TEMPEST

Modern electrical devices generate electromagnetic fields, and these fields, when intercepted with very high quality equipment, can conceivably contain information about what is being viewed, printed, transmitted, etc. So it's possible that someone outside your home or office could gather information about what's on your computer screen without actually seeing it. TEMPEST is an acronym which stands for Telecommunications Electronics Material Protected from Emanating Spurious Transmissions. The idea behind TEMPEST is to devise shielding for computers and other electrical devices that are used to display, store, or transmit sensitive information, particularly information with national security implications.

You TEMPEST smart guys will notice that I didn't use the term properly in the book, since TEMPEST is in fact an acronym. I've also recently learned that the term is somewhat obselete now anyway. These days you're more likely to use Emissions Security, or EMSEC.

But you probably don't have to worry about someone intercepting the electromagnetic radiation from your computer monitor. If you're like me, you spend most of your time on ESPN.com anyway. Or writing novels. Or playing video games. And if a spy really wants to steal information from your computer that badly, he'll probably just wait until you go to work and then break in and take your computer. Seems a little easier, doesn't it?

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