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vIPer
Universal secure phone - this page is a stub - wanted item

Sectéra vIPer, also known as V·IP·ER, is a universal secure telephone set for connection to VoIP and analogue (PSTN) networks, developed around 2010 by General Dynamics in Fairfax (Virginia, USA). It can be used for secure (NSA Type 1) as well as non-secure phone calls, and offers SCIP compatibility. Unlike earlier secure phones, like STE and STU-III , it does not need a crypto card or Crypto Ignition Key (CIK). It is the only NSA certified secure VoIP phone available today (2022) [5].

The US Government uses VIPer for conversations up to the level of TOP SECRET. It replaces the Secure Telephone Unit (STE), which was phased out between 2013 and 2014. The US President started using vIPer during the course of 2013.

The telephone set has the look and feel of a regular IP-phone, but is somewhat larger. It has a simple user interface and can be upgraded in the field, by installing aftermarket firmware upgrades. E.g., the R6.1 upgrade of June 2019 provided Advance Cryptographic Capabilities (ACC) and a simplified EKMS procedure [6].
  

vIPer is also used by NATO and its allies for conversations up to the level of SECRET. By 2019, more than 60,000 vIPer phones had been deployed [6].


Presidential communication
US President Barack Obama
The photograph below shows US President Barack Obama 1 using vIPer to make a secure telephone call. The photograph was published by the manufacturer - General Dynamics – on Twitter on 27 August 2013, suggesting that the US President was one of its first users [4].



  1. Barack Obama was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017.  Wikipedia

Secure fax
vIPer can be used to send secure fax messages, by connecting an external gateway to the red dataport at the rear of the unit. The 90si Secure Fax Gateway shown in the image on the right was approved for this application.

By adding a GFS-910 Fax Switcher, the same fax machine can also be used for receiving non-secure fax messages, without swapping cables. Both items were approved for use with vIPer.

 More information

  


Documentation
  1. Sectéra® vIPer™ Phone, Leaflet
    General Dynamics, C4 Systems, 2013.
References
  1. Sectéra vIPer Universal Secure Phone
    General Dynamics, Visited 13 November 2022.

  2. NATO, Sectera vIPer™ Universal Phone
    9 February 2015. Visited 13 November 2022.

  3. Sectéra vIPer for FBI
    General Dynamics, 8 May 2014.

  4. Image of US President Barack Obama with vIPer phone
    General Dynamics, via Twitter, 27 August 2013. Copyright unknown.

  5. The Most Secure Desktop Phone - The Sectéra® vIPer™
    Facebook, General Dynamics Mission Systems, 5 January 2010.

  6. General Dynamics adds ACC to the only NSA certified secure phone
    General Dynamics Mission Systems, 26 June 2019.
Further information
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© Crypto Museum. Created: Sunday 13 November 2022. Last changed: Monday, 14 November 2022 - 11:55 CET.
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