-· 

.... .,, .... 

v 

Mr. Davi9. Kahn, President 

New York Cipher Society 

Windsor Gate 

Great Neck, New York 

Dear Mr. Kahn: 

4 February 1955 

Thank you for your letter of 28 December 1954, which accom-

:pe.nies the New York Cipher Society's statement entitled "To 

Improve.Our Cryptographic Def'enses." As indicated in my letter 

of 11 January 1955, the subject has been discussed with representatives of the Director, National Security Agency. The Director 

concurs in this reply. 

The activ~ties and operations to which the Society's statement . - pertains fall in that category of information which I am sure we 

all agree is not on'.cy sensitive but vital to our national security. Rec~izing this fact, the 8lst Congress, after extended discussions, 

passed PUblic law 513, which President Truman approved on 13 May 1950· 

This law, codified as Section 798 of Title 18 of the United States 

Code, embodies legislation designed specifically to protect United 

States conn.unications intelligence activities and UnitedStates 

codes and ciphers. 

It is evid.ent that the position taken by the New York Cipher 

Society is, at least in part, consistent with the principle upon 

wl_rl.ch this special legislation rests, i.e., rather stringent protective measures are necessary for most of the information in the 

cryptologic category. 

At the sa.ne time, the serious problem of protecting vital 

security information without depriving the general public of knowledge to which it is entitled bas also been recognized and studied 

intensively by your government. Immediately after his inauguration, 

President Eisenhower called for a ~eview of Executive Order 10290 

of 24 September 1951, which established policy and procedures governing the trapsmission ~d_safekeeping of official information. As a 

direct re~uft.of ~hi~:~efiiew, the President issued Executive Order 

10501, da.ted 5 Nov~mb~r 1953 and e:f'f'ective on 15 December 1953· It 

is und~ i~- tel'J!lS ~f -~his orde~,-~r~~her tha.'l Executive Order 10450, 

as ~o~ed in your ~o~iety'e study, that official documents are clas.~ified. (Exe~u~ive Order· 10450 prescribes personnel security 

r~~rement~ tor ~0~'7.r~~t employees. ) . 

; ! r -. ! . ~ ':; !" _. -, .. ) -1'~ t" .. ., c ,;·. 

l' .... ' ' \. .. .. .- ~ .. ..i - l .. <f • - -· 

~•I.,;·~ ~o 'f ':.~ .~ 4 "<·". t •• T..., ,_ 

.. ~ I • • ~ ... ~ ... .,., ,& o '..ti' ... 1•,.. 

~ ,-. I 1 I S.1 -y• ~ ... ~ \ ~. " - ,,-,. •I , _r 

i _. .~. ,.Pf- .. .,.::+ ....... J - =- -·' .. ; ..!' • ~ .. .'' • ... ';.ii - • :!! ; .,,,,,. -

... "".,r ..- •• ~ ~- r - , ·~ :\ ·~ . ..;; · .. _... .. ... ~.. ·.1 .... ....,. .,. ! ....--.,., ~ ....... II. .. .1-" , .....,;. ... ,..=."'' _.... • ·~ .... 

~c... r-·-/- ;..... ... ............ .. ,. 1.: .. :... .... NSA on 04-30-2014 ursuantto E.O. 1352 
·. 

c--• 

REF ID:A6673. 

co PY .. The decision to raise or lower the classification of official 

inf'orma.tion requires judicious interpretation of' Executive Order 

10501 in each specific case. It is true that certain official 

documents pertaining to cryptography and crypta.I1B.lysis were upgraded 

as a result. of thi~ Order. It should be noted, however, that each 

document so upgraded was carefully and judiciously reviewed to determine whether it should be considered unclassified or should be 

accorded protection by use of an appropriate classif'ication. In each 

case the decision was ma.de in the light of what responsible authori- -. ties in t~. J;>e:pe.rtDl!nt_ of Defense considered not only permissible 

witbin t~ +:t.mi:f<at1.on of the spec:La1 legislation mentioned above but 

also in the best i~tere~ts ot ~tioDS.+ defense. ~ ·.. "' ' "" "' ·~ • .. - '.l rl }•.,. ........ ~ - ., .,:, ~ ~ .. ... ~ .... 

_; ~~ cons!deration was given in these decisions to the point 

men\).oμ.ed in your ta'Per Vi th res8.rd to the development of a "potential ~~ ot cryptographers.u It is recognized tr.at the number of persons qfiel!fie~ to ~~ec~te specialized jobs in the cryptologic field could 

be a~nted_by the production of training literature which could 

be wi4,ely disse.miIJ.8.ted_and available to amateur cryptologists. Apprec~tion of "t:h)..s need bas caused the Armed Forces to institute 

many_ s'f~ps to increase the number ot men and women in the Armed 

ForJes ,q_ual:!,fied i-P. th:tf;'I f'ield. I am certain you will understand, h~ver, that this .. is but one ot many methods of' enhancing and pr~Q'erving our Da..:tional security which must be considered and 

wighed by those respop.sible f'or that security. - -. !"( :- ;. . - -

\.... ·~ . - The!Fft is aisp general agreement as to the fruitf'U.lness of outside criticism and suggestion. That the suggestions and assistance 

from persons outside_govermnent cryptologic activities are considered 

desirable and valuable is evidenced by the tact that a Scientific 

Advisory Board composed of the Most highly-qualified scientists in 

several fields related to the cryptologic field assists and advises 

the Director of the .National Security .Agency. The Board in turn is 

assisted by several p:tnels likewise composed of eminent specie.lists 

in special fields pertaining to communications intelligence and 

communications security. In addition, government contracts have 

been let with several universities and certain highly-qualified 

industrial laboratories in order to take advantage of the special 

skills possessed by individuals outside government service. 

il you can see, the genera]. problem is considerably broader 

and more inclusive than the science of cryptography. It is, however, 

a. problem toward whose solution the scientific comm.unity and the 

government are both working so that the best interests of this 

nation can be appropriately served. 

Sincerely, 

s/ G. B. Erskine 

t/ G. B. ERSKINE 

General, USMC {Ret) 

Assistant to the Secretary of Defense 

(Special Operatiol}S) .