From: Forrest Aldrich <visgraph!forrie>
Date: Tue, 7 Sep 93 09:11:41 PDT
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Munitions class encryption
Message-ID: <199309071532.AA01937@visgraph.uucp>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


I am curious about what constitutes "Munitions" class cryptography; is there
really anything out there available to "us" that is of this "quality" (being
unsure of where pgp stands with this).  If there were, would it be feasible
to have something like this that is software-only-based?  If so, and it
originated outside of the USA, I wonder what the officials would think of
its use.  On that line, I wonder if traffic-analysis isn't being performed
right now to determine where the heaviest use of PGP exists.

Perhaps to some, the idea of traffic-analysis (on the internet, that is) might
sound a bit silly; however, I have been assured that this type of activity
is none-the-less a regular one, and is used for many purposes.  Anyone have
more details?

I had a friend who worked in the COMM center at a former air force base.  He
had a top secret clearance, and said that one of his duties was to separate
(and deliver?) classified printouts.  He said that the stuff he read in
there would 'blow your mind'.  He said that (this was only a few years ago)
the government used encryption cards (computer cards) which were changed
on a daily basis.  Which makes me wonder if "Munitions" class cryptography
would indeed require hardware support.