Silk Road forums
Discussion => Shipping => Topic started by: vlad1m1r on June 15, 2012, 03:47 pm
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I am straying beyond my remit here as I don't do drugs but the issue of "controlled deliveries" has come up in the past on the security threads i.e where the Police intercept a package before it gets to you and have an undercover officer deliver it to you, so you can be seen to be knowingly accepting contraband.
Anyway I was reading this month's issue of Cryptogram https://www.schneier.com/crypto-gram-1206.html) - an absolutely goldmine for anyone interested in IT security and technology in general and I saw a link to a company offering USB sticks with a wax seal on them http://www.topsecretusb.com/top-secret-custom-made.
The offer itself seems a bit of a gimmick as you'd have to break the seal to put any data on it but it did get me thinking if vendors might want to use this for packages?
The potential advantage to buyers is that they could examine the package before signing for it and check the seal hadn't been broken, meaning they're less likely to accept something into their home knowing it's been tampered with.
Potential disadvantages I can see are :
- It may not be necessary for LEO to open the package to see what's inside it, rendering the seal useless.
- A wax seal might draw undue attention to the envelope as they are only usually used on legal documents these days. (Admittedly it could be small and discrete).
- It might be possible to imitate the seal and therefore reseal the package.
- The vendor would have to change the type of seal they use regularly to make sure that they aren't caught in possession of one ; indeed the very purpose of wax seals was to verify senders in olden times!
Nevertheless I'd still be interested in people's thoughts on this, it'd be great to find an old world solution to a modern problem!
Look forward to seeing your comments.
V.
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- A wax seal might draw undue attention to the envelope as they are only usually used on legal documents these days. (Admittedly it could be small and discrete).
That would be my only concern. Other than that, I just wouldn't sign for any package if I had an order that hadn't arrived. I had to look up wax seals as I was picturing the old style big red wax blot with a heraldic stamp lol, would be quite cool to receive envelopes sealed like that if it didn't draw attention.
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Well it might work if the seal is very small and clear. Like a drop of white candle wax or something, but i think it in the end would make profiling the envelopes easier for Le.
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- A wax seal might draw undue attention to the envelope as they are only usually used on legal documents these days. (Admittedly it could be small and discrete).
That would be my only concern. Other than that, I just wouldn't sign for any package if I had an order that hadn't arrived. I had to look up wax seals as I was picturing the old style big red wax blot with a heraldic stamp lol, would be quite cool to receive envelopes sealed like that if it didn't draw attention.
Yes, you could have a personalised signet ring to seal all correspondence .. sad to say it would make things a bit awkward if you were caught wearing it, maybe a wooden stamp is better after all :-D
V.
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I've seen hologram stickers that change color completely from clear to red when opened which would be more discreet. It wouldn't be noticeable at all, it wouldn't protrude on the envelope, it wouldn't accidentally fall off, will always work and is obvious straight away if tampered with.
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I've seen hologram stickers that change color completely from clear to red when opened which would be more discreet. It wouldn't be noticeable at all, it wouldn't protrude on the envelope, it wouldn't accidentally fall off, will always work and is obvious straight away if tampered with.
An much better suggestion OZ, many thanks!
V.
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Its nice if you like gimmicks, nothing more.
Wax seals aren't that secure at all - you could do simple cast of the seal before opening the device and later re-cast that seal without leaving any obvious traces.
If you wanted to send someone data by snailmail, just encrypt that data using their public key, or a secretly communicated key.
There really is no point relying on physical protection mechanisms when the tools for strong cryptography are available to you free of charge.
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Its nice if you like gimmicks, nothing more.
Wax seals aren't that secure at all - you could do simple cast of the seal before opening the device and later re-cast that seal without leaving any obvious traces.
If you wanted to send someone data by snailmail, just encrypt that data using their public key, or a secretly communicated key.
There really is no point relying on physical protection mechanisms when the tools for strong cryptography are available to you free of charge.
Thanks Ben, I was actually thinking of sending contraband like drugs and weapons in the mail rather than data but yes, I see your point about a seal being easy to imitate. OZ's suggestion is a much better idea!
V.