What BEST describes the National Security Agency-developed Capstone?
A.
A one-way function for implementation of public key encryption
B.
A device for intercepting electromagnetic emissions
C.
A chip that implements the US Escrowed Encryption Standard
D.
The PC Card implementation of the Clipper Chip system
Explanation:
Capstone is a Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) chip that employs the Escrowed Encryption
Standard and incorporates the Skipjack algorithm, similar to the Clipper Chip. As such, it has a LEAf.
Capstone also supports public key exchange and digital signatures. At this time, Capstone products
have their LEAF function suppressed and a Certifying Authority provides for key recovery. *Answer
“A device for intercepting electromagnetic emissions” is then, obviously, incorrect. For information
purposes, though, the US Government program to study and control the interception of
electromagnetic emissions that may compromise classified information is called TEMPEST. * Answer
“The PC Card implementation of the Clipper Chip system” is also, obviously, incorrect. However,
Capstone was first implemented on a PC card called Fortezza. * Answer “A one-way function for
implementation of public key encryption” is incorrect since Capstone is not a mathematical function,
but it incorporates mathematical functions for key exchange, authentication and encryption.