SoylentNews

c0lo [soylentnews.org] writes:

In a "How to Save the Internet" series, Wired runs the opinion [wired.com] of Bruce Schneier which makes a compelling case for splitting NSA in three. Says he:

By treating the Internet as a giant surveillance platform, the NSA has betrayed the Internet and the world. It has subverted the products, protocols, and standards that we use to protect ourselves. It has left us all vulnerable—to foreign governments, to cybercriminals, to hackers. And it has transformed the Internet into a medium that no one can trust.

Spying on foreign governments properly belongs within the Department of Defense under US Cyber Command. These days, espionage requires offensive actions in cyberspace—for example, breaking into networks and installing malware.[...] Attacking a foreign computer network is potentially an act of war, and we should be very careful in choosing to do so.

But the NSA's extensive domestic and foreign surveillance of individuals is an activity that is properly placed inside the Justice Department. There it can be subject to standard domestic law: the Constitution, the warrant process, conventional courts, and much less secrecy.

Finally, the NSA's defensive mission—protecting U.S. communications from eavesdropping and other attacks—should be transferred to a new organization.[...] This new agency would not have to be secret at all, because its ultimate goal ought to be a more secure Internet for everyone.

While all seems conceptually sound, I still have an uneasy feeling about placing the responsibility of fixing the internet in what used to be a part of NSA. What about you?

---

Original Submission