WHAT IS THE CLIPPER CHIP?
The Clipper chip is an encryption chip using an algorithm called Skipjack. The Skipjack algorithm was developed by the National Security Agency (NSA) for the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Data encrypted using the Skipjack algorithm can be decrypted using a secret process that requires two separate keys. These keys would be escrowed separately by NIST and the Department of Treasury. Under the plan, a law enforcement agency would require a court order to get the two keys that would have to be combined to decrypt a transmission, generated with a Clipper chip as well as to monitor the transmission itself.
Related Questions
- Where did the United States government go wrong in pushing the proposal to make the computer chip called Clipper the national encryption standard?
- WHAT IF I WANT TO ENCRYPT A MESSAGE WITH A REALLY SECURE ALGORITHM BEFORE IT IS ENCRYPTED BY A CLIPPER CHIP?
- What do Government Key Escrow and the Clipper Chip do?
