AN APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR AN ITERATIVE CRYPTOGRAPHIC BLOCK

A method and apparatus for an iterative cryptographic block (410) under the control of a CPU (210) and without a fixed number of stages. In one embodiment, a first cryptographic block (410) descrambles received information (424) using an internal key (470) or a preprogrammed key (472) to form a descrambled key or descrambled data. A data feedback path stores the descrambled data as internal data (442) and provides the internal data or the external data as data input to the first cryptographic block (410). A key feedback path stores the descrambled key as an internal key (470) and provides the internal key or the preprogrammed key to a key input of the first cryptographic block (410). A second cryptographic block (310) descrambles received content (222) using a final descrambling key. Other embodiments are described and claimed.