A microprocessor selective encryption terminal for privacy protection
John H. Carson, John K. Summers, James S. Welch · 1977
This paper reports on an experiment performed by the METREK Division of The MITRE Corporation from November 1975 through August 1976. The purpose of the experiment was to determine how effectively a low cost microcomputer could provide privacy protection to a user of a time-shared computer system. The microprocessor was used to selectively encrypt information entered at the terminal before transmission to the host computer so that the protected information never appears in plaintext form at the host computer. The advantages and disadvantages of this approach along with the operational details of the experimental system are presented.