Not a Secret

found by Seraf

This message was sent from COMSPAWARSYSCOM (Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command) to a whole bunch of bureaucrats concerning the fact that nobody can seem to get the military's new cryptography package working.  Who knew that MS-DOS would be a major stumbling block in securing our government's most sensitive information?

The list of recipients is a functional "who's who" of the obscure agencies that care about this kind of stuff.  They include the Director of the National Security Agency (DIRNSA), the headquarters of the Defense Intelligence Systems Agency (HQ DISA), the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JOINT STAFF), and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy (ASSTSECNAV).

ADMINISTRATIVE MESSAGE ROUTINE R 021116Z OCT 96 ZYB FM COMSPAWARSYSCOM WASHINGTON DC//PMW161/PMW152// TO DIRNSA FORT GEO G MEADE MD//X/DDI// HQ DISA WASHINGTON DC//D/D2/D6// CINCPACFLT PEARL HARBOR HI//N6// CINCLANFLT NORFOLK VA//N6// CINCUSNAVEUR LONDON UK/N6/// COMUSNAVCENT//N6// USCINCPAC HONOLULU HI//J6// USCINCACOM NORFOLK VA//J6/J63// COMNAVCOMTELCOM WASHINGTON DC//00// NAVINFOSYSMGTCEN WASHINGTON DC//00// COMMARCORSYSCOM QUANTICO VA//C4I/C4IT// NCTAMSLANT NORFOLK VA//00// NISE EAST CHARLESTON SC//70/72// NRAD SAN DIEGO CA//83/87// NAVCOMTELSTA WASHINGTON DC//96// INFO SECDEF WASHINGTON DC//0ASD-C31-ISS// JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC//J6K/J6T// CNO WASHINGTON DC//N6/N61/N64/N643// CMC WASHINGTON DC//CSB// ASSTSECNAV RDA WASHINGTON DC//C4I// UNCLAS //N05230//PASS TO MSGID/GENADMIN/SPAWAR// SUBJ/PCMCIA CARD READER PROBLEMS// REF/A/DOC/OSD/940707/-// REF/B/MSG/NISMC/940719/190908Z// REF/C/MSG/CPF/950901/010242Z// NARR/REF A IS OSD/C3I LTR MANDATING PC CARD READERS IN DOD COMPUTERS. REF B IS MSG FROM NISMC DISSEMINATING INFO FROM REF A WITHIN DON. REF C IS MSG FROM CINCPACFLT INDICATING PROBLEMS WITH PC CARD READERS. RMKS/1. REF A, IMPLEMENTED BY REF B WITHIN DON, MANDATED ALL DOD COMPUTERS AND WORKSTATIONS PROCURED SHALL BE CAPABLE OF SUPPORTING AT LEAST TWO PC CARDS OF THE TYPE II HEIGHT CONFIGURATION. NAVY DMS\MISSI WORKSHOPS AND TECH MTGS WITH FLT PERSONNEL HAVE PROVIDED FEEDBACK THAT THERE ARE SOME TECH ISSUES ASSOC WITH THE INSTALL OF FORTEZZA TECHNOLOGY WITH PERSONAL COMPUTER (PC) CARD READERS. THE INSTALL OF FORTEZZA IS NOT CURRENTLY A SIMPLE PLUG AND PLAY OPERATION. RECENT FORTEZZA INSTALL EXPERIENCES HAVE INDICATED THAT DRIVER SOFTWARE, PC CARD READER HARDWARE, APPLICATION SOFTWARE AND DOS CONVENTIONAL MEMORY LIMITATIONS CAN CAUSE PROBLEMS DURING INSTALL. REF C WAS FLT CINC MSG THAT ALSO HIGHLIGHTED SIMILAR PROBLEMS. 