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PCMCIA security card - MilsCard
- wanted item
The M-775 was a cryptographic security module in the shape of a PCMCIA
card, developed by Mils Elektronik
in Mils (Austria) in the early 1990s.
It added security to personal computers (PCs) and laptops and was used
at the heart of secure communication systems and for data storage.
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The small security module, or Key Module as it was called by Mils,
was based on the PCMCIA standard, so that it could be used directly in
the portable PCs (laptops) of the era. When used in combination with
a desktop PC, a suitable interface had to be installed in the machine [1].
The image on the right shows a typical M-775 module (left) aside its
interior (right). The unit consists of a tamper-proof security
processor at the bottom right, with external memory [2]. The cryptographic
keys are stored in volatile memory that is retained by the circular
Lithium battery.
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During the 1990s, security modules were commonly implemented as PCMCIA
cards, not only by Mils, but also by other manufactuers.
Crypto AG
(Hagelin), for example, introduced the
HCM-2000 Security Module that was
used at the heart of the
HC-2203 telephone encryptor,
whilst Philips
developed the so-called V-Card.
Around the same time, the American NSA
developed a range of
Fortezza Crypto Cards that ares still used
with their Secure Terminal Equipment (STE).
In the late 1990s, The System 700 series was succeeded by the System 200
range of secure software products, that offered algorithm based security
as well as Mils' famous One-Time Pad technology. The M-775 was renamed
M-275 and was still used at the heart of these products.
In the early 2000s, PC manufacturers started moving away from the PCMCIA
standard, in favour of newer standards such as USB. As a result, the PCMCIA
slots gradually disappeared from the laptops and the M-775 was no longer
considered practicle. It has since been succeeded by the backwards compatible
M-286 USB stick
which is based on the proprietary M-111 processor.
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© Copyright 2009-2013, Paul Reuvers & Marc Simons. Last changed: Tuesday, 06 August 2013 - 11:34 CET
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