Whoever recently showed us the secret documents: Do get in touch

We here at The Register recently got the chance to have a look at what appeared to be some most interesting confidential information, from within a large aerospace and defence contractor. We're most grateful for this. However the way the information came to us, combined with the circumstances of the case, is going to make it …

[LaeMing]

Re: Question

Can I buy a vowel?

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Question

I'll have a 'P' please, Bob.

[theblackhand]

Re: Question

Re: I'll have a 'P' please, Bob.

Can I have an O for awesome?

[cortland]

Re: Question

I'm taking one.

Beer is why.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Question

If I had to guess, my money would be on it starting with a B.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Question

"If I had to guess, my money would be on it starting with a B."

Me too.

And what's more, I'd guess that given the paucity of "large aerospace and defence contractors" that the Reg may well have scared the chickens, and alerted the foxes to the presence of chickens.

Perhaps next time they'll be more subtle. Or perhaps "subtle" at the Reg means not putting <insert large aerospace and defence contractors name here> in the headline?

[Phil O'Sophical]

Re: Question

Or maybe it's not a large aerospace contractor at all, and they're just saying that to throw people off the scent while hoping that anyone who sent them secret documents recently will call back

[davemcwish]

Re: Question

Not necessarily, could be LM or NG. There's loads of others to pick from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_defense_contractors

[J__M__M]

Re: Question

Yea, right. I'm sure this has absolutely nothing to do with the F-35.

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh b*gger

I knew I'd left it somewhere

[Alan Bourke]

And possibly

involve another completely ridiculous Q where no Q should be ?

[GettinSadda]

Opens Popcorn

Sits back and waits for the show!

[ukgnome]

Like anyone is going to fall for that old chestnut. This is obviously a cunning trap

[Anonymous Coward]

yup, id guess that the el reg was originally funded by some secret CIA slush fund and has been playing the sleeper game waiting for this very situation. one way ticket to hong kong my friend.....you know its your only choice now!

[cortland]

A cunning PLAN, perhaps.

[Foose]

grabs a beer

this could turn out to be very interesting

[Charles Calthrop]

Nothing to hide

what's the weather like in Cheltenham? bit cool in manchester today, but you probably already knew that

[Rich 11]

Re: Nothing to hide

"what's the weather like in Cheltenham?"

Overcast and a bit breezy. Chance of showers.

[Fred Flintstone]

Umm, Lewis..

.. are you trying to drum up business for Leicester Square?

After such a post, I suspect the area in front of your offices will be a tad busier with all sorts of people pretending to be "casually loitering" and making far more calls than your average call plan would allow without a mortgage..

As an experiment, that would actually appeal to my sense of humour :)

[Gideon 1]

Are you sure you want to do this?

This could be soliciting for information, and there is no "in the public interest" defence under the Official Secrets Act.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Are you sure you want to do this?

I re-read the Register message carefully. I can't see where it solicits any information other than the identity of someone who had previously contacted them. I am not aware of anyone's identity being classified since Operation Mincemeat in WWII.

[Anonymous Coward]

@mutatedwombat : Re: Are you sure you want to do this?

How about this bit? :

"And if anyone else with some information that ought to see the light of day happens to be reading this, the same goes for you too."

Given the context I'd say 'soliciting' is a reasonable description.

[John Sturdy]

Re: @mutatedwombat : Are you sure you want to do this?

"Given the context I'd say 'soliciting' is a reasonable description."

But it's also what journalists normally do.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: @mutatedwombat : Are you sure you want to do this? @John Sturdy

>"Given the context I'd say 'soliciting' is a reasonable description."

Maybe they just want to tell him he's been a naughty boy

[Ru]

Re: Are you sure you want to do this?

This could be soliciting for information

They already have the information that might be considered sensitive.

[Lewis Page 1]

Re: Re: Are you sure you want to do this?

We didn't say we had any documents. We said we had SEEN some.

[Paul Hovnanian]

Re: Are you sure you want to do this?

I'm sure El Reg has consulted their legal department. It's just a matter of going down to the sub basement, dragging the grate off the pit, throwing some raw meat down and getting an opinion back from the lawyers.

[Dave the Cat]

Re: Are you sure you want to do this?