2. MTGS WITH NSA AND DISA DMS/MISSI TECH STAFFS HAVE CONFIRMED NSA, DISA, AND AIR FORCE ARE ALSO HAVING SIMILAR TECH PROBLEMS. NSA HAS GATHERED SOME TESTING DATA RESULTING FROM THEIR EFFORTS TO INTEGRATE SEVERAL PC CARD READERS WITH FORTEZZA CARDS AND ASSOCIATED DRIVERS. HOWEVER, DUE TO CHANGES\UPDATES IN FORTEZZA RELATED COMPONENTS (HARDWARE, DRIVER SOFTWARE) MUCH OF THIS TESTING DATA WILL BE CONTINUALLY UPDATED. INSTALLATION, INTEGRATION, AND OPERATION OF CARDS, CARD READERS, AND DRIVER SOFTWARE HAS BEEN A FRUSTRATING EXPERIENCE FOR MANY DOD USERS. USERS THAT HAVE ADDITIONAL HARDWARE COMPONENTS AND DRIVERS (SUCH AS CD-ROMS), HAVE MEMORY MGMT PROBLEMS THAT PREVENT THE CARD READER FROM WORKING, DUE TO CONVENTIONAL DOS MEMORY LIMITATIONS. NSA HAS PROPOSED THE USER REALLOCATE THE ASSOCIATED DRIVERS BY REMOVING UNNECESSARY COMPONENTS THAT USE EXCESSIVE MEMORY. DON USERS WILL BE ENCOURAGED TO CONSIDER THIS OPTION IN ORDER TO OPERATE WITHIN THE 640K CONVENTIONAL MEMORY LIMITATIONS FOUND ON MOST PERSONAL COMPUTERS (PCS). CURRENT ESTIMATES ARE THAT THE MEMORY REQUIRED TO OPERATE ONE FORTEZZA PC CARD IS APPROX 35K WHEN UTILIZING DOS PROTECTED MODE SERVICES (DPMS) SOFTWARE. THIS INCLUDES THE MEMORY REQUIRED FOR THE FORTEZZA DRIVER, SOCKET SERVICES, FORTEZZA PC CARD, AND MOST OTHER PC CARDS. USE OF DPMS SOFTWARE MITIGATES THE CONVENTIONAL MEMORY MGMT PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED BY REALLOCATING MEMORY OUTSIDE OF THE 640K LIMIT. SOME PROBLEMS USING FORTEZZA WITH PC CARD READERS HAVE BEEN ATTRIBUTED TO PC CARD READERS NOT BEING PROPERLY INSTALL\CONFIG. AS A RESULT OFDMS\MISSI INSTALLATIONS PMW161 IS DOCUMENTING FORTEZZA PC CARD READER INSTALLATION DATA AND WILL POST IT ON THE INFOSEC HOME PAGE. 3. FOR NSA: PRIOR TECHNICAL EXCHANGES BTWN NAVY AND NSA PERSONNEL HAVE BEEN HELPFUL IN UNDERSTANDING ISSUES ASSOCIATED WITH INTEGRATING FORTEZZA TECHNOLOGY WITH PC CARD READERS. DURING TECH INFO EXCHANGES, NSA INDICATED THAT IT IS TESTING PC CARD READERS WITH FORTEZZA PC CARDS AND PLANS TO POST RESULTS ON A WORLD WIDE WEB HOME PAGE IN THE NEAR FUTURE. THE INTENT OF NSA IS TO ENSURE WIDEST POSSIBLE DISTRIBUTION OF THE MOST CURRENT INFO REGARDING PC CARD READERS. THROUGH THE WORLD WIDE WEB HOME PAGE, USERS WILL HAVE ACCESS TO INFO REGARDING WHICH PC CARD READERS SUPPORT FORTEZZA AND OTHER PC CARDS. ADDITIONALLY, IT IS PLANNED THAT THE WORLD WIDE WEB HOME PAGE WILL PROVIDE GUIDANCE REGARDING THE INSTALLATION OF PC CARD READERS THAT MAY NOT WORK UPON INITIAL INSTALLATION. THE INSTALL GUIDANCE WILL HELP IDENTIFY WHERE PROBLEMS OCCUR DURING THE INTEGRATION OF FORTEZZA WITH PC CARD READERS. IT IS ANTICIPATED THAT INCREASING USER FRUSTRATION WILL BE MITIGATED ONCE THE INFO DISCUSSED ABOVE IS WIDELY AVAILABLE. 