hearing on april i received a fax of a letter from representative markey subcommittee on telecommunications and finance to ron brown secretary of commerce since encryption and the clipper chip are raised in this letter i felt it would be of interest i understand that on april mr markey will be holding a hearing on the questions raised in this letter there may also be a follow on hearing dedicated to the clipper chip but that s not definite i ve typed in the letter which follows any errors in transcription are mine glenn tenney tenney netcom com amateur radio aa er voice fax letter of interest follows april the honorable ronald h brown secretary department of commerce th and pennsylvania ave nw washington dc dear secretary brown as you know i have long been interested in the privacy and security of telecommunications transmissions and data in a networked environment recent reports concerning the administration s endorsement of an electronic encryption standard based upon clipper chip technology have raised a number of related issues the international competitiveness of u s high tech manufacturers and the software industry is a key factor that the government should consider when addressing issues of encryption and data security as the nation moves forward in developing the national communications and information infrastructure security of telecommunications transmissions and network data will be an increasingly important factor for protecting the privacy of users the hacker community can compromise the integrity of telecommunications transmissions and databases linked by the network the people and businesses that use the nation s telecommunications network and the personal computers linked through it increasingly are demanding that information be protected against unauthorized access alteration and theft i am concerned that the administration s plan may mean that to remain competitive internationally u s companies would be compelled to develop two products one for u s government customers and another for private commercial users who may want a higher encryption standard this may inadvertently increase costs to those u s companies hoping to serve both markets to assist the subcommittee s analysis of this issue please respond to the following questions has the encryption algorithm or standard endorsed by the administration been tested by any entity other than nsa nist or the vendor if so please identify such entities and the nature of testing performed if not please describe any plans to have the algorithm tested by outside experts and how such experts will be chosen under the administration s plan what entities will be the holders of the keys to decrypt scrambled data what procedures or criteria will the administration utilize to designate such key holders does the encryption algorithm endorsed by the administration contain a trap door or back door which could allow an agency or entity of the federal government to crack the code it is clear that over time changes in technologies used for communications will require new techniques and additional equipment how will encryption devices adapt to the rapid advancement of telecommunications technology what additional costs would the proposed encryption place on the federal government what is the estimated cost to consumers and businesses which opt for the federal standard in their equipment what is the commerce department s assessment of the competitive impact of the administration s endorsement of the clipper chip technology on u s exports of computer and telecommunications hardware and software products i would appreciate your response by no later than close of business wednesday april if you have any questions please have your staff contact colin crowell or karen colannino of the subcommittee staff at sincerely edward j markey chairman glenn tenney voice fax tenney netcom com ham radio aa er
