Clipper Qs

bill.stewart@pleasantonca.ncr.com +1-510-484-6204 wcs at anchor.ho.att.com
Tue Feb 8 01:10:45 PST 1994


Doesn't matter if you switch CLipper Chips - the chip squawks its serial 
number when it starts a session, and they simply get the keys for *all*
clipperphones that they overhear while wiretapping.  That way they don't
need to keep track of who's got what chip (which is impossible,
since you could switch with your neighbor), though that may be some help
if they happen to know some eavesdropping victim's serial number
and are tapping all the pay phones in an area.

As far as reprogramming goes, no.  They're a fancy tamperproof design,
which they hope will make it difficult or impossible for people to get
the algorithm or the key out of.






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