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STU-III
STU-III (Secure Telephone Unit - third generation) is a family of secure telephones introduced in 1987 by the NSA for use by the United States government, its contractors, and its allies. STU-III desk units look much like typical office telephones, plug into a standard telephone wall jack and can make calls to any ordinary phone user (with such calls receiving no special protection, however). When a call is placed to another STU-III unit that is properly set up, one caller can ask the other to initiate secure transmission. They then press a button on their telephones and, after a 15-second delay, their call is encrypted to prevent eavesdropping. There are portable and militarized versions and most STU-IIIs contained an internal modem and RS-232 port for data and fax transmission. Vendors were AT&T (later transferred to Lucent Technologies), RCA (Now L-3 Communications, East) and Motorola. STU-III are no longer in service with the U.S. Government, with the last cryptographic keys ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Secure Terminal Equipment
Secure Terminal Equipment (STE) is the U.S. government's current (), encrypted telephone communications system for wired or "landline" communications. STE is designed to use ISDN telephone lines which offer higher speeds of up to 128 kbit/s and are all digital. The greater bandwidth allows higher quality voice and can also be utilized for data and fax transmission through a built-in RS-232 port. STE is intended to replace the older STU-III office system and the KY-68 tactical system. STE sets are backwards compatible with STU-III phones, but not with KY-68 sets. STE sets look like ordinary high-end office desk telephones and can place unsecured calls to anywhere on the public switched telephone network (PSTN), as well as secured calls on it via the phone's backwards compatible STU-III mode. There is a PC Card slot in the STE that allows a Fortezza Plus ( KOV-14) Crypto Card or KSV-21 Enhanced Crypto Card to be inserted. When an NSA configured Crypto Card is present, sec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ksd-64
The KSD-64 Crypto Ignition Key (CIK) is an NSA-developed EEPROM EEPROM (also called E2PROM) stands for electrically erasable programmable read-only memory and is a type of non-volatile memory used in computers, usually integrated in microcontrollers such as smart cards and remote keyless systems, or as ... chip packed in a plastic case that looks like a toy key. The model number is due to its storage capacity — 64 kibibits (65,536bits, or 8 KiB), enough to store multiple encryption keys. Most frequently it was used in key-splitting applications: either the encryption device or the KSD-64 alone is worthless, but together they can be used to make encrypted connections. It was also used alone as a fill device for transfer of key material, as for the initial seed key loading of an STU-III secure phone. Newer systems, such as the Secure Terminal Equipment, use the Fortezza PC card as a security token instead of the KSD-64. The KSD-64 was withdrawn from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crypto Ignition Key
The KSD-64 Crypto Ignition Key (CIK) is an NSA-developed EEPROM chip packed in a plastic case that looks like a toy key. The model number is due to its storage capacity — 64 kibibits (65,536bits, or 8 KiB), enough to store multiple encryption keys. Most frequently it was used in key-splitting applications: either the encryption device or the KSD-64 alone is worthless, but together they can be used to make encrypted connections. It was also used alone as a fill device for transfer of key material, as for the initial seed key loading of an STU-III secure phone. Newer systems, such as the Secure Terminal Equipment, use the Fortezza PC card as a security token A security token is a peripheral device used to gain access to an electronically restricted resource. The token is used in addition to or in place of a password. It acts like an electronic key to access something. Examples of security tokens incl ... instead of the KSD-64. The KSD-64 was withdrawn from the mar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Electronic Key Management System
The Electronic Key Management System (EKMS) is a United States National Security Agency led program responsible for Communications Security ( COMSEC) key management, accounting, and distribution. Specifically, EKMS generates and distributes electronic key material for all NSA encryption system whose keys are loaded using standard fill devices, and directs the distribution of NSA produced key material. Additionally, EKMS performs account registration, privilege management, ordering, distribution, and accounting to direct the management and distribution of physical COMSEC material for the services. The common EKMS components and standards facilitate interoperability and commonality among the armed services and civilian agencies. Reasons for development The primary reason for the development of EKMS centers on the security and logistics problems that plagued the COMSEC Material Control System (CMCS),{{cite web, url=http://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a271771.pdf , archive-url ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Secure Communications Interoperability Protocol
The Secure Communications Interoperability Protocol (SCIP) is a US standard for secure voice and data communication, foone-to-one connections, not packet-switched networks. SCIP derived from the US Government Future Narrowband Digital Terminal (FNBDT) project. SCIP supports a number of different modes, including national and multinational modes which employ different cryptography. Many nations and industries develop SCIP devices to support the multinational and national modes of SCIP. SCIP has to operate over the wide variety of communications systems, including commercial land line telephone, military radios, communication satellites, Voice over IP and the several different cellular telephone standards. Therefore, it was designed to make no assumptions about the underlying channel other than a minimum bandwidth of 2400 Hz. It is similar to a dial-up modem in that once a connection is made, two SCIP phones first negotiate the parameters they need and then communicate in the be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Secure Telephone
