Providing secure interoperability while maintaining sovereignty

A persistent issue that confronts many of the industrialized nations today is the ability to form secure interoperable coalition networks while maintaining country-unique sovereignty. In some aspects, there canpsilat be one without the other... interoperability with other nations is a necessity in todaypsilas world, but protecting a nationpsilas ldquosecretsrdquo is always a primary objective. The availability of a cryptographic solution that can be reprogrammed (i.e., take on a different personality) based on a particular operational scenario, as well as solve the interoperability issues while maintaining sovereignty will be ldquosecond-to-nonerdquo. The National Security Agency (NSA) has defined a set of Suite B cryptographic algorithms (encryption, digital signature, key exchange and hashing) that may be used as the basis for communication interoperability across a broad range of operating environments, including voice and data networking applications. These Suite B algorithms can also support country-specific sovereignty needs through unique keying and algorithm variations. This paper will focus on how Suite B can be used as the basis for communication interoperability across multiple national and secure environments.