The KSV-21 Enhanced Crypto Card is a US
National Security Agency
The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level 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, collecti ...
-approved
PC card
In computing, PC Card is a configuration for computer parallel communication peripheral interface, designed for laptop computers. Originally introduced as PCMCIA, the PC Card standard as well as its successors like CardBus were defined and devel ...
that provides
Type 1 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 ...
functions and
key
Key or The Key may refer to:
Common meanings
* Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm
* Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock
* Key (map ...
storage to the
STE secure telephones and other devices.
The KSV-21 was originally built by
SafeNet
SafeNet, Inc. was an information security company based in Belcamp, Maryland, United States, which was acquired in August 2014 by the French security company Gemalto. Gemalto was, in turn, acquired by Thales Group in 2019. The former SafeNet' ...
but has since been purchased by
Raytheon
Raytheon Technologies Corporation is an American multinational aerospace and defense conglomerate headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. It is one of the largest aerospace and defense manufacturers in the world by revenue and market capitaliza ...
as a
tamper-resistant
Tamperproofing, conceptually, is a methodology used to hinder, deter or detect unauthorised access to a device or circumvention of a security system. Since any device or system can be foiled by a person with sufficient knowledge, equipment, and ti ...
reprogrammable module and is backwards compatible with the
KOV-14
The KOV-14 Fortezza Plus is a US National Security Agency-approved PC card which provides encryption functions and key storage to the Secure Terminal Equipment and other devices. It is a tamper-resistant module based on the Mykotronx Krypton chip ...
Fortezza
Fortezza is an information security system that uses the Fortezza Crypto Card, a PC Card-based security token. It was developed for the U.S. government's Clipper chip project and has been used by the U.S. Government in various applications.
E ...
Plus card. It adds features including support for
SCIP, Enhanced
Firefly and NSA's 21st century
Key Management Initiative. It can perform Type 1 encryption and hash operations at 80 Mbit/s. As of 2008, the KOV-14 is beginning to be phased out and replaced by the KSV-21.
The US version is certified to protect
classified data through the Top Secret/SCI level as well as unclassified sensitive information. Versions are available for use with other nations, including:
*
Canadian national
The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States.
CN ...
(KSV-22)
*
Combined Communications Electronics Board The Combined Communications-Electronics Board (CCEB) is a five-nation joint military communications-electronics (C-E) organisation whose mission is the coordination of any military C-E matter that is referred to it by a member nation. The member na ...
(CCEB) (KSV-30)
*
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
(KSV-40)
*Coalition Partners (SSV-50)
Prices range from $900 for single units to under $400/each in multi-thousand lot quantities as of 2008.
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References
External links
*
{{crypto-stub
Key management
National Security Agency encryption devices