You forgot the chablis to go with the raw meat... ;-)

[Intractable Potsherd]

Re: Are you sure you want to do this?

There is no public interest defence actually written in to the OSA, but juries have been known to find one! Long live "perverse judgments"!

[Anigel]

ok

Now you have my attention, lets see the goods :)

[Ian 62]

And the lightsabres story appears as related...

On my page at least.

Coincidence? I think not.

That walking sticky Chewy was caught with.. It was a real one.. Wasnt it? Wasnt it???!!!

[C 18]

Feels like...

...viral journalism to me!

Oh El Reg, you're such a tease...

[Piro]

Ah hah!

Fantastic stuff. Onward, El Reg!

Things are getting interesting.

[Peter Simpson 1]

Re: Ah hah!

Emergency re-design of LOHAN necessary?

Enhanced capabilities to be added?

[corestore]

Is this the RegisTER or the RegisTRY? And is your new address on Curzon St?

[frank ly]

It's the RegisTOR.

[Matthew 17]

*Whomever recently showed....

:)

It's important, sorry.

[aBloke FromEarth]

Re: *Whomever recently showed....

Whoever is the subject of the sentence (the person doing the action), so it's correct. ("Who leaked the document?")

Whomever would be an (indirect) object of the sentence. ("To whom was the document leaked?")

source: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/whomever

[C 18]

Re: *Whomever recently showed....

And if it is important then you should find out the right way.

Whoever recently showed... is the correct form.

For your reference, replace the who/whom with he/him to see which one is right.

He recently showed, not him recently showed...

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: *Whomever recently showed....

« For your reference, replace the who/whom with he/him to see which one is right. »

You're correct. "Himever recently showed..." doesn't sound quite right. :)

[Matthew Smith]

Aurora

Please say that Project Aurora is true, and the contact has one in their garage.

[John Sturdy]

Re: Aurora

Please say that the next RSPB flight project will do at least Mach 8!

[goldcd]

Somewhere in the depths of Prism

Every person who clicks on "http://regmedia.co.uk/2013/06/11/gpg_public_key.txt" is having a flag switched.

[Shippwreck1]

Re: Somewhere in the depths of Prism

Balls... I clicked it twice!

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Somewhere in the depths of Prism

"Balls... I clicked it twice!"

then you're safe. Like a switch - on, and off again.

p.s. but DO remember how many times you clicked, for (...)/(your own) sake!

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Somewhere in the depths of Prism

"Just make sure he hits you an even number of times, so you don't end up with amnesia."

Bart Simpson

[Hellcat]

Re: Somewhere in the depths of Prism

That toggles it. You're in the clear.

Of course by coming back to read my comment, you are back on the list.

Icon.. because for once it directly applies!

[John Sturdy]

Re: Somewhere in the depths of Prism

My flag was raised long ago, I suspect, when I called a friend whose number appeared on some anti-war leaflets (about matters unrelated to war and peace) from the mobile cell covering Shannon Airport (which was already subject of controversy about rendition flights), and got an "error in connection". I tried calling other friends from there, and that worked OK, and I tried calling her from other places, and that worked, so next time I went through Shannon I tried again, and got the same effects.

Apparently they've stopped doing this now (I guess it was too blatant) but I'd be surprised if trying it doesn't get your mobile number flagged.

[corestore]

Re: Somewhere in the depths of Prism

Aye. But if you're properly configured, they think you're in Ulan BaTOR...

[diodesign]

Re: Somewhere in the depths of Prism

The key is on the page for all to see; it's not perfect but the number of people hitting that will be far higher than the .txt file. We may embed the key in all future pages to widen the net.

C.

[Piro]

Re: Somewhere in the depths of Prism

Good thing it was re-posted on the article. Clicked the key for good measure too.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Somewhere in the depths of Prism

No, no, no and thrice no. So I can't count, sue me. Everyboydy who clicked on the article is having a switch flicked, unlike those who bought the Ultimate O and have had to return it. Anyway to save the NSA the trouble, it's not me, nobody tells me anything, so much so I know less than Manuel.

[SoaG]

Re: Somewhere in the depths of Prism

"Every person who clicks on "http://regmedia.co.uk/2013/06/11/gpg_public_key.txt" is having a flag switched."

