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Cryptech dual port ISA serial card

NeXT

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 22, 2008
Messages
8,095
Location
Kamloops, BC, Canada
I have two of these.

DPP_0057.jpg


They look to be dual port serial cards that encrypted and decrypted data through logic under the metal cover.
The 3.6v batteries are long dead so it didn't matter much when you took the metal cover off and tripped a tamper switch (probably cut off the battery to some RAM or something that held the cipher key which I hope you could reprogram through software) but I can't find a single bit of information about the card or what kind of software and drivers it required. The FCC ID (JE3-TS5000) does not show up in the FCC's database.
 
Mobius brings back some memories--mostly U of Waterloo people designing encryption hardware. At some point, changed their name to Certicom, now a division of RIM. I think that Certicom paid the UofW back in kind by endowing a cryptography chair.

Back around when that module was made, you'd also see it on secure FAX machines and the like. Don't know a thing about Cryptech (not to be confused with Cryptek).
 
That's about as much sa I knew as well. When I got the cards about a year ago I immediately searched them up because anything made in canada is going to raise flags since it didn't happen often.
 
Well, this article hints at how Cryptech got eaten by RIM[/url]. In 2008, RIM offered to acquire Certicom for $1.50 per share; VeriSign stepped in and offered $2.10 and RIM countered with $3.00. You could see that Certicom was facing declining sales and revenues by 2007, so they were ripe for the picking. The lawsuit against Sony was really draining them; eventually they settled (details private), but there were no overt IP concessions on either side as far as I can tell.
 
Early crypto is kind of interesting. Your card reminded me of some stuff I was investigating back in the nasty CP/M days. I turned up my copy (with manual) of Public Key Systems' Dedicate/32 for CP/M--it was expensive for a single software package.

The only cite I can find is an Infoworld mension of it

One of these days, I'll image the (8") disk...
 
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