re why the clipper algorithm is secret in article apr iecc cambridge ma us johnl iecc cambridge ma us john r levine writes it just occurred to me why the algorithm is secret if it were published one could then build physically identical clone versions of the chip that would interoperate with official clipper chips but the cloner wouldn t provide the keys to the escrow houses hmmn not necessarily they could release the details of the algorithm without releasing the system key called sk by hellman that would make most people happy and with some sort of verification procedure before key exchange the official chips would only work with other official chips in other words secrecy of sk makes physically identical clone versions impossible secrecy of the algorithm shouldn t be necessary of course revealing the algorithm opens them up to attacks on sk since all units share this key compromising it may be a big deal personally i wouldn t feel too comfortable knowing that one secret bit number held in many places was all that guaranteed my security of course compromise of sk doesn t necessarily mean that the system is compromised but it s impossible to tell whether or not that s true with a secret algorithm incidentally what s to keep a secret algorithm from using the secret sk as the main key with uk being only marginally important then a court order for uk may not even be necessary to do a wiretap steve tate srt cs duke edu the reason why mathematics enjoys special esteem dept of computer science above all other sciences is that its laws are duke university absolutely certain and indisputable while those of all durham nc other sciences are to some extent debatable einstein