A secure telephone is a telephone that provides voice security in the form of end-to-end encryption for the telephone call, and in some cases also the mutual authentication of the call parties, protecting them against a man-in-the-middle attack. Concerns about massive growth of telephone tapping incidents led to growing demand for secure telephones. The practical availability of secure telephones is restricted by several factors; notably politics, export issues, incompatibility between different products (the devices on each side of the call have to use the same protocol), and high (though recently decreasing) price of the devices. Well-known products The best-known product on the US government market is the STU-III family. However, this system has now been replaced by the Secure Terminal Equipment (STE) and SCIP standards which defines specifications for the design of equipment to secure both data and voice. The SCIP standard was developed by the NSA and the US DOD to derive ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
KY-3
The KY-3 (TSEC/KY-3) is a secure telephone system developed by the U.S. National Security Agency in the early 1960s. It was one of the first widely accepted voice voice encryption systems. The "TSEC" prefix to the model number indicates NSA's Telecommunications Security nomenclature system. It was made by the Bendix Corporation according to specifications of the NSA. According to information on display in 2002 at the NSA's National Cryptologic Museum, the KY-3 provided high fidelity secure voice over special wide-band circuits known as "4-wire dedicated drops", since it used pulse-code modulation encoding for the audio which gave it "high-quality speech". Its overall high power requirements and physical size limited its "tactical" use but gained popularity among executives, diplomats, military leaders and the intelligence community. More than 2,500 units were produced between 1965 and 1967 and it was one of the first telecommunication security devices to use transistors pack ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
EEPROM
EEPROM (also called E2PROM) stands for electrically erasable programmable read-only memory and is a type of non-volatile memory used in computers, usually integrated in microcontrollers such as smart cards and remote keyless systems, or as a separate chip device to store relatively small amounts of data by allowing individual bytes to be erased and reprogrammed. EEPROMs are organized as arrays of floating-gate transistors. EEPROMs can be programmed and erased in-circuit, by applying special programming signals. Originally, EEPROMs were limited to single-byte operations, which made them slower, but modern EEPROMs allow multi-byte page operations. An EEPROM has a limited life for erasing and reprogramming, now reaching a million operations in modern EEPROMs. In an EEPROM that is frequently reprogrammed, the life of the EEPROM is an important design consideration. Flash memory is a type of EEPROM designed for high speed and high density, at the expense of large erase blocks ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Type 3 Encryption
The U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) used to rank cryptographic products or algorithms by a certification called product types. Product types were defined in the National Information Assurance Glossary (CNSSI No. 4009, 2010) which used to define Type 1, 2, 3, and 4 products. The definitions of numeric type products have been removed from the government lexicon and are no longer used in government procurement efforts. Type 1 product A Type 1 product was a device or system certified by NSA for use in cryptographically securing classified U.S. Government information. A Type 1 product was defined as: Cryptographic equipment, assembly or component classified or certified by NSA for encrypting and decrypting classified and sensitive national security information when appropriately keyed. Developed using established NSA business processes and containing NSA approved algorithms. Used to protect systems requiring the most stringent protection mechanisms. They were available to U.S. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zeroisation
In cryptography, zeroisation (also spelled zeroization) is the practice of erasing sensitive parameters (electronically stored data, cryptographic keys, and critical security parameters) from a cryptographic module to prevent their disclosure if the equipment is captured. This is generally accomplished by altering or deleting the contents to prevent recovery of the data. Mechanical When encryption was performed by mechanical devices, this would often mean changing all the machine's settings to some fixed, meaningless value, such as zero. On machines with letter settings rather than numerals, the letter 'O' was often used instead. Some machines had a button or lever for performing this process in a single step. Zeroisation would typically be performed at the end of an encryption session to prevent accidental disclosure of the keys, or immediately when there was a risk of capture by an adversary. Software In modern software based cryptographic modules, zeroisation is made consider ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Registered Mail
Registered mail is a mail service offered by postal services in many countries which allows the sender proof of mailing via a mailing receipt and, upon request, electronic verification that an article was delivered or that a delivery attempt was made. Depending on the country, additional services may also be available, such as: * a chain of custody, where the posted item has its details recorded in a register to enable its location to be tracked, sometimes with added insurance to cover loss; *return receipt, called an Avis de réception, which provides a postcard or electronic notification with the date of delivery and recipient signature; *restricted delivery, which confirms that only a specified person, or authorized agent, will receive the specific mail. The name of this service varies from country to country, and postal services in some countries offer more than one level of service under different names (e.g., "certified mail" and "registered mail" in the U.S.). See the cou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
