Idiot code

An idiot code is a code whereupon the "syntax" or "rules" of communication are worked out between the parties.

Example
Any sentence where 'day' and 'night' are used means 'attack'. The location mentioned in the following sentence specifies the location to be attacked.

Message: We walked day and night through the streets but couldn't find it! Tomorrow we'll head on to Rome.

De-coding
There are only two ways to break this code:
# Know what the rules are.
# See enough of the messages to work out the rules.

The problem with number 1 is that this type of information passing is set up before usage and is extremely hard to decipher as the message is "hidden in plain sight". Anybody intercepting this message probably would not even know it is a communication.

The problem with number 2 is that you would need several verified messages of this type to determine the rules of communication.

Disadvantages
The drawbacks of this type of message passing is that is it extremely limited. A codebook would be needed to effectively communicate complex information. Simple information such as "yes" or "no" can be built into phrases and have several variants. However, complex information such as "Meet a man with red hair under the Bass Bridge at 12:43 and be sure to wear a black cloak and a fedora so he recognises you" would be much harder unless you have constructed your rules to allow for this type of information to be passed.

This type of communication is akin to the hand signals used by armies in the field.

Origin

The origin of this term appears to be George Perrault, a character in the book Friday by Robert Heinlein:

::The simplest sort and thereby impossible to break. The first ad told the person or persons concerned to carry out number seven or expect number seven or it said something about something designated as seven. This one says the same with respect to code item number ten. But the meaning of the numbers cannot be deduced through statistical analysis because the code can be changed long before a useful statistical universe can be reached. It's an idiot code... and an idiot code can never be broken if the user has the good sense not to go too often to the well.

Modern Usage

Richard Miniter, author of "Losing Bin Laden: How Bill Clinton's Failures Unleashed Global Terror", states in an interview UPI Technology News that " way terrorists use the Internet to communicate is through conventional message boards. They simply go to common public places online, chat rooms and the like, and post messages using what intelligence operatives call an "idiot code."

"The cipher for the code is only known to the people using it," said Miniter. "There is no mathematical relationship between the messages, as there is in cryptography. Despite the name, this is a sophisticated method. But the users are forced to memorize hundreds of code words, or they can't send complicated messages."

A sample idiot code might be as follows: "The package will arrive in Germany tomorrow," said Miniter. "But the word 'package' really is code for a bomb. Only the sender of the message and the receiver know the real meaning."

Terrorism expert Ranstorp said the men who carried out the 11 September 2001 attacks on the United States used basic e-mail and what he calls "idiot code" to discuss their plans.

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