NSA ,might be a bit swamped today, I wouldn't worry about it...

http://trollthensa.com

[cortland]

Re: Somewhere in the depths of Prism

I'd rather fight:

http://file.vintageadbrowser.com/q5jzveojkhwhfw.jpg

[Anonymous Coward]

Popcorn ready

I've got the popcorn and the snacks ready. Lets go......

[Khaptain]

Maybe its not really and AeroSpace and Defense contractor

This could actually be a vey cunning and subtle plan by El Reg to finally overthrow Governements, Despots, Non Payers of Tax, Chinese hackers or even the NSA.

There are indeed some very cunning people at El Reg.......definately not the usual bunch of pigistes de l'informatique.

[smudge]

Do tell how many responses you get...

...and how many said "It was me!", and came from security/intelligence services.

[I ain't Spartacus]

I'm sorry, it was me.

But details of the Christmas party have been changed, the nice lady has since laid down her pole and retired, the goat is receiving treatment and the contamination in the Marmite factory has been dealt with. I have been contacted by the lawyers and informed that should I pass on any further photographs then my life won't be worth living - so you'll have to resort to Playmobil for the rest...

[John Brown (no body)]

Re: I'm sorry, it was me.

Thank you updating us on the latest goings on in at your summer house in Hungary. Did you ever get that eel infestation in your hovercraft sorted out? We'd love to come and visit but Julian is allergic to eels.

[Desidero]

Re: I'm sorry, it was me.

The nerve of this freak - obviously it was *me*, and I meant to send it to "The Reg" meaning Regis Philben & not some blighty lunatic farm for the techno obsessed.

I realized when you posted your PCP code. Mine is "24ll1tss1sdrwkcab3fil2r3wsna3ht", though if you're concerned I can double encrypt for best security using ROT13

[Anonymous Coward]

It's just a plot...

be aware we've just moved offices

Just moved offices without a nice and cosy office warming party with all the commentards?

I think this is just an elaborate plot to hide the obvious truth from us ;)

[davemcwish]

Re: It's just a plot...

I bet your former* moderatrix-in-chief got an invite.

*http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/06/30/moderatrix_off/

[Lee D]

Ooh, interesting.

But, to be honest, if they'd wanted to tell you who they were, they'd probably have already done so.

It's not a question of how this person contacts the Reg but how the Reg contacts them back. Or are we going to have a series of messages put through the front page to that anonymous person (or something in some obscure comment somewhere?). How will you communicate back?

That, it seems, is the weak link. That person has to give you a contact detail that is correlative to their activities, even if it's through some anonymous webmail passed through Tor.

But still... Oooh...

[jai]

El Reg doesn't have a classified ads section, so such secrecy and skulduggery needs to be conducted on the front page headlines.

[Paul Hovnanian]

Chalk 'X' marks are appearing on post boxes all over London.

[davemcwish]

X ?

Surely dancing men ?

[Tom 13]

Re: How will you communicate back?

I'm guessing steganography. The original contact contain instructions on how to embed the information. Broadcasting the message alleviates the point to point connection that makes it easier to isolate the leaker. The next step is to check the mailbox by Lewis's favorite pub for stray chalk marks.

[Ken Hagan]

Re: How will you communicate back?

"I'm guessing steganography."

That would explain some of Lester's bootnotes.

[keithpeter]

"Or are we going to have a series of messages put through the front page to that anonymous person (or something in some obscure comment somewhere?). How will you communicate back?"

Its 'Eadon' isn't it.

There is a message hidden in small snippets distributed over every 200 Eadon comments.

You'll be selling filing cabinets for £35.57 next...

The Tramp: I'm selling Big Issues just down from your front door. The wooly hat has a high resolution camera concealed in the bobble.

[Diogenes]

I'm Brian

and so is my wife ,

No no not Brian , I mean I am Spartacus

[Anonymous Coward]

it wasnt me but can i just say:

The eagle has flown over the chicken shed, the eggs have been boiled. The milkman shall bring more. Prepare the salt and pepper for the scrambled eggs.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: it wasnt me but can i just say:

Eagle has been scrambled and the eggs have been flown inside the milkman.

