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World

The Stupidly Simple Spy Messages No Computer Could Decode

CLOAK & DAGGER

Every day, hour after hour, the world’s spies send top secret information you can easily listen in on.

Shane Harris

Updated Aug. 06, 2020 2:20PM ET / Published Mar. 06, 2016 12:01AM ET 
BEAST INSIDE

Photo Illustration by Emil Lendof/The Daily Beast

When I was 10 years old, I found a shortwave radio in a crumbling old leather trunk where we kept family photos and other memorabilia. As I spun the dial, tinny, modulating noises, like the song of an electronic slide whistle, emanated from the radio’s small speaker. Staticky cracks and pops competed for airtime. The sounds swished and swirled, unintelligible and unremarkable. But then, emerging through the clamor, was a voice.

I might have run right over it with the dial, but the voice’s rhythmic, steady pacing caught me up short. It wasn’t a deejay. Nor a commercial. And he wasn’t singing. He was just speaking. The same line, over and over again.

“7…6…7…4…3.” Pause. “7…6…7…4…3.”

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