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Secure Telephone Unit (STU-III)
SECTEL was a series of secure telephones
manufactured by Motorola in Seguin (Texas, USA).
Some of the SECTEL phones are STU-III
compatible and are based on the 1987 STU-III
design by the National Security Agency
(NSA) in the US.
Different models of the SECTEL were manufactured, with a varying
degree of security, ranging from NSA Type 1 to Type 4 products
[1]
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The image on the right shows a typical black
Motorola SECTEL 2500.
It is suitable for the transmission of voice and data at
2400, 4800 and 9600 baud, using a variety of compression and
encryption methods.
The phone is very easy to operate.
It contains a standard keypad with the numbers 0-9, plus '*' and '#'.
A large crisp display at the top is used for interaction with the user.
Just below the display are 16 pre-defined function keys. They are used, e.g.,
to switch between SECURE and CLEAR modes, and to set the audio volume.
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Below the function keys are 16 user-definable keys that can be used to
store frequency used phone numbers or functions.
Memory). They user could write down
the names of the memory locations on a small piece of paper, but it is
also possible to use a plastic inlay that fits in between the two rows
of memory keys (not present in the image above).
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Click any of the above images for additional information about each model.
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On 11 September 2001, the two largest towers of the World Trade Center
in New York (USA) were attacked by terrorists. When it happened,
president George W. Bush was visiting
Emma E. Booker Elementary School in Sarasota (Florida).
When travelling, the Secret Service always has a STU-III unit readily
available in a nearby room.
Moments after the attack, Bush used a Motorola SECTEL to speak with
his security staff.
STU-III phones allow secure conversions over standard (insecure) analog
telephone lines, up to the level of Top Secret.
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Update - 11 September 2011: A few days ago, 10 years after the event, CNN
has released an interview with Eric Draper, who was President Bush's
personal photographer at the White House at the time. In the interview,
several of Eric's photographs, taken on 9/11, are shown alongside
CNN footage.
Click here for the interview...
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A STU-III phone can be connected to any standard analog telephone line
(POTS). A call is always initiated in non-secure mode. In order to
go secure, both parties have to insert and activate their unique
Crypto Ignition Key (CIK). Then, one of the parties initiates
the secure conversation by pressing the Secure button.
After a 15 seconds delay, during which the message keys are exchanged
and the phones are synchronised, a secure conversion is possible.
The 10 to 15 second delay is common for all STU-III phones and can be
considered a nuisance to the user. Furthermore, valuable information is
often given away in the clear voice conversation that takes place
before secure mode is entered.
This is not the case with the later (fully digital)
Secure Telephone Equipment (STE).
Until today, there have been no reports of STU-III units being broken.
That does not mean, however, that foreign intelligence services did not
gather valuable information from intercepted lines, directly before
and after the secure part of the conversation.
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To suit the various customers and their safety requirements, different
SECTEL models were manufactured. They all use the same enclosure and
operation is more or less identical. The diagram below shows the positioning
of the various SECTEL models.
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Type 1 products use classified encryption algorithms and are intended only for
US government use at the highest level. Type 2 products use unclassified
encryption algorithms endorsed by the NSA. They are used
for protection of sensitive information between government agencies and
approval from the US or Canadian government is required.
Type 3 products use an unclassified, fully comercial encryption algorithm
that is used for protection of sensitive or company-proprietary information.
Type 3 is also referred to as NIST Standard DES. It is only sold to US
government contractors and approved companies.
The SECTEL 2500 can use both Type 2 and Type 3 encryption.
The SECTEL 9600 is the only phone in this family that uses
Type 4 encryption.
It is intended for unclassified, non-sensitive information between
companies. It uses a non-classified, fully commercial encryption algorithm.
It can be sold to all countries except those that are on the US hostile list.
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- SECTEL 1500, Type 1, sold for US$ 1800
- SECTEL 2500, Type 2, sold for US$ 2145
- SECTEL 3500, Type 3, sold for US$ 3395
- SECTEL 9600, Type 4, sold for US$ 4495
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© Copyright 2009-2011, Paul Reuvers & Marc Simons. Last changed: Tue,27 Dec 2011.17:44:25
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