Number stations

Been researching these lately, Sup Forums. does anyone know anything about these?
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numbers_station

I have heard about that. Play usually at specific times and backup times in specific places. What I wonder is why they weren't shut down.

SKYKING

My question is are these still used to espionage lol

NO
why did he shoot Doggo?

FOUR THREE TWO SEVEN SEVEN
*dee da dee doo ding*
FOUR THREE TWO SEVEN SEVEN
*dee da dee doo ding*

You shoukd have asked. In the day of encrypted signals, this takes tok much effort and has no extra value. Maybe in poor countries but they're poor so they're usually are not at war.
>Doggo
>Literal reddit meme

He got in the way

There's a significant advantage to this, though-the receiver of the message only needs a radio. Anything can be decrypted in this day and age, so I'm curious who still uses this and why

For when the man comes around

Decryption can go in and out in terms or usefulness. As a breakthrough brings up security a notch, hackers can use the same tricks to step up their game. That's why hackers are hired to make systems foolproof. The code is technically an encryption too, is it not?

Of course it is. However, anything digital leaves a trace.

Ok, kids! Time to tell you the difference between chiper and codes.

One of he most simple kinds of cipher is C+3. You just move every letter three letters foward:

ABC = DEF

Theoretically, all ciphers can be broken.

Codes are just prior agreements. If you decide that "dog" is a code for "cup", then it can't be broken. However, the meaning of "dog" can be inferred from context.

And this is the beauty of number stations. The message itself isn't decrypted, because no one can understand the code. The message can be picked up with cheap and non-conspicious equipment. And a good agent can easily memorize hundreds of rules needed in order to de*code* the message.

>The message itself isn't decrypted
Phuk! The message itself is in plaintext. No need to send the numbers as scrambled static.

Never got the dead dog in this image, is it a reference to something?

Don't be faggot. Just call it a "one-time pad" which is what it's called.

It's illegal to listen to number stations in the UK

Was a pretty good movie desu

Don't you just have a number station license tax on top of the VAT?

Are any of these explicity broadcast to the US?

Nope. One-time pads can both be used for codes and cipher seeds. The advantage is that it's theoretically impossible to decrypt. The disadvantage is the need for discipline and the moar one-time pads the larger the risk of them being found.

You could go for redundancy. Every word or prhase has multiple codes. You could also invent a language with a grammar where the order of the words or phrases doesn't matter. Part of the decoding process is to put them in the only right order.

>It's illegal to listen to number stations in the UK
As if that has stopped anyone. You gotta be caught red-handed. Also, memorization.

They're broadcast on shortwave so that they can be received ideally all around the world.

whyd he kill the doggie :c