In 1987 there were a series of papers given out as part of the package to CCEP vendors (or prospective vendors): The Secure Data Network System: An Overview (NSA) By: Gary L. Tater Edmund G. Kerut SDNS Products in the Type II Environment (contains refer to 1987 paper) John Linn BBN Communications Corporation (need for easy Key Management) Cambridge, Massachusetts SDNS Services and Architecture Ruth Nelson Electronic Defense Communications Directorate GTE Government Systems Corporation 77 A Street Needham, MA 02194 .... Key Management -------------- The heart of SDNS is the Firefly keying system, which is based on public key en- cryption. Each terminal has a unique Fire- fly key which is bound together with a non-forgeable certificate. The certificate identifies the terminal and specifies its security-relevent characteristics. Two SDNS terminals desiring to communicate ex- change certificates and keying information (the Firefly excange) and make access con- trol decisions based on the identifying in- formation. The exchange generates a traf- fic key which is unique to the two terminals and which is new for that key ex- change. If communication is permissible, the terminals then negotiate the communca- tions parameters for use of the traffic key. ... SP4: A Transport Encapsulation Security Protocol Dennis Branstad, National Bureau of Standards Joy Dorman, Digital Equipment Corporation Russell Housley, Xerox Corporation James Randall, International Business Machines Corporation Access Control Within SDNS by Edward R. Sheehan Analytics Incorporated 9821 Broken Land Parkway Columbia, Maryland 21046 None of these contained any dates except the 1987 paper reference ------------------------------------------------------------------ This is the earliest reference I know of to government public key cryptography, and I was under the impression this was where the reference in Gus Simmons book came from.