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KW-26
The TSEC/KW-26, code named ROMULUS, was an encryption system used by the U.S. Government and, later, by NATO countries. It was developed in the 1950s by the National Security Agency (NSA) to secure fixed teleprinter circuits that operated 24 hours a day. It used vacuum tubes and magnetic core logic, replacing older systems, like SIGABA and the British 5-UCO, that used rotors and electromechanical relays. A KW-26 system (transmitter or receiver) contained over 800 cores and approximately 50 vacuum-tube driver circuits, occupying slightly more than one half of a standard 19-inch rack. Most of the space in the rack and most of the 1 kW input power were required for the special-purpose vacuum tube circuits needed to provide compatibility with multiple input and output circuit configurations. The military services' requirements for numerous modes and speeds significantly increased costs and delayed delivery. NSA says it is doubtful that more than three or four of the possible ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
NSA Encryption Systems
The National Security Agency took over responsibility for all US government encryption systems when it was formed in 1952. The technical details of most NSA-approved systems are still Classified information in the United States, classified, but much more about its early systems have become known and its most modern systems share at least some features with commercial products. NSA and its predecessors have produced a number of cipher devices. Rotor machines from the 1940s and 1950s were mechanical marvels. The first generation electronic systems were quirky devices with cantankerous punched card readers for loading key (cryptography), keys and failure-prone, tricky-to-maintain vacuum tube circuitry. Late 20th century systems are just Black box (systems), black boxes, often literally. In fact they are called ''blacker (security), blackers'' in NSA parlance because they convert plaintext classified signals (''red'') into encrypted unclassified ciphertext signals (''black''). They ty ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
5-UCO
The 5-UCO (5-Unit Controlled)Ralph Erskine, "The 1944 Naval BRUSA Agreement and its Aftermath", ''Cryptologia'' 30(1), January 2006 pp14–15 was an on-line one-time tape Vernam cipher encryption system developed by the UK during World War II for use on teleprinter circuits. During the 1950s, it was used by the UK and the US for liaison on cryptanalysis. 5-UCO was fully synchronous, and therefore could be electrically regenerated on tandem high frequency (HF) radio links (i.e. one link connected to the next). It could operate directly with commercial circuits. The system also provided traffic-flow security (TFS). Another feature of the 5-UCO was that the receiving operator could maintain synchronisation if the path delay suddenly changed by "walking up and down" the key tape (one character at a time or one bit at a time). This procedure avoided the cumbersome task of a restart.Melville Klein, "Securing Record Communications: The TSEC/KW-26", 2003, NSA brochure, p. 4(PDF)/ref ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Common Fill Device
A fill device or key loader is a module used to load cryptographic keys into electronic encryption machines. Fill devices are usually hand held and electronic ones are battery operated. Older mechanical encryption systems, such as rotor machines, were keyed by setting the positions of wheels and plugs from a printed keying list. Electronic systems required some way to load the necessary cryptovariable data. In the 1950s and 1960s, systems such as the U.S. National Security Agency KW-26 and the Soviet Union's Fialka used punched cards for this purpose. Later NSA encryption systems incorporated a serial port fill connector and developed several common fill devices (CFDs) that could be used with multiple systems. A CFD was plugged in when new keys were to be loaded. Newer NSA systems allow " over the air rekeying" (OTAR), but a master key often must still be loaded using a fill device. NSA uses two serial protocols for key fill, DS-101 and DS-102. Both employ the same U-229 6-pi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stream Cipher Attack
Stream ciphers, where plaintext bits are combined with a cipher bit stream by an exclusive-or operation (xor), can be very secure if used properly. However, they are vulnerable to attacks if certain precautions are not followed: *keys must never be used twice *valid decryption should never be relied on to indicate authenticity Reused key attack Stream ciphers are vulnerable to attack if the same key is used twice (depth of two) or more. Say we send messages ''A'' and ''B'' of the same length, both encrypted using same key, ''K''. The stream cipher produces a string of bits ''C(K)'' the same length as the messages. The encrypted versions of the messages then are: :''E(A) = A xor C'' :''E(B) = B xor C'' where ''xor'' is performed bit by bit. Say an adversary has intercepted ''E(A)'' and ''E(B)''. They can easily compute: :''E(A) xor E(B)'' However, ''xor'' is commutative and has the property that ''X xor X = 0'' (self-inverse) so: :''E(A) xor E(B) = (A xor C) xor (B xor C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Security Agency
