CISSP-ISSAP · Question #111
Which of the following encryption algorithms is used by the Clipper chip, which supports the escrowed encryption standard?
The correct answer is A. Skipjack. Skipjack is the symmetric encryption algorithm developed by the NSA specifically for the Clipper chip, a hardware encryption device proposed by the U.S. government in the early 1990s to implement the Escrowed Encryption Standard (EES). The Clipper chip was controversial because i
Question
Which of the following encryption algorithms is used by the Clipper chip, which supports the escrowed encryption standard?
Options
- ASkipjack
- BBlowfish
- CAES
- DIDEA
How the community answered
(18 responses)- A94% (17)
- D6% (1)
Explanation
Skipjack is the symmetric encryption algorithm developed by the NSA specifically for the Clipper chip, a hardware encryption device proposed by the U.S. government in the early 1990s to implement the Escrowed Encryption Standard (EES). The Clipper chip was controversial because it included a key escrow mechanism allowing government agencies to decrypt communications under court order.
Why the distractors are wrong:
- Blowfish (B) was designed by Bruce Schneier in 1993 as a public, unpatented alternative - the opposite of the government-controlled Clipper approach.
- AES (C) wasn't standardized until 2001, years after the Clipper chip era, and is a NIST standard unrelated to key escrow.
- IDEA (D) is a Swiss-developed cipher (used in PGP) with no connection to the U.S. government's escrowed encryption initiative.
Memory tip: Think "Clipper → SKIPjack" - the Clipper chip skipped past public scrutiny because Skipjack's algorithm was classified for years, which fueled the privacy debate that ultimately killed the program.
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