Secnet11 an 802.11b clone with Type 1 crypto

[Arnold G. Reinhold]

Harris Corporation is about to release its wireless LAN PCcard card 
based on IEEE-802.11b (WiFi) technology, but using NSA approved Type 
1 (ok for classified data) encryption. Harris has a web site for the 
product at http://www.secnet11.com with a spec sheet and a briefing. 
Some highlights:

o The card sticks out of the computer with two antennae poking up.

o It uses an NSA encryption algorithm called BATON (from various 
stuff on the Web, I get the impression that BATTON is a 64-bit block 
cipher with 128-bit keys that is designed for very fast operation)

o the message address is encrypted to prevent traffic analysis (this 
is a big selling point vs VPN technology, tho I suspect an adversary 
could learn quite a bit about a wireless net using a sniffer and one 
or more directional antennae to count how many packets come from each 
direction)

o Each packet has an 80-bit IV (it's rare to learn even that much 
about a Type 1 encryption system)

o Cards cost $2770 each. That's 30X commercial WiFi card, but cheaper 
than traditional NSA encryption data products which seem to run 
around $5K per node.

o "Red keys" are loaded via a special cable that connects to a data 
transfer device such as the CYZ-10.

o Harris is taking orders for August delivery.

It would seem that a commercial product using AES instead of BATON 
(and at a more reasonable price) would be of some value.

Arnold Reinhold



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