Encryption Package 1a.44.87
- "A rather handy item for anyone not wanting or needing to go to enormous lengths to encrypt a datafile. AccuTronics' Encryption Package does just fine for securing the wanted files we circulate throughout the systems … but I would hardly use it to safeguard the location of Delta Base."
- ―General Airen Cracken
The Encryption Package 1a.44.87 was a datafile encryption device produced by AccuTronics. During the Rebel Alliance's war with the Galactic Empire, Alliance Intelligence modified the Encryption Package so that it was suitable for encrypting low-security datafiles. After the formation of the New Republic, the Encryption Package was included in Gundark's Gear Datalog, a database maintained by the arms dealer "Gundark."
Description
The Encryption Package 1a.44.87 was a datafile encryption device produced by AccuTronics that was intended for civilian use. It cost 500 credits and was suitable for people who did not need to go to great lengths to ensure a datafile was encrypted securely.[1] The Encryption Package's encryption algorithm used a base 10 system; however, this could be modified and improved by someone skilled in programming.[2]
History
- "The security protocols on the AccuTronics are a little dated; anybody with some decent programming skills can make the encryption routine more impressive by slicing into the coding algorithms and change them to a base 12 system from its existing base 10."
- ―Chello's note published in Gundark's Gear Datalog
During the war between the Rebel Alliance and the Galactic Empire, the Cryptology division of Alliance Intelligence modified and upgraded the AccuTronics Encryption Package 1a.44.87 so that it was suitable for encrypting datafiles with lesser security requirements. In an entry[1] in his field guide for Rebel personnel,[3] General Airen Cracken deemed the Encryption Package useful for securing wanted files circulated through Alliance systems but considered it insufficient for protecting information, such as the location of the Alliance's Delta Base.[1]
During the time of the New Republic, the Encryption Package was included in Gundark's Gear Datalog, a database distributed by the arms dealer who operated under the alias "Gundark." The Encryption Package's entry in the datalog included a note written on the date 36:6:3 by the individual known as Chello, who considered the device's security protocols to be dated. Chello recommended improving the encryption routine by slicing into the coding algorithms and changing them to use a base 12 system rather than a base 10 system, which Chello believed would make it harder for most rookie slicers to gain access to the encrypted datafile.[2]
Behind the scenes
The Encryption Package 1a.44.87 was first mentioned in the 1996 article "Cracken's Rebel Field Guide: Slicing Aids," which appeared in Star Wars Adventure Journal 10. It was published by West End Games, and was written by Craig Robert Carey and J. P. Pietrzak.[1]
Sources
"Cracken's Rebel Field Guide: Slicing Aids" – Star Wars Adventure Journal 10 (First mentioned)- Gundark's Fantastic Technology: Personal Gear