Forwarded From: "Jay D. Dyson" <jdyson@techreports.jpl.nasa.gov>
Originally From: John Young <jya@pipeline.com>
Thanks to Ed Roback, NIST:
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Jun1998/b06231998_bt316-98.html
DoD Press Release, June 23, 1998:
No. 316-78
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 23, 1998
(703)695-0192(media)
(703)697-5737(public/industry)
ENCRYPTION FORMULAS DECLASSIFIED
The Department of Defense today announced the decision by the National
Security Agency to declassify both the Key Exchange Algorithm and the
SKIPJACK encryption algorithm used in the FORTEZZA(tm) personal computer
card. FORTEZZA(tm) provides security at the desktop in the Defense Message
System and other DoD applications. This marks the first time that the NSA
has declassified such information and made it commercially available.
This declassification is an essential part of the Department of Defense's
efforts to work with commercial industry in developing reasonably priced
computer protection products. This declassification decision will enable
industry to develop software and smartcard based security products, which
are interoperable with FORTEZZA(tm). The availability of such products
will enhance the protection of DoD's sensitive but unclassified and
critical non-mission communications.
The decision to release SKIPJACK (an 80 bit encryption algorithm that is
not extensible to higher key lengths) and KEA (a 1024 bit key exchange
algorithm) is restricted to these particular algorithms, and does not
apply to other classified NSA algorithms. The SKIPJACK and KEA algorithms
and their source codes have been declassified pursuant to Executive Order
12958.
Vendors interested in obtaining more information on this matter should
contact the National Security Agency Public Affairs Office at
301-688-6524.
[End]
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-o-
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Received on Mon Jun 29 10:24:54 1998