One reader asked:
Will you please send me some additional information on Racal - Guardata Watchword technology? I would appreciate any addresses you might have of sellers, resellers, and the company itself also.
Racal-Guardata is a British company, I believe, but they have a US office: Racal-Guardata 480 Spring Park Place Herndon VA 22070 1-800-521-6261 in VA: 703-471-0892 FAX: 703-437-9333 They make both authorization and encryption devices (all DES based, I believe). The WatchWord I have is a small 4-fcn calculator with an 8 digit display, 4 1/8" x 2 1/4" x 3/8" in its own vinal case. It has the normal buttons, including M+, RM, CM .... It also has an unlabeled red button. You press it and the fine print says "AUTH \n ENTER PIN". You enter your PIN and press "=" and it changes to "ENTER CHALL" You enter your 7-digit challenge number and press "=" and it shows you the 7-digit reply. (DES of the challenge number, using your key as selected (probably merely modified) by the PIN.) labeled "RESP". You clear that by turning the calculator off. Each unit can be programmed with a key of your choice. You don't have to use a key provided by your employer. (Note: if you use your own keys and have a good source of rannos, this is a hand-held DES encryption device. The operating rate is slow but the security should be full DES. (Alice generates a ranno and tells Bob in the clear, Bob encrypts ranno and adds in a 7 digit message fragment, tells that back to Alice who also encrypted the ranno.) It can hold two different keys, for two different services (machines, people, ...). The last I heard, a new model was coming out (I'm holding the old one -- from a year ago or more) which is more like a credit card in size but has all the same functionality. That one should be out by now and it was predicted to cost around $50. You need to ask Racal about it, if you're interested. - Carl