Call Martha Stewart, we're having a dinner party.

:wink wink:

:honk honk:

[Tom 13]

Re: it wasnt me but can i just say:

Just remember to flush.

[Justice]

Hmmmm...

Gentlemen, you had my curiosity. But now you have my attention

[Frankee Llonnygog]

Suggestion

"However the way the information came to us, combined with the circumstances of the case, is going to make it difficult for us to proceed with the story without being able to communicate with our source."

Just let the pigeon go and ask Dick Dastardly to follow it

[Omgwtfbbqtime]

Just because it's a defense contractor

Does not mean it has anything at all to do with something covered by the OSA.

More likely to do with financial shennanigans like the one a few months ago where a scandinavian defense contractor* dropped a British defense contractor** in it over alleged* payments to foreign government officials.....

I believe the original story was covered here too.

* They also make rather nice cars I hear.

** guess who!

*** alleged for my safety, though since I havent used any names I don't think it would fall under libel anyway.

[davemcwish]

Re: scandinavian defense contractor*

If it's the one I'm thinking of, the car division went bankrupt then got bought back by the Chinese.

IMHO, they used to be OK but failed to keep up with the competition.

[davemcwish]

At least they're using GPG I suppose

Who knows what Symantec have done to the original PGP.....

[Anonymous Coward]

This must be a joke

Playing around with any confidential aerospace defense contractor information is a good way to spend a long time at the Iron Bar Hotel.

[btrower]

RevengeOfTheNerds

Play on. EOM

[Anonymous Coward]

Public Keys ...

You have keys to encrypt messages but don't bother with an SSL certificate to protect user logins?

[Herby]

I've got the Yo-Yo

I've got the string

Sorry, it goes downhill from there.

[Mike Tubby]

As anyone should know....

As anyone that has watched 'Chuck' [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_(TV_series) [ should know, its not called "Prism", not it is called "Aurora" ... its called THE INTERCEPT ;-)

G

[ciaran]

Buzz on a frech forum about a secret video

There's a lot of huffing and puffing on a french aeronautic forum about a video showing the Rafale doing a "gun kill" on a F-22. Apparently someone is looking for a way to publish without leaving any fingerprints. Might be some connection to whatever the Register has gotten their sticky hands on...

[arbrefeu]

Re: Buzz on a frech forum about a secret video

for the french sub in the gom>? or forrelz.?

[Captain DaFt]

>golf clap<

Well played, you've just secured at least two weeks uptime and max speed via the NSA's routers whilst they monitor the site!

[WatAWorld]

Why don't news organizations routinely have their PGP public keys on their contact pages?

Why don't news organizations routinely have their PGP public keys on their contact pages?

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Why don't news organizations routinely have their PGP public keys on their contact pages?

Probably because if you are not a geek you wont know what to do with with one. El Reg readers on the other hand...

[All names Taken]

El Reg reaches the big time?

Well, does it?

[Anonymous Coward]

FreeNSA

that would make a great NAS in tha 'hood

[Anonymous Coward]

Interesting

My hypothesis for the "Wow!" signal.

Say a few years from now. the outgoing signal we sent encounters a small wormhole, with a time displacement that sends it back to late 1977.

Explains the "Water hole" frequency, non repeatability, and the unusual modulation, exactly what you would expect from a point source focussed on a nearby star.

I propose that NASA search the nearby systems for unusual HFGW emissions that you might expect from a small E-R bridge, Kerr rotating black hole etc.

Can't be that hard, just use an accelerometer set or something a bit more sensitive at the L1 or L2 point.

Perhaps this information is related to the "Aurora" etc? Rumoured to use plasma stealth, optical camouflage and an onboard nucleonic drive based on an artificially created isotope.

"Element 115" was actually misinformation to divert the public away from the real, lighter element used for the drive which is made using a similar method to that used for generating plutonium.

I think they used something based on an accelerator driven system as this would explain the large "lines" seen on the Nellis AFB pictures.

Also has anyone ever been in the abandoned facility in Texas, as this would be THE perfect place to hide a clandestine particle accelerator as everyone believes it to be disused.

Any work there can be passed off as "routine maintenance" or "installing a data centre" etc.

[All names Taken]

Wont me mister - I were never even there!