BATON


BATON is a Type 1 block cipher in use since at least 1995 by the United States government to secure classified information.
While the BATON algorithm itself is secret, the public PKCS#11 standard includes some general information about how it is used. It has a 320-bit key and uses a 128-bit block in most modes, and also supports a 96-bit electronic codebook mode. 160 bits of the key are checksum material. It supports a "shuffle" mode of operation, like the NSA cipher JUNIPER. It may use up to 192 bits as an initialization vector, regardless of the block size.
In response to a Senate question about encrypted video links, the NSA said that BATON could be used for encryption at speeds higher than those possible with Skipjack.

Usage

BATON is used in a variety of products and standards:
  • APCO Project 25
  • PKCS#11
  • CDSA/CSSM
  • HAIPE-IS
  • FNBDT
  • Thales Datacryptor 2000
  • SecNet-11
  • Fortezza Plus
  • SafeXcel-3340
  • Numerous embeddable encryption modules: AIM, CYPRIS, MYK-85, Sierra, etc.