EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE:             NIST 94-8
3:00 P.M. EST,
Friday, Feb. 4, 1994

Contact:  Anne Enright Shepherd    NIST ANNOUNCES VOLUNTARY       
          (301) 975-4858           ESCROWED ENCRYPTION STANDARD
                                   TO PROMOTE SECURE
                                   TELECOMMUNICATIONS


     The Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards
and Technology (NIST) announced today the approval of a voluntary
standard that can be used by government agencies or the private
sector to provide strong encryption protection for sensitive but
unclassified voice, fax and data communications over telephone
lines.  
     The Escrowed Encryption Standard was developed as a Federal
Information Processing Standard (FIPS) in response to President
Clinton's directive of April 16, 1993, which outlined an
encryption and telecommunications security initiative.
     The standard specifies a technology developed by the
government to provide a mechanism for the secure escrowing of
encryption "keys," or strings of computer data, which can be used
to intercept messages only by government officials acting under
proper legal authorization.  The attorney general is announcing
the key escrow agents as well as issuing the strict procedures
for agents to follow when asked to provide the keys to authorized
agencies.

     Key escrow technology was developed to address the concern
that widespread use of encryption makes lawfully authorized
electronic surveillance difficult.  The key escrow technology
provided by this standard addresses the needs of the private 

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sector for top-notch communications security and of U.S. law
enforcement to conduct lawfully authorized electronic
surveillance.

     A public comment period following the July 30, 1993,
announcement of the proposed standard generated numerous
comments.  After careful consideration of the comments, the
secretary of commerce has concluded that the voluntary standard
is technically sound and meets federal agency requirements for
secure telecommunications.

     "While the vast majority of comments were negative, many
reflected misunderstanding or skepticism about the
Administration's statements that the EES would be a voluntary
standard," said Raymond G. Kammer, NIST deputy director.  "This
Administration has forthrightly restated its position that EES
will be a strictly voluntary standard, available for federal and
other agencies, as well as the private sector, to provide more
secure telecommunications."

     The EES relies on a key escrow chip programmed with the
classified SKIPJACK algorithm, which a group of independent
cryptographers were provided the opportunity to examine during
the public review process.  They found that the algorithm
provides substantial protection and that there is no significant
risk that the algorithm can be broken through a "trap door" or
short-cut method of attack.

     The voluntary EES does not replace the recently reaffirmed
Data Encryption Standard.  The approval of EES as a FIPS provides
a mechanism allowing federal government agencies to specify key
escrow encryption as a requirement in their telecommunications
security procurement documents.  Otherwise, agencies would have
to formally waive the requirements of the DES if they wanted to
use escrow encryption techniques.

     As a non-regulatory agency of the Commerce Department's
Technology Administration, NIST promotes U.S. economic growth by
working with industry to develop and apply technology,
measurements and standards.

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