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The RED/BLACK concept refers to the careful segregation in cryptographic systems of signals that contain sensitive or classified plaintext information (RED signals) from those that carry encrypted information, or ciphertext (BLACK signals). In NSA jargon, encryption devices are often called blackers, because they convert RED signals to BLACK. TEMPEST standards specify shielding or a minimum physical distance between wires carrying RED and BLACK signals.
RED/BLACK terminology is also applied to keys. BLACK keys have themselves been encrypted with a key encryption key (KEK) and are therefore benign. RED key is not encrypted and must be treated as highly sensitive material.
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