Controlled Cryptographic Item (CCI)

An example of a cryptographic CCI component is cryptographic logic hardware, such as a printed circuit board. Normally, a security clearance is not required for unkeyed CCIs, which are assigned to custodians or other personnel that do not require a location escort. Only U.S. employees holding classified keys have key CCI access.

The NSA groups encrypted items into four different types:

• Type 1: Sensitive or classified U.S. government information
• Type 2: Unclassified and encrypted equipment for government information that requires safeguarding due to data sensitivity
• Type 3: Algorithms for sensitive and unclassified information that is either owned by the U.S. government or commercially endorsed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Type 3 items are registered and published by the Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS).
• Type 4: Algorithms that are NIST registered but not published by FIPS