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Obfuscation

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For the related use of the term in computer science, seeobfuscation (software).

Obfuscationis theobscuringof the intendedmeaningofcommunicationby making the message difficult to understand, usually withconfusingandambiguouslanguage. The obfuscation might be either unintentional orintentional(although intent usually isconnoted), and is accomplished withcircumlocution(talking around the subject), the use ofjargon(technical language of a profession), and the use of anargot(ingrouplanguage) of limited communicative value to outsiders.[1]

Inexpository writing,unintentional obfuscation usually occurs indraft documents,at the beginning ofcomposition;such obfuscation is illuminated withcritical thinkingand editorial revision, either by the writer or by an editor. Etymologically, the wordobfuscationderives from the Latinobfuscatio,fromobfuscāre(to darken);synonyms include the wordsbecloudingandabstrusity.

Medical

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Doctors are faulted for usingjargonto conceal unpleasant facts from a patient; the American author and physicianMichael Crichtonsaid thatmedical writingis a "highly skilled, calculated attempt to confuse the reader". The psychologistB. F. Skinnersaid that medical notation is a form of multiple audience control, which allows the doctor to communicate to the pharmacist things which the patient might oppose if they could understand medical jargon.[2]

Eschew

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"Eschew obfuscation", also stated as "eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation", is a humorousfumbleruleused by English teachers and professors when lecturing about proper writing techniques. Literally, the phrase means "avoid being unclear" or "avoid being unclear, support being clear", but the use of relatively uncommon words causes confusion in much of the audience (those lacking thevocabulary), making the statement an example ofirony,and more precisely aheterologicalphrase. The phrase has appeared in print at least as early as 1959, when it was used as a section heading in aNASAdocument.[3]

An earlier similar phrase appears inMark Twain'sFenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses,where he lists rule fourteen of good writing as "eschewsurplusage".

Secure communication

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Main article:Secure communication

Obfuscation of oral or written communication achieves a degree ofsecure communicationwithout a need to rely upon technology. This technique is sometimes referred to as "talking around" and is a form ofsecurity through obscurity.

A notable example of obfuscation of written communication is a message sent bySeptember 11 attacksringleaderMohamed Attato other conspirators prior to the attacks occurring:[4]

The semester begins in three more weeks. We've obtained 19 confirmations for studies in the faculty of law, the faculty of urban planning, the faculty of fine arts and the faculty of engineering.

— Mohamed Atta

In this obfuscated message, the followingcode wordsare believed to exist:[5]

Within theillegal drug trade,obfuscation is commonly used in communication to hide the occurrence of drug trafficking. A common spoken example is "420",used as a code word forcannabis,a drug which, despite some recent prominentdecriminalizationchanges,remains illegal in most places.TheDrug Enforcement Administrationreported in July 2018 a total of 353 different code words used forcannabis.[6]

White box cryptography

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Black box systems
System
Black box,Oracle machine
Methods and techniques
Black-box testing,Blackboxing
Related techniques
Feed forward,Obfuscation,Pattern recognition,White box,White-box testing,Gray-box testing,System identification
Fundamentals
A prioriinformation,Control systems,Open systems,Operations research,Thermodynamic systems
Main article:white-box cryptography

In white-box cryptography, obfuscation refers to the protection of cryptographickeysfrom extraction when they are under the control of the adversary, e.g., as part of aDRMscheme.[7]

Network security

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Main article:Network security

Innetwork security,obfuscation refers to methods used to obscure an attack payload from inspection by network protection systems.

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  • InAnimal Farm,the pigs such as Squealer and Snowball use obfuscation to confuse the other animals withdoublespeakin order to prevent any uprisings.
  • In the British SitcomYes Minister,the characterSir Humphrey Applebyoften uses obfuscation for comedic effect while trying to confuse and preventJim Hackerfrom taking charge.

See also

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References

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  1. ^The Oxford Companion to the English Language,Tom McArthur, Ed., (1992) p. 543.
  2. ^Skinner, B.F. (1957)Verbal Behaviorp. 232
  3. ^United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration,NASA Technical Memorandum(1959), p. 171.
  4. ^"Virtual soldiers in a holy war".Haaretz.Retrieved2020-06-25.
  5. ^Sirohi, Dr M. N. (2015).Cyber Terrorism and Information Warfare.New Delhi: Vij Books India Private Limited.ISBN978-81-931422-1-9.OCLC920167233.
  6. ^"Slang Terms and Code Words: A Reference for Law Enforcement Personnel"(PDF).Drug Enforcement Administration.Archived(PDF)from the original on 2022-10-09.Retrieved2020-06-26.
  7. ^Chow S, Eisen P, Johnson H, et al. A white-box DES implementation for DRM applications[M]//Digital Rights Management. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2002: 1-15.
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