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A Back Door to Encryption Won't Stop Terrorists

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Re: A Back Door to Encryption Won't Stop Terrorists

#3
There's no evidence the plotters of the Paris terrorist attacks used encrypted communications

First sentence is already wrong.

They recovered smartphones that had encrypted messaging apps.

Still no excuse for government backdoors which will be stolen by all kinds of entities within months of their creation and allow the wrong people to spy on law enforcement itself.

Government had a 10 year headstart before all this, where are all the terrorists they stopped before this?

Re: A Back Door to Encryption Won't Stop Terrorists

#4
> but debates about whether the technology should have a "back door" for intelligence services are heating up again

What "debates"? there is absolutely nothing they can do to enforce terrorists to use backdoored encryption, any debate is just a waste of time, money, and maybe even lives. What are they thinking??

Re: A Back Door to Encryption Won't Stop Terrorists

#6
post #4

> but debates about whether the technology should have a "back door" for intelligence services are heating up again What "debates"? there is absolutely nothing they can do to enforce terrorists to use backdoored encryption, any debate is just a waste of time, money, and maybe even lives. What are they thinking??

> there is absolutely nothing they can do to enforce terrorists to use backdoored encryption,

I suppose they could deceive the public and put something in without telling us. That would be a real improvement! Oh wait,...Snowden...

The more I hear about what Diane Feinstein proposes in areas outside her expertise, the more I wish someone would defeat her in an election. She keep proposing stupid stuff that sounds good to uninformed rubes.

Re: A Back Door to Encryption Won't Stop Terrorists

#8
Encryption backdoors are a lightning-rod topic on HN, but instead of repeating all the common-talking points, I'd suggest the following:

Think through something like this, outside of your expertise, that you think the powers-that-be should just do. Maybe it's something with your local municipality's approach to road resurfacing, maybe it's the quarterback on your favorite football team, maybe it's your local zoning board.

Chances are better than even that there is a decent technical reason why they don't do what they do. Looking at things that way will save you a lot of headache in your life, and set you on the path to getting on someone's side to affect change, rather than just being another shrill voice yelling against them.

So politicians and intelligence services calling for encryption want, institutionally, to keep people safe. How can tech companies do that without breaking or backdooring encryption? That's the real problem to solve, and the first person to figure out how to do that will be way ahead.

Re: A Back Door to Encryption Won't Stop Terrorists

#9
Oh and by the way - the Paris terrorists didn't even use encryption:

https://theintercept.com/2015/11/18/signs-point-to-unencrypt...

How about that? Hopefully now the blame will be put where it should be: the wastefulness of mass surveillance, which dramatically increases the "noise" compared to the signals, since the agencies have to "look" at many more innocent people and waste time and resources doing so.

Re: A Back Door to Encryption Won't Stop Terrorists

#10

Encryption backdoors are a lightning-rod topic on HN, but instead of repeating all the common-talking points, I'd suggest the following: Think through something like this, outside of your expertise, that you think the powers-that-be should just do. Maybe it's something with your local municipality's approach to road resurfacing, maybe it's the quarterback on your favorite football team, maybe it's your local zoning b…

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