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Key-tape disintegrator
KD-100 is a disintegrator for punched paper tapes as used with Teleprinters
and some historical cipher machines,
such as machines in the mixer-class.
The device is manufactured by Applied Magnetics Lab in Baltimore (Maryland, USA)
and is also known as the Crypto-Stroyer™.
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Cryptographic key tapes are generally used as One-Time Pad (OTP)
or One-Time Tape (OTT), which means that they should only
be used once and that they should be destroyed immediately after use.
Some cipher machines, like the Philips Ecolex 4
are equipped with a small knife that cuts the tape in half immediately after
use.
However, from a security point of view this is not sufficient and this is where
the KD-100 comes in. It can process paper tape, Polyester-Maylar-Polyester (PMP) and plastic tapes and reduces them to nothing but dust within a few
seconds.
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The unit shown here has a black plastic valve at the left side for connection
to an external vacuum cleaner. It was used for high-volume tape processing
and was called KD-100-EXTVAC. Earlier versions of the KD-100 used a small
internal dust-bag, similar to the ones used in hand vacuum cleaners.
The KD-100-EXTVAC could be retrofitted to such older devices.
The tape to be destroyed is fed into the device through a small port at the
front right.
The KD-100 is approved for use by the US Department of Defence (DoD) [3]
and is protected by no less than 12 US Patents, which is probably more
that its total number of components ;-)
Check out Brooke Clarke's KD-100 page
for an overview of the patents and a nice video demonstration.
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Please note that most KD-100 devices on the market are suitable for connection
to 110V AC mains only. They can not be used directly in most European countries
where the mains power is between 220 and 240V. Connecting the KD-100 to 220V
AC or higher will most certainly destroy the device. A 220/110 transformer
should be used instead.
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