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Also known as AT&T Datotek
Datotek, or Datotek Inc., was a
manufacturer
of cryptographic solutions,
based in Dallas (Texas, USA). The company was established in 1969 by
D.R. Whitson and specialised in voice encryption systems (scramblers) and
later also in digital message encryptors. Under the direction of
John H. Nugent, the company grew to a major player in the cryptographic
industry, and by the time they were taken over by AT&T
in 1989,
they had an estimated market share of
approx. 30% [1].
After the takeover by AT&T, Datotek became an independent wholly-owned
subsidary of AT&T,
under the name AT&T Datotek. In 1994, AT&T Datotek had a revenue
of US$ 7.5 million [2].
In June 1995, AT&T sold the company
to arch rival Technical Communications Corporations (TCC)
— for the relatively low sum of US$ 4,069,000 —
and the name Datotek disappeared.
In February 2020 it became clear that for many years,
Datotek had been under control of NSA and CIA [4].
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Datotek equipment on this website
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DNV-2000 Military voice encryptor DNV-630 Voice scrambler DLE-7000 Scrambler DC-505 Teleprinter encryptor DV-505 Scrambler phone DV-505ATR Aircraft voice scrambler DS-138 Synchronised data scrambler DH-26 Hand-held message encryptor DC-26 Desktop message encryptor - TA-2000
DVC-2419 Digital voice, message, data and fax encryptor 1 XMP-500 Portable digital message unit 1 XMP-1500 Mobile digital message unit 1 XMP-5500 High-traffic digital message unit 1
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Part of Datotek's Integrated Combat Cryptographic Network (ICCN).
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Under control of NSA and CIA
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In February 2020, it was revealed in
Operation RUBICON, that for many years
Datotek had been under control of the
American intelligence services —
in particular the
National Security Agency (NSA) —
who influenced the designs of the crypto algorithms, in return for export licences [4].
By manipulating the algorithms, they became readable 1 to the NSA.
For this reason, Datotek equipment was not used by NATO, but was exported to
countries like Argentina and Austria.
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In this context, readable means that the cryptographic algorithms
could be broken by the NSA.
Also known as friendly. In contrast:
algorithms that are not breakable by NSA,
are called unfriendly or unreadable.
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Note that Datotek no longer exists. The addresses below are provided
for reference only.
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- Datotek Inc.
13740 Midway Road
Dallas, Texas 75240, USA
Phone: (214) 233-1030
- Datotek New York
521 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10017, USA
Phone: (212) 687-7754
- Datotek UK
35 Piccadilly, Airwork House
London W1V 9PB, England, United Kingdom
Phone: +44 1 734-7282
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Company
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Incorporated
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Established by
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Datotek Inc.
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31 August 1969
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D.R. Whitson
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Datotek Communications Security Inc.
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25 June 1975
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John H. Nugent
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Datotek Security Systems Limited Inc.
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25 June 1975
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Patrick William Lenahan
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© Crypto Museum. Created: Thursday 28 May 2015. Last changed: Saturday, 04 March 2023 - 17:25 CET.
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