As promised, I asked Steve Kent -- a member of the review panel -- about how the LEAF is encrypted. Here's his answer, reposted with permission. ------- Forwarded Message To: smb@research.att.com Subject: Re: Key escrow review In-reply-to: Your message of Mon, 14 Mar 94 15:54:22 -0500. Date: Mon, 14 Mar 94 17:03:18 -0500 From: Steve Kent <kent@BBN.COM> Steve, You are right.... SKIPJACK is used to encipher the LEAF, but employing a complex mode. The FBI can decode the "outer layer" of the LEAF to get the chip ID, by using the "family key" but it cannot get at the traffic key which is encrpted using the device unique key, the splits for which are held by the escrow agents. Steve ------- End of Forwarded Message