Going Dark Crypto Debate Going Nowhere (threatpost.com)

msm1267 writes: FBI general counsel James Baker reiterated a theme his boss James Comey started months ago, that Silicon Valley needs to find a solution to the "Going Dark" encryption problem. Two crypto and security experts, however, pointed out during a security event in Boston that encryption remains the best defense against the government's surveillance overreach and espionage hacking targeting intellectual property. “If we were able to engineer a mechanism where we’re splitting a key and having a third party escrow it where the government could ask for it, the very next thing that would happen is that China et al will ask for the same solution. And we’re unlikely to give them the same solution,” Eric Wenger, director of cybersecurity and privacy, said. “Complexity kills, and the more complex you make a system, the more difficult it is to secure it. I don’t see how developing a key-bases solution secures things the way you want it to without creating a great deal of complexity and having other governments demand the same thing.”

Comments

I think it's worse than you describe

[mariox19]

[...] the very next thing that would happen is that China et al will ask for the same solution.

I think this is actually backwards compared to how it may actually play out. This month's *Harper's Magazine* has an interesting essay about American businesses operating in China. (*Harper's* is paywalled, but you get a few free views per month.) The essay can be found here:

"The New China Syndrome: American business meets its new master"

The gist of the essay is that China's authoritarian government strong-arms American businesses, using all of the tools at its command, including outright arrest of business executives, and that this is only going to get worse, to the point where China will be setting U.S. policy by proxy, via business lobbying. After reading that essay yesterday, my guess is that China may someday soon pressure businesses for a backdoor, be granted that backdoor, and that the U.S. government may then get its wish based on China's precedent.

Dear Mr. Baker

[sheetsda]

Dear Mr. Baker,

I have an interest in this discussion as an engineer on a product that uses encryption. Here's a small sample of my companies customer list:

- Federal Bureau of Investigation
- US Department of Defense
- US Department of State
- US Department of Homeland Security
- US Air Force
- US Army
- Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division
- Northrop Grumman
- Lockheed Martin
- Raytheon

I am sure these organizations would love to hear why you need access to their data. I am sure the governments of China and Russia would never dream of hacking into your key repository, honest.

Disclaimer: opinions expressed here are mine and do not represent my employer.