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from the responsible-encryption-=-unbreakable-encryption dept.
Techdirt covers a new paper published by the US National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine regarding the general access that the FBI and DOJ want to encrypted communications.
Another paper has been released, adding to the current encryption discussion. The FBI and DOJ want access to the contents of locked devices. They call encryption that can be bypassed by law enforcement "responsible encryption." It isn't. A recent paper by cryptograpghy expert Riana Pfefferkorn explained in detail how irresponsible these suggestions for broken or weakened encryption are.
This new paper [PDF] was put together by the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine. (h/t Lawfare) It covers a lot of ground others have and rehashes the history of encryption, along with many of the pro/con arguments. That said, it's still worth reading. It raises some good questions and spends a great deal of time discussing the multitude of options law enforcement has available, but which are ignored by FBI officials when discussing the backdoors/key escrow/weakened encryption they'd rather have.
The paper's suggestions have not been rigorously investigated by those with domain expertise, yet.
Source : Report On Device Encryption Suggests A Few Ways Forward For Law Enforcement
(Score: 2) by canopic jug on Sunday February 25 2018, @05:45AM (3 children)
Why is there all this effort to appease law enforcement??
There's a world of difference between the "peace officers" of four plus decades back and many of the "law enforcement" teams around now, both in their attitudes, equipment, and their use in the larger political schemes.
Expanding on RS3's comment, Trump has been making most of his pitches to his base, law enforcement [washingtonexaminer.com], which has been getting armed to the teeth with full military equipment [newsweek.com]. It won't make us any safer [fortune.com], it is about controlling the population through beat-downs and fear of beat-downs. Putting holes in the encryption so that it does not work just eliminates the need for manual investigations such that those in need of a beat-down can then be identified automatically, give or take a wide margin of error.
As everyone here sees, they are pushing for encryption that doesn't work. I notice that both major US parties appear eager for that. They're not concerned even a little about how many foreign interests are crawling all around in things. Law enforcement and their blind supporters are keen on that too as long as they can snoop around in it too without lifting a finger. It appears that various factions are learning that it is now time to announce whose backs they are willing to scratch in return for the same. As everyone here already knows, and points out regularly, encryption is either the kind that works or it is the kind that does not. There is no middle ground.
Money is not free speech. Elections should not be auctions.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Sunday February 25 2018, @08:25AM (2 children)
Any keys to back doors would probably be leaked within a month, appear in everyone's sig, people would have them tattooed.
At least that't the theory. But is that actually true?
Could there be a combination of an encryption method and a device, such the device is needed to use the encryption
(or more precisely to defeat the on-device encryption). The device is made illegal to possess, with death penalty,
manufactured by the government, held by the government, mandated by the government, etc.
You could probably keep that at least as secret as the nuclear launch codes, for at least as many years.
Remember, what the government wants is not to crack ssl/tls but rather the encryption used to encrypt the storage of the device.
Because everybody knows that as soon as you kidnap the little girl, you write her location into your phone and taunt the police with it.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by canopic jug on Sunday February 25 2018, @09:18AM
Because everybody knows that as soon as you kidnap the little girl, you write her location into your phone and taunt the police with it.
There are quite a few TV shows like that aren't there?
A few times, I tried to debate with various fans of those shows some of the hot topics that the individual episodes attacked, such as the importance of attorney-client privilege. It makes me seriously wonder if the main purpose of those shows is not entertainment but turning people against pesky things like due process, the US Bill of Rights, or that peskiest of all pieces of paper, the US Constitution [counterpunch.org]. Or maybe it is to wind them up against similar rules around the world, where they exist, because the shows are spread rather quickly to global targets.
Money is not free speech. Elections should not be auctions.
(Score: 2) by canopic jug on Sunday February 25 2018, @09:30AM
Any keys to back doors would probably be leaked within a month, appear in everyone's sig, people would have them tattooed.
At least that't the theory. But is that actually true?
I'll defer to the recognized specialists on that, and they assert unamiously that the backdoors would inevitably be leaked in short order.
I notice that the data breaches around the world show that the chance of holding backdoor keys secret would be close to zero if the same companies and technologies and companies would be involved. Maybe there is a parallel set of established, but secret, companies that will show up any moment and make themsevels known. But the current ones cannot do the job. Perhaps the various governments are holding out on us and have something magical that does exactly the task that all recognized cryptography experts assert is impossible. But that is most unlikely given how much they are begging, pleading, cajoling, and threatening the different ICT-related industries over the matter. Actions speak quite loudly.
Money is not free speech. Elections should not be auctions.