Suite B cryptography emerges for government agencies, enterprises
Super-tight cryptography in off-the-shelf mobile products will soon ease wireless deployments in government agencies, and deployments could subsequently spill over into enterprise equipment.
Typically, government workers accessing classified (SECRET) networks have done so with highly specialized and monitored PCs across a wired network that’s completely separate from the network supporting unclassified data. This has entailed logging off one network and device and logging onto another device and network when accessing different classifications of information.
IN DEPTH: Upgrade to Suite B security algorithms
Long burdensome and expensive, this mandated process is becoming especially unworkable as government agencies feel the heat to support commercial smartphones and tablet computers.
But a form of cryptography called Suite B has been kicking around and is finally poised for implementation. Suite B was sanctioned by the National Security Agency back in 2005 as a set of secure algorithms optimized for more compute- and battery-constrained smartphones and tablet computers.
Suite B architectures are being tested commercially to port the strength of RSA security to modern mobile device while requiring less computation and offering a stronger key size. As such, one goal of Suite B is to achieve interoperability among vendors. So the newer set of algorithms could streamline operations significantly for government agencies and possibly help secure confidential mobile enterprise environments, too.
Travis Howerton, chief technology officer at the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration, is excited about the possibilities, because there has been “no good way to do classified wireless” communications in his environment, he says.
“Suite B will for the first time layer [military-grade security] onto commercial products,” Howerton says. He’s hoping to “tunnel classified information wirelessly” for the first time and “potentially tunnel classified information over my unclassified lines on the wired side” of the network. Merging networks should “save millions of dollars,” he says.
Suite B is already rolling out on Microsoft Windows servers and in Wi-Fi supplier Aruba Networks’ wireless LAN controllers. The company announced Suite B support across its WLAN controller line in July, and the products are currently in three architectural pilots with the NSA for certification for deployment as part of a classified access network architecture, says Don Meyer, senior product manager at the company.
Fortress Technologies announced a Suite B encryptor last month for wired or wireless communications.
Says Howerton: “Why wouldn’t you use it? If you’re a small clinic, for example, you probably don’t have IT staff for world-class security. [It will be a] great thing for everyone.”
