Foldering is the practice of communicating via messages saved to the "drafts" folder of an
email
Electronic mail (usually shortened to email; alternatively hyphenated e-mail) is a method of transmitting and receiving Digital media, digital messages using electronics, electronic devices over a computer network. It was conceived in the ...
or other electronic messaging account that is accessible by multiple people.
The messages are never actually sent.
Foldering has been described as a digital equivalent of a
dead drop.
History
Foldering was reportedly used by
al-Qaeda
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, caption = Jihadist flag, Flag used by various al-Qaeda factions
, founder = Osama bin Laden{{Assassinated, Killing of Osama bin Laden
, leaders = {{Plainlist,
* Osama bin Lad ...
at least as early as 2005
and it has also been used by
drug cartels.
Notable cases
In 2012,
David Petraeus was reported to have used foldering to communicate with
Paula Broadwell.
In June 2018,
Greg Andres cited
Paul Manafort's use of foldering as evidence that Manafort engaged in deceptive behaviours.
See also
*
Dead drop
*
Tradecraft
References
{{espionage
Data security
Espionage techniques