What security procedures are established to ensure the privacy of my data over the satellite?
} A: HUGHESNET® uses the industry-standard Triple Data Encryption Standard (3DES) to secure data when broadcast over the satellite. During the manufacturing process, an encryption key is burned into a chip on the satellite adapter. The corresponding key is stored at the HUGHESNET NMC (Network Management Center). When data is broadcast to the user’s PC, it is first encrypted using the key stored in the NMC along with other random data. The adapter, using its half of the key pair is able to extract its portion of data from the traffic being broadcast over the satellite and decrypts it. A proprietary hardware-level decryption process is employed, thereby adding extra security and better performance for performing the computations.
