Senator Asks FBI Director To Justify His 'Ill-Informed' Policy Proposal For Encryption (gizmodo.com)

In a speech earlier this month, FBI Director Christopher Wray said the inability of law enforcement authorities to access data from electronic devices due to powerful encryption is an "urgent public safety issue." He proposed that Silicon Valley companies should add a backdoor to their encryption so that they could both "provide data security and permit lawful access with a court order." One person is not amused by Wray's proposal. Senator Ron Wyden criticized Wray on Thursday for not consulting him before going public with the proposal for encryption. Wyden said today, via Gizmodo: Your stated position parrots the same debunked arguments espoused by your predecessors, all of whom ignored the widespread and vocal consensus of cryptographers. For years, these experts have repeatedly stated that what you are asking for is not, in fact, possible. Building secure software is extremely difficult, and vulnerabilities are often introduced inadvertently in the design process. Eliminating these vulnerabilities is a mammoth task, and experts are unified in their opinion that introducing deliberate vulnerabilities would likely create catastrophic unintended consequences that could debilitate software functionality and security entirely.

[...] I would like to learn more about how you arrived at and justify this ill-informed policy proposal. Please provide me with a list of the cryptographers with whom you've personally discussed this topic since our July 2017 meeting and specifically identify those experts who advised you that companies can feasibly design government access features into their products without weakening cybersecurity. Please provide this information by February 23, 2018.

Comments

Re:Encryption enables criminals

[wonkey_monkey]

We encrypt in order to protect our information from bad actors.

Rob Schneider's always after my password!

So strange

[Anonymous Coward]

It just hit me that one of the reasons this story is so strange, is that someone in government (who is this Senator Wyden?) is treating the situation in a way that you might expect from an adult. I'm not used to this.

Are we sure he's a Senator from a state in America? I don't want to later find out that Oregon is a place in Wales or something like that.

Re:Encryption enables criminals

[Anne Thwacks]

If the authorities have a backdoor key, it's only a matter of time before the criminals get that key too.

I fully expect the bookies to take bets on whether the authorities lose the keys before the black hats find them. I am still considering my position on this one.

Re:Before anyone blames KKKonervative$

[Rakarra]

I remember GORE going to Oprah and stating that CLIPPER will STOP MOLESTERS and SATANISTS (remember that Satanists were a ****big deal**** and a moral panic in the late 90's. CLIPPER would STOP THEM).

Well I haven't heard much about ritual satanic abuse recently, so it looks like Clipper caught the abusers. Who's laughing now??

Re:How is China solving this dillema

[houghi]

I just want to say this from Radio Free Slashdot:
Jean has a large moustache.
Aunt Irma is feeling better.
A cigar is not in the package.

I repeat the message
Jean has a large moustache.
Aunt Irma is feeling better.
A cigar is not in the package.

This concludes the broadcast of Radio Free Slashdot