Strange crypto modules for Systems Saber - what is this??

[radio-link]

Hi!

A friend gave me three crypto modules for Saber radios, to test them, and I do not know what they are.
The stickers on them say 1133630 and a kind of serial number (4 digits), no date code, no other marking.
Inside they look like DES, some Motorola ICs inside, but the usually golden crypto chip is black, identical housing, white sticker on it with hand written "V8.1", under the sticker no further marking.
So I put one inside a Saber III, turned the radio on, and the radio wrote "key fail" when trying to transmit. Tried to KVL them it a T3011DX, it sayed "passed", but still "key fail". Took the other module, put it into a Systems Saber, and without KVLing it the radio transmitted in secure mode! Took the first module outside the Saber, put it into another Systems Saber, "key fail" :( F*#*, maybe I erased something when trying to KVL it, so I put the third (untouched) module into the radio, and it keyed up in secure, both radios could talk to each other. So far, so good.
So I took the first module without a key, put in into a third Systms Saber, tried to KVL it into several slots, several times, and after some playing around suddenly it transmitted in secure, of course it could not talk to the other two radios. At first I had no idea what I did to make it work.
Playing with the two working radios revealed that they could talk to each other, regardless, what keys I manually selected via the keypad.

After all I decided to risk the working, non volatile keys in the modules and found out that the modules need to be keyed into all eight slots to be able to talk to each other, either manually or in one rush with GLOAD.

The amazing thing is, when I change one single digit in one of the keys, the radios can not talk to each other, and I found no way that they would communicate with a normal DES/DES-XL-radio.

What did I pick up? They need eight (!) keys to work, they KVL with an old T3011DX, they seem not compatible with DES, the keys are not lost when power is removed. Audio quality is like DES, and it gets a bit worse when XL is activated, just like DES-XL. The delay when talking into one radio and listening to the own transmission on a second radio seems a bit bigger than with DES. The transmission is FSK at 12kbit/sec like DES, noise with the 6KHz beep at the end.

What the h**ll is this?

[batdude]

although certainly not commonplace - there are algorithms out there in the field that were custom designed for individual customers (most overseas)

these are usually just modified versions of current algo's (commonly DVI and DVP)

i'm surprised yours loaded at all.

the 4 digit number could be a date code (?) 9701 or 0195 etc. (YYMM or MMYY) ?

or it could be a serial number.

note that only CCI modules have serial #'s on them.



d

[radio-link]

the 4 digit number could be a date code (?) 9701 or 0195 etc. (YYMM or MMYY) ?

or it could be a serial number.

note that only CCI modules have serial #'s on them.

d

Hmmm...the numbers represent something out of the sixties or out of the thirties, when looking at them as they were normal datecodes, and the numbers of the modules only differ in the last two digits, so it really looks like serials.
When they load with a T3011DX, then I guess it is some kind of DES, but I have never heard of a 8DES, only triple DES; and this one not in radios.

CCI?! Huh. I just wanted DES for my good old Saber III radios... A CCI in Germany would be a rare beast...even DES is! But a CCI should not load with a standard KVL, due to the security classification they use their own KVLs.

[batdude]

just noticed your location.


you have a variant sometimes called a "HCA".


that stands for Home Country Algorithm (HCA)


good luck finding any "official" docs on it - best place to look would be whoever/whereever those modules came from


d

[radio-link]

just noticed your location.
good luck finding any "official" docs on it - best place to look would be whoever/whereever those modules came from
d

It looks as the modules came from the US; but it can not be told for sure. I just would like to know what kind of encryption this may be...