IEEE supports the use of unfettered strong encryption to protect confidentiality and integrity of data and communications. We oppose efforts by governments to restrict the use of strong encryption and/or to mandate exceptional access mechanisms such as "backdoors" or "key escrow schemes" in order to facilitate government access to encrypted data. Governments have legitimate law enforcement and national security interests. IEEE believes that mandating the intentional creation of backdoors or escrow schemes -- no matter how well intentioned -- does not serve those interests well and will lead to the creation of vulnerabilities that would result in unforeseen effects as well as some predictable negative consequences.
Tag: encryption
Details on a New PGP Vulnerability
Why is anyone using encrypted e-mail anymore, anyway? Reliably and easily encrypting e-mail is an insurmountably hard problem for reasons having nothing to do with today's announcement. If you need to communicate securely, use Signal. If having Signal on your phone will arouse suspicion, use WhatsApp.
Interesting that Bruce things email encryption is a lost cause. For reasons that are mostly about ease of use.
Device encryption “Do as I say, not as I do"
Just over one year ago, president Don Trump called upon all Americans to boycott Apple until the company agreed to help investigators unlock an iPhone tied to the tragedy in San Bernardino.
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Apparently, POTUS has changed his mind. Trump’s director of social media and senior advisor Dan Scavino Jr. in a tweet in March of 2017.
.@POTUS @realDonaldTrump has been using his new iPhone?for the past couple of weeks here on Twitter. Yes, it is #POTUS45 reading & tweeting!
— Dan Scavino (@DanScavino) March 29, 2017
I guess only elected officials are allowed to have the full rights afforded by the United State constitution.
Why am I bringing this up? Because device encryption is back in the news. From a post on threatpost:
Government and law enforcement officials may soon reignite the debate over encryption after the FBI today revealed that the dead suspect in Sunday’s Texas church shooting was using an encrypted cellphone.
FBI special agent Christopher Comb did not reveal what type of phone alleged shooter Devin Kelley was using, only that it was sent to the FBI research center in Quantico, Va.
This debate is getting tiring. When will the government realize that society can't have it both ways? If we have locks that can be easily opened by law enforcement but unexploitable by criminals. We can't have absolute security without totalitarianism. We can't have freedom without privacy.
I feel these are the same sort of people who, if it was technically possible, would build a device to rip your thoughts out of your head. Just in case. Who knows, you might be thinking of committing a crime. Wouldn't society be safer if we could just have everyone submit to a thorough mental pre-screening every day?
