Homepage Crypto Index Enigma Hagelin Fialka Siemens Philips Nema Transvertex Gretag Telsy Tadiran Racal USA USSR UK Voice Hand Mixers Phones Spy sets Burst encoders Intercept Covert Radio PC Donate Kits Shop News Events Wanted Contact Links USA Cipher Machines Over the years, the USA produced many different cipher machines. In some cases, these machines were developed by the NSA (National Security Agency), but sometimes they were bought 'of the shelf' from existing manufacturers. As it is sometimes unclear who the developer or the manufacturer of a machine is, we've listed some of them on this page.   Breaking news about KL-7  Using the latest information sent-in by our readers, Dirk Rijmenants has been able to release a fully functional and accurate simulator for the American KL-7 cipher machine. It runs on Windows and has a beautiful user interface. Available for download.   Devices described in this section: Jefferson CC Disk Giddings M-209 BC-38 SIGABA KL-7 KL-51 KG-84 KY-68 KY-57 KY-99 STU-II STU-III STE CVAS III KIV-7 TSD-3600 MX-18290 KSD-64 Clipper Fortezza NSA U-229 KD-100 M-209 Based on the C-38, Hagelin developed the M-209 for the American Army, shortly before WWII. It's a small compact mechanical machine that remained in service until after the Vietnam War. As the machine could be broken by the Germans in less than 4 hours, it was only used for tactical field messages. The M-209 was built under licence by several companies, such as Smith Corona.  More information    BC-38 The BC-38 was a motor-driven, keyboard-operated, mechanical cipher machine built by Hagelin in Sweden. Like the M-209 it was based on the C-38. As it was compatible with the M-209, it was often used in large communication centres. The BC-38 was also used by other countries during and after WWII, just like the later BC-543.  More information    KL-7 (ADONIS, POLLUX) The TSEC/KL-7 was an off-line cipher machine built in the 1950s by the US National Security Agency (NSA) and served during an important part of the Cold War. It was used by the USA and manu of its NATO partners. Like the German Enigma machine, it uses rotors and alphabet substitution as its main principle.  More information    ECM Mark II (SIGABA) The ECM Mark II was a cipher machine based on the electromechanical rotor principle. It was developed by the USA shortly before WWII and was used during the war by the Allied forces. It has been in service until the 1950s and was even used by NATO shortly after WWII.  More information    Key fill devices A key transfer device is an electronic device that is used (most commonly by the military) for the distribution of cryptographic material, such as crypto keys and frequency hopping tables. Key fillers often use a standard data protocols, but proprietary protocols are used as well. Many key fill units have the same 6-pin U-229 connector allowing connection to standard radio sets, such as HAVE QUICK and SINCGARS.  More information      KY-68 The KY-68 was a digital secure voice terminal (crypto phone) used by the US Army and Navy. It was introduced in the early 1990s and was used until 2010. They are currently being replaced by the STE.  More information      KY-57 (VINSON) The KY-57 was a wide-band voice encryption device developed by the USA during the late 1970s to replace the ageing NESTOR voice crypto systems. For many years it was the US Army's main crypto 'workhorse'.  More information      KY-99 (MINTERM) The TSEC/KY-99A was an advanced narrow-band digital voice and data terminal, developed by the USA during the 1980s to replace the KY-57 with which it is backwards compatible. It features both CVSD modulation and enhanced LPC-10 voice coding. The KY-99 can be used over narrow-band radio channels.  More information      STU-II The STU-II was the second generation secure telephone developed by the NSA in the 1980s. It replaced the STU-I, KY-3 and Navajo-I. The STU-II is also known as KY-71 or TSEC/KY-71. The STU-II consisted of a large rackmount unit and a telephone-style control unit (shown here).  More information      STU-III The STU-III is the last of a long line of secure telephone units, developed by the National Security Agency (NSA) in the United States, for the highest level of security (Type 1 and 2). The STU-III was introduced in 1987 as the successor to the STU-II. It was built by several manuafacturers, such as Motorola, RCA and AT&T.  More information      CVAS III The CVAS III was an NSA Type 3 cryptographic product, developed and buit by A-O Electronics in the USA. It was used for unclassified but sensitive information. It used cryptographic algorithms such as DES and EDAS.  More information      KG-84 The KG-84 is an electronic encryption device developed by the National Security Agency (NSA) in the USA. It was used for ensuring secure transmission of digital data over a variety of networks, such as landlines, satellites, microwave links and Telex lines. Many modern encryption devices are still backwards compatible with the KG-84  More information      KIV-7 The KIV-7 is a compact miniaturized embeddable version of the American military KG-84 encryption device. It was developed by AlliedSignal Corporation and manufactured in the mid-1990s by Mykotronx in the USA, as a commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) product, to meet the growing demand for secure data communication links.  More information      TSD-3600 The TSD-3600-E was an advanced telephone security device, developed by AT&T (USA) in 1992. It was based on the controversial Clipper Chip, forcing users to escrow their cryptographic keys. The TSD-3600 was a small white box that was connected between the handset and the phone.  More information      Confederate Cipher Disk During the American Civil War (1861-1865), the Confederate States of America used a variant of the Vigenère Cipher (sometimes called the Alberti Disc) to protect the contents of their messages. Although the cipher has often been claimed to be unbreakable, it can be broken by various hand and mathematical methods.  More information      Spanish-American War The same cipher disc was used during the Spanish-American War of 1898, when a paper-based version of it was included in the Giddings Field Message-Book, a smal A6-size booklet with a green leather cover and a short pencil. Message, written down on a message pad, were encrypted with the cipher disc and then filed in a pocket of the book.  More information      Jefferson Disk The Jefferson Disk is a manual cipher system that consists of a set of wheels on an axle. Each wheel has the 26 letters of the Latin alphabet on its circumfere in a pre-determinded scrambled arrangement. Each wheel has a unique number and the order is determinded by a code book. The M-94 was derrived from this system.  More information      KSD-64 The KSD-64 is a so-called Key Storage Device developed by the NSA for use with electronic cryptographic equipment, such as the STU-III secure telephones. It can be used for a variety of applications, ranging from Key Fillers to Crypto Ignition Keys (CIKs).  More information      Clipper Chip The Clipper Chip was a chipset developed and promoted by the US Government. It was intended for the implementation in secure voice equipment, such as crypto phones, and required users to give their cryptographic keys in escrow to the government. This would allow law enforcement agencies to decrypt any traffic for surveillance and intelligence purposes.  More information      U-229 connector Most American and NATO equipment uses a standardized connector for audio, digital data and (crypto) FILL purposes. This connector is commonly called U-229 and is used for analog and digital data. It supports various data protocols, such as DS-102 and DS-101. We have collected all currently known pinouts of this connector on a single page.  More information      Further information NSA encryption products Index of cipher machines Other cipher machines Any links shown in red are currently unavailable. If you like this website, why not make a donation? © Copyright 2009-2012, Paul Reuvers & Marc Simons. Last changed: Mon,14 May 2012.09:43:57