[577] in cryptography@c2.net mail archive
RE: Escrow agencies closed?
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Rick Smith)
Sat Apr 19 12:43:14 1997
Date: Sat, 19 Apr 1997 10:14:35 -0600
To: Black Unicorn <unicorn@schloss.li>, Larry Layten <larry@ljl.com>
From: smith@securecomputing.com (Rick Smith)
Cc: Rick Smith <smith@securecomputing.com>,
"'Black Unicorn'" <unicorn@polaris.mindport.net>,
"cryptography@c2.net" <cryptography@c2.net>
Regarding:
>I also found it quite interesting that DoD was the "Contact Agency" on
>this. I hadn't followed it very carefully in past, anyone know why this
>ended up in DoD's lap? My only guess is that their "Information Warfare
>Directorate" is coming out of the development and formation phase.
Perhaps DOD is the only significant customer for the key escrow product
line. They'll be buying a lot of Fortezza cards to support DMS. Does anyone
know if AT&T managed to sell any of their Clipper equipped phones? Seems we
would be hearing more about such products if they had been a commercial
success. If DOD is the principal customer, then they're paying the extra
costs inherent in hardware key escrow.
I noted the report's statement about how DMS was going to support key
recovery. I'm skeptical (the risks probably outweigh the cost or benefit),
but I admit I haven't looked at any recent DMS specifications.
Rick.
smith@securecomputing.com secure computing corporation
