It’s like going from spaceships back to the horse and buggy or smartphones back to the telegraph. Is the world actually on the brink of going back to saving documents as hard copies?
The recent Wiki leaks, the Snowden disclosures, and reported snooping at the recent G6 have the Russian government examining ways to protect its sensitive information. So, to stop leaks of information from being easily shared and getting posted on the Internet, the Russian government decided to go back to the future— back to paper documents!
According to the United Kingdom’s Telegraph, the Russians have purchased German-made electric typewriters to use when composing sensitive directives in the Defense Ministry and Special Services, as well as lots of ribbons (hope they fit).
The former director of Russia’s Federal Security Service told the Telegraph that all electronic communication is vulnerable to breeches, but “primitive methods” using paperwork (handwriting, typing) work best to preserve secrets.
Of course, hard copies can be photographed or photocopied—and burned—but the process requires more effort than just hitting “send” or “save to.”
So go to your company storage room and dust off those old metal file cabinets—you may be using them again soon!