Finally, the average layperson will be able to write and solve invisible ink messages. And not with those funny highlighters that did the rounds in the 90’s either. The CIA has no doubt allowed us all to become privy to this information because they have no need for invisible ink anymore. Data encryption has progressed somewhat.

The documents have just been declassified and are nearly a century old. Some have been typed and others hand-written.

This from the CIA’s website:

The Central Intelligence Agency today declassified the United States Government’s six oldest classified documents, dating from 1917 and 1918. These documents, which describe secret writing techniques and are housed at the National Archives, are believed to be the only remaining classified documents from the World War I era.

Classic cliché titles include “Invisible Photography And Writing” and my personal favourite, “Secret Writing”.

Essentially the documents divulge formulae for making and uncovering invisible ink and related ways of masking information the old school way.

Of course nobody really uses invisible ink anymore so the documents were no longer deemed, sensitive. CIA Director Leon Panetta explains:

When historical information is no longer sensitive, we take seriously our responsibility to share it with the American people.

If you’d like to have a browse through the documents or feel the urge to have a go yourself, click here.

[Source: CNN]