History
For more details on this topic, see Signals intelligence in modern history.Intercepting written but encrypted communications, and extracting information, probably did not wait long after the development of writing. A simple encryption system, for example, is the Caesar cipher. Electronic interception appeared as early as 1900, during the Boer Wars. The Boers had captured some British radios, and, since the British were the only people transmitting at the time, no special interpretation of the signals was necessary.
Signals intelligence work can be dangerous even in peacetime. Numerous peacetime international incidents involving the loss of life, including the USS Liberty incident, USS Pueblo (AGER-2) incident, and the shooting down of Flight 60528, occurred during signals intelligence missions.
Read more about this topic: Signals Intelligence
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“The best history is but like the art of Rembrandt; it casts a vivid light on certain selected causes, on those which were best and greatest; it leaves all the rest in shadow and unseen.”
—Walter Bagehot (1826–1877)
“English history is all about men liking their fathers, and American history is all about men hating their fathers and trying to burn down everything they ever did.”
—Malcolm Bradbury (b. 1932)
“Racism is an ism to which everyone in the world today is exposed; for or against, we must take sides. And the history of the future will differ according to the decision which we make.”
—Ruth Benedict (1887–1948)