Key Escrow from a Safe Distance: Looking Back at the Clipper Chip

Tags: 1990s 2010s Crypto Wars Crypto Wars I

Authors: Blaze, Matt

Published: 2011

URL: http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?doid=2076732.2076777

Abstract: In 2011, Matt Blaze, of the University of Pennsylvania, published a retrospective paper on the key escrow cryptosystem and the Clipper Chip. The paper begins with a carrot and stick analogy on early 1990s encryption regulations. The stick, classification of encryption as a munition and its deterrent effect on incorporation of strong encryption in consumer products. The carrot, an exception for systems incorporating a backdoor (the key escrow system). The paper also provides a technical overview of the Clipper Chip before delving into Blaze’s personal experiences with AT&T’s device, the TSD-3600 Telephone Security Device, while employed by the company. Blaze details the flaws he uncovered in the system, his published research on the matter, and how his discoveries landed him at the center of the system-killing New York Times piece, Flaw Found in Federal Plan for Wiretapping.