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 by multiple people. ^{[1] [2] [3] [4]} The messages are never actually sent. ^{[1] [2] [3] [4]}

Foldering has been described as a digital equivalent of a dead drop. ^[2]

History

Foldering was reportedly used by al-Qaeda at least as early as 2005 ^[2] and it has also been used 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]

See also

• Dead drop
• Tradecraft

References

1. "Mueller's team accused Manafort of 'foldering,' a technique used by drug cartels and terrorist groups to secretly communicate". Business Insider .
2. "Manafort allegedly used "foldering" to hide emails. Here's how it works". 15 June 2018.
3. "Paul Manafort accused of 'foldering' to hide communications". 16 June 2018.
4. "Mueller says Manafort used "foldering" as part of his "deception"".
5. Fisher, Max (12 November 2012). "Here's the e-mail trick Petraeus and Broadwell used to communicate" – via www.washingtonpost.com.