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Phone GD USA NSA SCIP ← STE
The US Government uses VIPer for conversations up to the level of TOP SECRET/SCI.
It replaces 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 Advanced Cryptographic Capabilities (ACC) and a simplified
EKMS procedure [6].
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vIPer was developed by the Mission Systems division of General Dynamics, and was
launched in 2006. By 2019, more than 60,000 vIPer phones had been deployed [6].
Apart from the US Government, vIPer is also used by NATO and its allies
for conversations up to the level of SECRET.
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The block diagram below shows the layout of the vIPer hardware.
The device has full red/black separation, which allows local (unprotected)
voice or data to be exchanged securely over an insecure network, such as the
internet (IP) or the old analogue PSTN switched subscriber network.
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US President Barack Obama
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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].
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Barack Obama was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017.
➤ Wikipedia
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Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau
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Former Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau was rarely photographed
behind a desk with one or more secure telephones. The photograph below
— taken in December 2020 — should therefore be considered an exception.
As it is the only telephone set on Trudeau's desk, it is likely that he
uses it for secure as well as non-secure calls.
One of the advantages of the vIPer is that the microphone is physically
turned off as a security measure, when the handset is on-hook.
Another photograph, taken in the same office,
shows Trudeau in conversation with Mark Carney
on 9 December 2019.
The vIPer is at the far side of the desk. Carney succeeded Trudeau
as prime minister on 14 March 2025.
It remains to be seen whether the Canadians will continue to trust American
security equipment, now that US President Donald Trump wants to annex
Canada, and has forced other US manufacturers to takes measures against
foreign institutes that he dislikes.
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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
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Device Secure IP telephone set Purpose Secure telephone calls over PSTN and VoIP networks Model vIPer Family Sectéra Manufacturer General Dynamics Year 2006 Country USA NSN 5810-01-568-6699 Predecessor STE, STU Users US Goverment, NATO, Coalition Classification TOP SECRET/SCI Networks PSTN, VoIP Protocols SCCP, SIP, DHCP, IPv4, IPv6, etc. Standards SCIP, Crypto Modernization Access PIN only Management GEM X Encryptor manager (also used with TACLANE) Certified NSA, JITC, TSG, CPSD, TEMPEST CODECs Non-secure: G.711, G.723.1, G.726, G.729A
Secure: G.729D, MELP Display LCD Interfaces Black: 1/100baseT (LAN, WAN), USB, PSTN
Red: RS232 (data), DS-101 (key fill), Headset, USB Data rate ≥ 100 kb/s Power Mains adapter, POE Environment MIL-STD-810F Temperature 0°C to +50°C Storage -30°C to +80°C Humidity 95% Dimensions 254 × 228 × 76 mm Weight 2 kg
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- Low SATCOM latency
- Secure data and fax
- Low-power
- Firmware upgrades (online)
- Precedence and preemption
- Simple user interface
- Web-based management
- No Fortezza or CIK required
- End-to-end voice and data encryption
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- Sectéra vIPer Universal Secure Phone
General Dynamics, Visited 13 November 2022.
- NATO, Sectera vIPer™ Universal Phone
9 February 2015. Visited 13 November 2022.
- Sectéra vIPer for FBI
General Dynamics, 8 May 2014.
- Image of US President Barack Obama with vIPer phone
General Dynamics, via Twitter, 27 August 2013. Copyright unknown.
- The Most Secure Desktop Phone - The Sectéra® vIPer™
Facebook, General Dynamics Mission Systems, 5 January 2010.
- General Dynamics adds ACC to the only NSA certified secure phone
General Dynamics Mission Systems, 26 June 2019.
- Peter Koop, The American secure phone of Canadian prime minister Trudeau
Electrospaces.net (website), 31 May 2025.
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© Crypto Museum. Created: Sunday 13 November 2022. Last changed: Tuesday, 03 June 2025 - 09:19 CET.
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![Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau with a vIPer telephone on his desk in December 2020. Photograph: Ottawa Catholic School Board. Obtained via [7].](img/viper_trudeau.jpg)
