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If the cops and Feds can't read people's encrypted messages, you will install backdoors for us, regardless of the security hit, US Attorney General William Barr has told the technology world.
While speaking today in New York, Barr demanded eavesdropping mechanisms be added to consumer-level software and devices, mechanisms that can be used by investigators to forcibly decrypt and pry into strongly end-to-end encrypted chats, emails, files, and calls. No ifs, no buts.
And while this will likely weaken secure data storage and communications – by introducing backdoors that hackers and spies, as well as the cops and FBI, can potentially leverage to snoop on folks – it will be a price worth paying. And, after all, what do you really need that encryption for? Your email and selfies?
"We are not talking about protecting the nation's nuclear launch codes," Barr told the International Conference on Cyber Security at Fordham University. "Nor are we necessarily talking about the customized encryption used by large business enterprises to protect their operations. We are talking about consumer products and services such as messaging, smart phones, email, and voice and data applications. There have been enough dogmatic pronouncements that lawful access simply cannot be done. It can be, and it must be."
Related: DOJ: Strong Encryption That We Don't Have Access to is "Unreasonable"
FBI Director Calls Encryption a "Major Public Safety Issue"
FBI Director: Without Compromise on Encryption, Legislation May be the 'Remedy'
Five Eyes Governments Get Even Tougher on Encryption
Australia Set to Pass Controversial Encryption Law
FBI: End-to-End Encryption Problem "Infects" Law Enforcement and Intelligence Community
(Score: 2) by SomeGuy on Thursday July 25 2019, @02:39PM (2 children)
WHY?
Terrorists? Ohhhkay. But it always boils down to controlling thought and communications.
Sure, today it is terrorists that really shoot people up, and that is bad. But tomorrow it may be any idea that the government doesn't like. The sad thing is, they probably will get their way, at least some aspects of it.
The other day I was watching some new crap sci-fi TV show that supposedly takes place hundreds of years in the future. A lot of the action involved people sneaking around, breaking in to things, keeping secrets - the sort of thing that is common in older TV shows. But a lot of what was going on would be very difficult or even impossible today, due to the amount of surveillances, and tracking.
In the real future, you won't be able to raise a finger without it registering in dozens of different systems, where that action is analyzed, aggregated, monetized, scanned for possible government, social, and corporate imposed "undesirable actions", with either an immediate or long term response deployed.
Today, businesses are already getting their share with consumertards happily handing over private data for analysis. What is going to stop government from getting their share eventually?
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 25 2019, @04:33PM
No. Mass data aggregation for financial gain (just think of the trades you could make if you had better data on who is shopping than anybody else), and dirt on political rivals.
Real terrorist threats and state level actors will use something they can audit, something worth the hassle. One-time pads and ham radio. Boom! Terrorists win.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 25 2019, @05:58PM
i'm not saying i wouldn't kill them, but there's no such thing as terrorists. only fighters with less resources and therefore different tactics. never mind that those resources and tactics are many times shaped by the tightening noose around their neck held by their adversary.