NSA on Sat Crypto Device

[John Young <jya@pipeline.com>]

This is a DoD fax of an NSA-brief on the Chinese satellite crypto device.
It was prepared for July 8 testimony by DoD's Franklin Miller before the 
Senate Subcommittee on International Security, Proliferation and Federal 
Affairs. Miller's testimony was cancelled but DoD has provided the one-
page brief to the media upon request.


JUL-14-1998 12:51   DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE PA       703 697 3501 p.02


                                                          JUL 8 1998


Question: What happened to the encryption device that was aboard the
failed INTELSAT launch in 1996?

Answer: The U.S. personnnel present searched the site for two days after 
the launch failure. Despite extremely hazardous conditions that made 
recovery very difficult, the U.S. personnel believed that they recovered 
all recoverable U.S. parts and components that survived the launch 
failure.

No identifiable parts or components associated with the Telemetry 
Tracking and Control Encryption devices [TT&C], and the circuit board on 
which it was mounted, were recovered. We have been advised by Loral that 
the devices were embedded on a tray mounted within the Command Processor 
Box  of the satellite. lf this is the case, it is highly unlikely that 
the devices survived the crash because of the crash impact and high 
temperatures produced by the burning rocket propellants. According to 
Loral, the Command Processor Box was located adjacent to the propellant 
tanks and U.S. personnel at the site recovered only 30% of the box.

The COMSEC circuit board consisted of a printed wiring board and forty
plus, off-the-shelf and semi-custom discrete small sca]e integrated 
circuit chips. The COMSEC board is somewhat large and relatively fragile 
(about 6x10 inches), with interconnecting "tracks" on the board which 
interconnect the many logic devices into the COMSEC algorithm. As such 
a whole circuit board, its whole composite set of pieces, and the whole 
set of logic chips need to be recovered to succeed in reengineering the 
design of the device. If Loral's assessment of the physical 
implementation of the two COMSEC devices aboard INTELSAT 708 and the 
extent of damage to the command processor from the crash, impact and 
fire are correct, NSA and DTSA believe that it is highly unlikely that 
these items could have been recovered in sufficient detail to reverse 
engineer.

In the unlikely event that the Chinese were able to recover all the 
items fully intact, it is important to note that the encryption board 
involved many embedded devices. Any loss of the chips and associated 
encryption algorithm would have have only minimal impact on national 
security because the INTELSAT 708 satellite was uniquely keyed.

[End fax]