203 arXiv 1802 02700 Bibcode 2018arXiv180202700G doi 10 1109 TIFS 2019 2938404 ISSN 1556 6013 S2CID 3622353 Guri Mordechai Kachlon Assaf Hasson Ofer Kedma Gabi Mirsky Yisroel Elovici Yuval August 2015 GSMem Data Exfiltration from Air Gapped Computers over GSM Frequencies 24th USENIX Security Symposium USENIX Security 15 849 864 ISBN 9781939133113 Video on YouTube Kubiak Ireneusz 2018 TEMPEST font counteracting a noninvasive acquisition of text data Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering amp Computer Sciences 26 582 592 doi 10 3906 elk 1704 263 ISSN 1300 0632 Kubiak Ireneusz 2019 Font Design Shape Processing of Text Information Structures in the Process of Non Invasive Data Acquisition Computers 8 4 70 doi 10 3390 computers8040070 ISSN 2073 431X Marquardt P Verma A Carter H Traynor P 2011 sp i Phone Proceedings of the 18th ACM conference on Computer and communications security CCS 11 pp 551 561 doi 10 1145 2046707 2046771 ISBN 9781450309486 S2CID 5098788 Stross Charles 2010 The Atrocity Archives Book 1 in The Laundry Files Little Brown ISBN 978 0 7481 2413 8 Boitan Alexandru Halunga Simona Bindar Valerica Fratu Octavian 2020 Compromising electromagnetic emanations of usb mass storage devices Wireless Personal Communications 1 26 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Tempest codename amp oldid 1175260499, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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