Secure Computing: Sec-C

Pictures have power. And while digital image analysis techniques can identify manipulation, these methods cannot distinguish a staged photo from a real scene. For example, in my talk on digital image analysis, I give discuss a Snopes myth:


Faked tsunami hitting Samatra. Mouse-over the picture to see real picture of a dust storm in Australia
While image analysis can identify that the corner has been modified (time stamp was removed), it cannot distinguish a dust storm from a tsunami. (Snopes identifies this as a "Real photograph; inaccurate description.")

Back to Iran...

In my previous blog entry, I discussed a manipulated photograph of a missile test-fire from Iran. (Mouse over the image to see the real photo.)


http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/10/in-an-iranian-image-a-missile-too-many/index.html

Given that the picture has been manipulated, can we identify the depth of the deception? I posed the following questions:

1. Is the "original" really an original?
   
2. When was the photo really taken?
   
3. Is this picture really from last Wednesday's test?

Now we have some answers...

TWO YEARS OLD!

Although Iran released the photos, claiming that they were from last Wednesday's test firing, this is actually not the case. The actual photo was taken in November October 2006, outside the Iranian city of Qom. (Credit to Kamangil for pointing this out.)

Although this exact photo was not released, many similar photos were released:

	The "original" photo, reportedly from the 9-July-2008 test. This is the picture that was manipulated.
	Another view of the same 9-July-2008 missile test, as reported by the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB). It shows very similar missile positions, similar clouds, and more importantly: a similar road.
	A photo from Fars News Agency of the 2006 missile test. Notice the same number of missiles in the air and the truck on the ground.
	Another photo from the 2006 test, as reported by Britannica, AFP, and Army Times. NOTE: AFP reported it in October 2006, but Army Times says it is from November 2006.

Although the actual photo was not released in 2006, the similarities are too much to be called coincidental. The "original" photo released on 9-July-2008 is from a October 2006 missile launch.

It seems that Iran has decided to use last week's missile test as a dumping ground for old photos. For example, Kamangir also found these pictures:

The first picture is a recent photo of missile tests in Iran, as reported by IRIB. The second is the same picture as reported by Fars News Agency on 4-April-2006.

Tsunami of Lies

There were only a few hours before the doctored photo was released and it was publicly identified as a manipulated image. The actual photo shows one missile still sitting on a truck. While this controversy was unfolding, Iran claimed that they performed a second missile test on Thursday. However, the US government said that they detected no missile launch.

Now things start to get weird...

Following the announcement of the "original" photo, Iran claimed that one missile failed to launch. (Alright, there was one missile on a truck.) Iran said that they launched that missile on Thursday.

The problem is, we know that the "one missile" was on that truck since 2006. Moreover, the US government is now saying that they believe the test on Wednesday did not include "longer-range missiles claimed by Iranian officials." And in the same report, the US now says that there was a test on Thursday ("They said the tests on Wednesday and Thursday demonstrated a new variant of the Shahab missile with a range of 1,250 miles.").

So... exactly what did Iran test? We have reports of mid- and long-range missiles; correction: without the long-range. We have photos of the launches; correction: from two years ago. And we have reports of a test on Thursday; correction: no test on Thursday; correction: test on Thursday but it was only one missile.

Right now, it is looking like Tehran is launching a propaganda bomb, and nothing else.