Adam, a tech-savvy journalist for a pro-privacy magazine, receives a cryptic letter from a colleague in Country X, a nation under a totalitarian regime. The letter hints that his old university friend, Beom-su ("Brian"), a political dissident known for exposing the regime’s abuses, has vanished after attending a privacy-focused meetup. Adam knows Brian is in hiding, pursued by GaX, Country X’s surveillance agency that monitors communications and tracks dissidents.
One day, Adam receives an encrypted message from an anonymous source—likely Brian—via a secure email drop. The message includes a link to TimeSeed.io and a 50-character TimeSeed string:
R8prjIjMdg7mr2lL5a3NtYS3Jh43WqCHfbNxDIOtFDguFMAis2
The message cryptically references a shared secret from their university days, a pepper password: The Anaconda, tied to an apartment building complex they frequented. It also hints at a date—Adam’s mother’s birthday, March 15, 2025—without explicitly stating it ("Mother’s birthday is coming up, will she be back in town soon?"). Adam is instructed to use these to derive an encryption key and decrypt the message.
Adam downloads the open-source TimeSeed.io HTML file, verifies its integrity, and opens it on an air-gapped (offline) device for maximum security. He inputs the TimeSeed string, the pepper password The Anaconda, and the date March 15, 2025. Using TimeSeed’s AES-GCM algorithm, the tool generates a 64-character encryption key:
bbe7b5b4a5e08a373616d8dcf56e93e26e3f743dbe4b0225fc7f4ac0c08d39a1
This key, unique to the TimeSeed, pepper, and date combination, is different for every message. It’s secured against GaX’s surveillance, as the secrets were never shared online and cannot be decrypted within reasonable timeframes through side-channel attacks or brute-forcing.
Adam pastes the included encrypted message (ciphertext) from Brian into TimeSeed’s decryption field:
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
Using the derived key, TimeSeed decrypts the message, revealing:
Adam, it’s Brian. I’m in hiding. GaX is after me for the exposé. I need to send you documents securely. Let’s agree on a list of 10 pepper passwords for future messages. Use for example ‘w1’ to indicate the first pepper for the next message, derive key for send date. Stay safe.
Adam is relieved but remains cautious. TimeSeed’s offline, account-free design ensures no digital footprint is left for GaX to trace. The cipher is encrypted with Deterministic Key Derivation (AES, salting, time-salting, plus a pepper password). Even if they send the exact same text multiple times, the cipher would be different every time due to the initialization vector (IV).
This is optional, but Adam and Brian feel that extra security through password rotations can’t hurt. Following Brian’s suggestion, they agree on a list of 10 pepper passwords to rotate for future communications, sent (securely if possible) via other channels (e.g., WhatsApp, nostr, paper letters, telephone, or even encrypted ciphers over SMS):
1. liberty 2. shadow 3. umbrella 4. haven 5. spark 6. surfing 7. dusk 8. chocolate 9. palmtrees 10. rainbows
They reference peppers by list position (e.g., w1 for liberty, w1w5 for libertyspark) to obscure their communication further.
Adam responds to confirm receipt and ensure Brian can read the message: "Brian, message received. I hope you’re safe. I’ll collect your documents. Use ‘w1w5’ for the next message, derive key for send date. Stay safe. Use daily derived passwords moving forward."
To ensure compatibility, Adam encrypts the response using the original TimeSeed, pepper The Anaconda, and March 15, 2025, generating:
e885d2bb463b5b75d7d6540ee3804a97b27eadba7b4fdf95ebe5a7a717162eba639056ad3ae673f8f25b1fe7ff34f10160b319e9e8cd9aaab2fd9a3c6026e19d85a17744c5260acbdb63cbcb72a4a67c0f69e0a5e2a2eee775026907d56000daf2d5da64f74ce0b4e7e5c479137a8f83071b0fa88197fb82e5f857197334c5a1371e7788e6a16e8637c665ddc62df6c816dea72c101b2c87db9606b57fe248870b0d40b4a490ed1549aa932946211ba2ffc0025b2960e1d75e9ad20b472f785abd002a27ef7f3001a16dc081958632fe5586dc39635cc98521bd8ad68b75e9a476ad7cc44fa6059c8312134f909fb1
The message is sent via an anonymous email service, with each message uniquely salted to prevent replay attacks.
Adam and Brian continue communicating using the agreed pepper password list (e.g., libertyspark for w1w5) and the original TimeSeed. They derive daily encryption keys based on the send date. For example, on June 21, 2025, they use:
Derived Password: f1b96cdc5a1e31311061e7aa9212b85f479bc05a6d138931874fa1e58fd15db
For sensitive exchanges, like files and pictures, including Brian’s exposé documents, they also start using file transfers with these passwords (e.g., July 2, 2025) with other pepper word combinations they wish to use. On July 20, 2025, for example, Brian sends a .tsx file containing documents and photos, encrypted with:
R8prjIjMdg7mr2lL5a3NtYS3Jh43WqCHfbNxDIOtFDguFMAis2libertyspark (w1w5)Derived Password: 209e302668c99e90ff9a528b07bd5c7ac381e56b73502d3c5837c5422c8f9c40
Adam decrypts the file and stores it offline, ensuring GaX cannot trace their communication.
TimeSeed’s cryptography enables Adam to securely receive and publish Brian’s exposé while protecting his identity. Brian safely relocates, their communication untraceable by GaX. They rely on shared secrets and TimeSeed’s flexible design, which works without public/private key exchanges or centralized services. Messages can be sent via any medium—email, messaging apps, or even blockchain transactions—making it ideal for high-stakes scenarios.
TimeSeed empowers secure communication in high-stakes environments, proving that simple, privacy-first cryptography can protect those fighting for truth.