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Section: declassified Tag: NIST history

Articlewell-documented at the policy and platform levelBrowse result

Capstone Chipset and Government Crypto Policy

Capstone was not just another cryptographic chip. It was the broader NSA-backed hardware platform that connected Clipper, Fortezza, Skipjack, key escrow, export policy, and the government’s 1990s attempt to reconcile strong encryption with guaranteed lawful access.

Declassified / Nsa/historical crypto policy platform/2026-03-29

Capstone MYK-80 Clipper Fortezza Skipjack KEA

Articlewell-documented at the policy and technical-contBrowse result

Clipper Chip and the Key-Escrow Fight

The Clipper chip was the most famous public face of the U.S. government’s 1990s key-escrow policy. This entry traces how an NSA-designed encryption device became the center of a national fight over privacy, surveillance, technical trust, export controls, and the future of secure communications.

Declassified / Nsa/historical crypto policy program/2026-03-29

Clipper key escrow Escrowed Encryption Standard FIPS 185 Skipjack LEAF