The National Security Agency (NSA) is an intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the director of national intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collection, and processing of information and data for global intelligence and counterintelligence purposes, specializing in a discipline known as signals intelligence (SIGINT). The NSA is also tasked with the protection of U.S. communications networks and information systems. The NSA relies on a variety of measures to accomplish its mission, the majority of which are clandestine. The NSA has roughly 32,000 employees. Originating as a unit to decipher coded communications in World War II, it was officially formed as the NSA by President Harry S. Truman in 1952. Between then and the end of the Cold War, it became the largest of the U.S. intelligence organizations in terms of personnel and budget. Still, information available as of 2013 indicates that the C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member states—30 European and 2 North American. Established in the aftermath of World War II, the organization implements the North Atlantic Treaty, signed in Washington, D.C., on 4 April 1949. NATO is a collective security system: its independent member states agree to defend each other against attacks by third parties. During the Cold War, NATO operated as a check on the threat posed by the Soviet Union. The alliance remained in place after the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact, and has been involved in military operations in the Balkans, the Middle East, South Asia, and Africa. The organization's motto is . The organization's strategic concepts include Deterrence theory, deterrence. NATO headquarters, NATO's main headquarter ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
KG-84
The KG-84A and KG-84C are encryption devices developed by the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) to ensure secure transmission of digital data. The KG-84C is a Dedicated Loop Encryption Device (DLED), and both devices are General-Purpose Telegraph Encryption Equipment (GPTEE). The KG-84A is primarily used for point-to-point encrypted communications via landline, microwave, and satellite systems. The KG-84C is an outgrowth of the U.S. Navy high frequency (HF) communications program and supports these needs. The KG-84A and KG-84C are devices that operate in simplex, half-duplex, or full-duplex modes. The KG-84C contains all of the KG-84 and KG-84A modes, plus a variable update counter, improved HF performance, synchronous out-of-sync detection, asynchronous cipher text, plain text, bypass, and European TELEX protocol. The KG-84 (A/C) is certified to handle data at all levels of security. The KG-84 (A/C) is a Controlled Cryptographic Item (CCI) and is unclassified when unkeyed. K ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) and Tumen River, Tumen rivers, and South Korea to the south at the Korean Demilitarized Zone, Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). The country's western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eastern border is defined by the Sea of Japan. North Korea, like South Korea, claims to be the sole legitimate government of the entire peninsula and List of islands of North Korea, adjacent islands. Pyongyang is the capital and largest city. The Korean Peninsula was first inhabited as early as the Lower Paleolithic period. Its Gojoseon, first kingdom was noted in Chinese records in the early 7th century BCE. Following the unification of the Three Kingdoms of Korea into Unified Silla, Silla and Balhae in the late 7th century, Korea was ruled by the G ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
USS Pueblo (AGER-2)
USS ''Pueblo'' (AGER-2) is a Banner-class environmental research ship, ''Banner''-class technical research ship, placed into service during World War II, then converted to a spy ship in 1967 by the United States Navy. She gathered Military intelligence, intelligence and oceanographic information, monitoring electronic and radio signals from North Korea. On 23 January 1968, the ship was attacked and captured by a North Korean vessel, in what became known as the "''Pueblo'' incident". The seizure of the U.S. Navy ship and her 83 crew members, one of whom was killed in the attack, came less than a week after President Lyndon B. Johnson's State of the Union address to the United States Congress, a week before the start of the Tet Offensive in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War and three days after 31 men of North Korea's Unit 124, KPA Unit 124 had crossed the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and killed 26 South Koreans and 4 Americans in an attempt to Blue House raid, attack the Sou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Burroughs Corporation
The Burroughs Corporation was a major American manufacturer of business equipment. The company was founded in 1886 as the American Arithmometer Company by William Seward Burroughs I, William Seward Burroughs. The company's history paralleled many of the major developments in history of computing, computing. At its start, it produced mechanical adding machines, and later moved into programmable ledgers and then computers. It was one of the largest producers of mainframe computers in the world, also producing related equipment including typewriters and Printer (computing), printers. In the 1960s, the company introduced a range of mainframe computers that were well regarded for their performance running high level languages. These formed the core of the company's business into the 1970s. At that time the emergence of superminicomputers and the dominance of the IBM System/360 and 370 at the high end led to shrinking markets, and in 1986 the company purchased former competitor Sperry C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Signals Intelligence
Signals intelligence (SIGINT) is the act and field of intelligence-gathering by interception of ''signals'', whether communications between people (communications intelligence—abbreviated to COMINT) or from electronic signals not directly used in communication (electronic intelligence—abbreviated to ELINT). As classified and sensitive information is usually encrypted, signals intelligence may necessarily involve cryptanalysis (to decipher the messages). Traffic analysis—the study of who is signaling to whom and in what quantity—is also used to integrate information, and it may complement cryptanalysis. History Origins Electronic interceptions appeared as early as 1900, during the Boer War of 1899–1902. The British Royal Navy had installed wireless sets produced by Marconi on board their ships in the late 1890s, and the British Army used some limited wireless signalling. The Boers captured some wireless sets and used them to make vital transmissions. Since the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
