Be The Spy

Dan strolled casually to the campus library, enjoying the contrast of the warm sun and cool breeze. The post board outside had a note on an index card that just said “Please stop taking my sodas.” This told him that there a message waiting. On entering he lingered around the best seller table for a few minutes before strolling back to the computer section. There on the second shelf was an old book for programming in a now defunct language from 12 years ago. A quick glance showed that no one was nearby and he quickly pulled the book from its resting place. Inside he found the paper he knew would be there. His contact had established this dead drop as a way of exchanging small coded messages. This one told him that he would have to make his move tonight. He dog eared the index before replacing the book. That would tell the contact he understood and would proceed as instructed. On his way out he pulled the message off the board and threw it in the trash. To indicate he had been there.

A Dead Drop is location where items or messages are secretly left for someone without requiring the participants to meet.

There are many variations on the dead drop. Usually some system is arranged to notify at a glance if there is something to be picked up. This can be any pre-arranged set up from a chalk to an ad in the classifieds. The dead drop itself can be anything from a book to a secret room. Cut-out devices are often employed such as a hollowed out brick or the famous dead drop spike. The dead drop spike a hollow spike which seals to be water proof and mildew proof. It can shoved into the ground or weighted and placed into a shallow stream for later retrieval.

Modern Variations

• On January 23, 2006, the Russian FSB accused Britain of using wireless dead drops concealed inside hollowed-out rocks to collect espionage information from agents in Russia. According to the Russian authorities, the agent delivering information would approach the rock and transmit data wirelessly into it from a hand-held device, and later his British handlers would pick up the stored data by similar means.
• A British al-Qaeda related terrorist cell, convicted of terrorist offenses on April 30, 2007, used an email account as a dead drop technique. By sharing the account’s password, members of the group could write messages for each other and save them as drafts, without leaving a permanent recording by actually transmitting them.