Cryptographic wiretapping at 100 Megabits

Abstract

This paper describes the Advanced Packet Vault, a cryptographically secured archiver of network packet data that reliably captures all packets on a 100 Mbps Ethernet network, encrypts them, and writes them to long-term magnetic tape storage for later analysis and evidentiary purposes. Based on a previous prototype, the APV provides an enhanced cryptographic organization that allows site-specific selection of the encryption format and that permits selected traffic to be made available without compromising the security of other traffic. The APV operates reliably under a continuous 100 Mbps load. We conclude with a discussion of future work necessary to scale the APV beyond 100 Mbps.