h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: van Eck phreaking - A976331
Author: raymondo - U202611

hack away reviewers! I am researching a more technical description and will try to lenghten.

Hi raymondo,

I think this entry may assume a level of knowledge that readers will not necessarily have. What is 'raster driven' for instance?

This entry has potential, but I think it needs a lot more before it can be considered for inclusion in the Edited Guide.

There's been an awful lot written about it and this is the reason some buildings have Faraday shields built into them. If you could add more information to the entry, I think we'd have an entry for the EG.

For example, there is an option in PGP to view an encrypted message using a font that makes it difficult to recover the information using van Eck techniques.

Cheers!

good point.

I would respectfully suggest a reference be included to Neal Stephenson's 'Cryptonomicon', which contains an explanation of van Eck phreaking, as a precursor to a later scene which defies pithy summary.

Hideo

Nice entry, but as has been said, needs more explanations.

Also, Cryptonomicon is not a cyberpunk novel. It's more of a contemporary and historical novel, with focus on information and encryption technology.
Stephenson's 'Snow Crash' is somewhat cyberpunk, 'The Diamond Age' to a lesser degree, and the rest of his books just aren't.

This needs more work.

Van Eck should have a capital V if it is at the start of a sentence.
You need to explain what a Faraday cage is.
Your reference to Cryptonomicon needs to be changed. Don't mention the researcher reminding us of anything.
Generally, this needs to be far more explanatory, and the language needs to be tidied up.

The reference to Cryptonomicon is appropriate, however I don't find the sentence after it really enhances the entry.

Cheers!

I found this to be very useful, although I was confused about why there was mention to "the guide entry on..." instead of just a link.

fixed all or most complaints and added two other headers

It still says, "see the guide article on 2600...." I have absolutely no idea what that means... Is it a reference to another a guide entry? If so, why no link?

Mikey

There is a non-EG entry on 2600 at A553420, however, it really doesn't say much more than it used to be possible to get free phone calls by emitting a 2600 Hz tone down a phone line and refers people to the 2600 magazine website. It doesn't mention anything about phreaking and shouldn't be referenced in the entry, IMHO.

There is also a footnote that isn't a footnote and needs to be replaced with a .

There is a mention of Faraday cages without explaining what a Faraday cage is. (http://www.physics.gla.ac.uk/~kskeldon/PubSci/exhibits/E3/ gives a nice example)

I think I have a general problem with this entry. It's got a lot of potential, but the acutal entry itself only lightly touches on the actual subject itself and spends almost as much space talking about the term "phreaking" as it does about van Eck eavesdropping. I think that it needs more content about the process than it has. When it does talk about it, it says "go here" for more information, rather than actually providing the information.

The "other neat ways to spy" section at the end could easily be dropped from the entry as it doesn't have anything to do with van Eck phreaking.

And if it's going to mention Captain Krunch (who spelled it Captain Crunch, incidentally), it should also mention his real name, John Draper. But, again, this really has nothing to do with van Eck eavesdropping.

I also think it should mention van Eck's first name, Wim, and reference the paper he published that this was first discussed in: "Electromagnetic Radiation from Video Display Units: An Eavesdropping Risk?" (http://www.shmoo.com/tempest/emr.pdf ). According to the paper, the research on this phenomenon started in January, 1983.

The paper also suggests that this eavesdropping can take place "at several hundred metres distance" and that the equipment needed is not nearly as complicated as suggested in the entry. Putting the paper in context for a minute, this was in the early-1980's when computer monitor technology was less sophisticated than it is now, so perhaps more exotic equipment is needed, but it is probably still within reach of most electronic hobbyists.

It even goes on to say that some people in the Netherlands had complained to the government about accidental reception of information from a nearby travel agency on their black and white tv's.

And a link to Tomorrow's World, a BBC TV show, is warranted as this was where it gained a lot of notoriety when van Eck et al set up a van with the necessary equipment and demonstrated it on the programme.

So, I think this entry needs more work before it can be considered for inclusion in the Edited Guide.

prolly the weekend till I can make updates
thx 4 the input

The only time I have come across van Eck phreaking was in Cryptonomincon, but I think simply referring to the book may not be enough. If it's worth mentioning at all, it's worth describing the ways in which it is used in the book.


Geggs

You may want to include that the construction of a Van Eck device is illegal in the US, and maybe the UK, i dunno

-The Professor