4. FOR DON USERS: PMW161 WILL PROVIDE THE MOST CURRENT INFO AVAILABLE TO NAVY USERS REGARDING THE INTEGRATION OF FORTEZZA WITH PC CARD READERS ON THE SPAWAR INFOSEC HOME PAGE AT HTTP://INFOSEC.NOSC.MIL. THIS INFORMATION IS PLANNED TO BE POSTED ON THE INFOSEC HOME PAGE BEGINNING IN NOV 96. THE SPAWAR INFOSEC HOME PAGE WILL PROVIDE THE CURRENT LIST OF NAVY AND NSA TESTED PC CARD READERS AND OPERATING SYSTEMS THAT WILL WORK WITH THE FORTEZZA PC CARD. UPDATED PC CARD READER AND OPERATING SYSTEM INFORMATION WILL BE PLACED ON THE SPAWARINFOSEC HOME PAGE AS SOON AS RECEIVED. DON USERS SHOULD NOTE THAT THE LISTING OF PC CARD READERS ON THE INFOSEC HOME PAGE IS NOT A FULLY INCLUSIVE LISTING OF ALL PC CARD READERS THAT MAY WORK WITH FORTEZZA BUT IS ONLY A CURRENT LISTING OF THOSE READERS TESTED BY EITHER NSA OR NAVY. THE LIST IS EVOLVING BASED ON NEW READERS\DRIVERS BEING TESTED, AND IS AN ATTEMPT TO DEVELOP A BASELINE OF PC CARD READER INFORMATION TO PROVIDE TO DON USERS. TECHNICAL QUESTIONS ON PC CARD READERS AND FORTEZZA SHOULD BE REFERRED TO THE INFOSEC HELP DESK AT 1-800-304-4636. DON USERS DESIRING ADDITIONAL PC CARD READERS TESTED SHOULD CONTACT THE INFOSEC HELP DESK WITH THAT INFORMATION. NAVY USERS SHOULD USE THE AVAILABLE INFORMATION FROM PMW161 IN PROCURING PC CARD READERS. 5. THE ONGOING NSA MISSI BETA TEST, IN WHICH THE NAVY IS A PARTICIPANT, WILL REVEAL ADDITIONAL CARD READER INFO. HOWEVER, SPAWAR PMW-161 DESIRES A CONTINUED OPEN TECH DIALOGUE WITH NSA PERSONNEL IN WHICH FORTEZZA PC CARD TESTING INFO IS MADE WIDELY AVAILABLE TO DON USERS. THIS WILL ALLOW CUSTOMERS A SMOOTHER TRANSITION TO THE FORTEZZA TECHNOLOGY. THE NAVY RECOGNIZES THE ASSOCIATED PC CARD READER CONFLICTS ARE NOT CAUSED SOLELY BY THE FORTEZZA PC CARD BUT ARE OFTEN SYSTEM RELATED ISSUES IN WHICH SEVERAL FACTORS (DRIVER SOFTWARE, PC CARD READER HARDWARE, FORTEZZA PC CARD, APPLICATION SOFTWARE, AND CONVENTIONAL MEMORY LIMITATIONS) ARE INVOLVED. HOWEVER, NAVY CUSTOMERS ARE VERY CONCERNED ABOUT THE LARGE INVESTMENT THEY ARE MAKING IN THE PROCUREMENT OF NEW PCS AND STRONGLY DESIRE TO CORRECTLY POSITION THEMSELVES FOR THE FUTURE. FOR NSA: TO ALLEVIATE THIS CONCERN AND TO ASSIST DON USERS IN MAKING PROCUREMENT DECISIONS, REQUEST NSA PROVIDE FORTEZZA PC CARD READER INFO IN PUBLIC FORUM AS PLANNED. DISSEMINATION OF THIS INFO IS CRITICAL TO ENSURE A SUCCESSFUL IMPLEMENTATION OF FORTEZZA TECHNOLOGY. DON USERS MUST BE PROVIDED CLEAR GUIDANCE ON HOW TO BEST UTILIZE LIMITED RESOURCES.