Foldering
Foldering is the practice of communicating via messages saved to the "drafts" folder of an email or other electronic messaging account that is accessible to multiple people.[1][2][3][4] The messages are never sent in the normal way.[1][2][3][4]
Foldering is sometimes described as a digital equivalent of the dead drop.[2]
History
Foldering was reportedly used by al-Qaeda at least as early as 2005,[2] and also by drug cartels.[1]
Notable cases
In 2012, David Petraeus was reported to have used foldering to communicate with Paula Broadwell.[2][5]
In June 2018, Greg Andres cited Paul Manafort's use of foldering as evidence that Manafort engaged in deceptive behaviours.[4]
Depictions in popular culture
Foldering was depicted in the movie Traitor (2008).[2]
See also
References
- ^ a b c "Mueller's team accused Manafort of 'foldering,' a technique used by drug cartels and terrorist groups to secretly communicate".
- ^ a b c d e f "Manafort allegedly used "foldering" to hide emails. Here's how it works". 15 June 2018.
- ^ a b "Paul Manafort accused of 'foldering' to hide communications". 16 June 2018.
- ^ a b c "Mueller says Manafort used "foldering" as part of his "deception"".
- ^ Fisher, Max (12 November 2012). "Here's the e-mail trick Petraeus and Broadwell used to communicate" – via www.washingtonpost.com.