NSA certifies Raytheon’s KG-350 encryption system

The National Security Agency (NSA) certified Raytheon Company’s KG-350 Ethernet encryption system on Tuesday to protect network communications for sensitive information up to top secret/SCI classification.

Type 1 certification gives Raytheon the authorization to immediately sell the KG-350 encryptor to commercial, military and government customers. The new system expands Raytheon’s reach in the Layer 2 Ethernet encryption market, offering lower latency and higher throughput than contemporary encryption technology. The KG-350 has been outfitted for tactical vehicle use and fixed-site applications and is the first to conform to the NSA’s new ethernet security specifications (ESS) standard.

“Raytheon’s KG-350 provides the world’s fastest, highest-capacity networking system for secure communications,” John Droge, director of Raytheon Secure Information Systems, said. “Layer 2 encryption preserves bandwidth – increasing information throughput up to 45 percent – and enables uninterrupted real-time data, voice and video. The advantage of ESS compliance is that ESS encryptors are interoperable with one another, which means keeping pace with growing networking needs simply requires adding new encryptors rather than replacing entire networks.”

The system operates at three speeds — 100 Mbps, 1 Gbps and 10 Gbps. A single unit can ensure uninterrupted communications across far larger networks than previous technology in point-to-point, mesh and point-to-multi-point environments.