On Tue, 12 Apr 1994 anonymous@extropia.wimsey.com wrote:
Subject: Any cypherpunks building encrypted phone?
Hello everyone! I'd like to know if anyone on the list has made any attempt to construct a true encrypted phone, something at the level of the AT&T DES phone. I think that it ought not to be too difficult to build a couple, using existing modems and basic hardware design. If all the commercial phones are going to be Clipper-based, we'll have to build the real ones ourselves.
Lady Ada, Queen of Engines
Word has it that Phil Zimmerman, author of PGP, is working on an IBM compatible program to encrypt telephone conversations with PGP, using a high speed modem and a sound card. When I spoke with Phil last (actually, the only time I spoke with him) in February, he advised me that the program was in beta stage, and was currently operational with *no* encryption built in... He indicated that the basic engine (high speed modem and souncard in an IBM compatible) was working "better than [he] expected." I can't wait to see this thing when its finished. Forget clipper-phones, every American will already have everything they need to have their own encrypted phone... Yup, just use that multimedia PC that has been collecting dust except when you pull out the old Encylcopedia CD- Rom!! Evidence, Inc.