Tech Giants Hit by NSA Spying Slam Encryption Backdoors (zdnet.com)

A coalition of Silicon Valley tech giants has doubled down on its criticism of encryption backdoors following a proposal that would give law enforcement access to locked and encrypted devices. From a report: The group, which focuses on efforts to reform government surveillance, said in a statement that it continues to advocate for strong encryption, and decried attempts to undermine the technology. "Recent reports have described new proposals to engineer vulnerabilities into devices and services -- but they appear to suffer from the same technical and design concerns that security researchers have identified for years," the statement read. The renewed criticism follows a lengthy Wired article, in which former Microsoft software chief Ray Ozzie proposed a new spin on key escrow. Device encryption has hampered police investigations, and law enforcement officials have pushed tech companies to fix the problem -- even by way of suing them.

Comments

Re:This is the fight that will define the future

[Rick Schumann]

If I'm the only one with access to my encryption key then you can be sure that everything signed with it is from me.

Oh, no, you don't seem to understand: Unbreakable encryption will be illegal if they have their way; you'd have to obtain the software from illegal sources (even if you wrote it yourself), and you'd be arrested, tried, and convicted as a cybercriminal for posessing and using it. Furthermore your entire life would be turned upside down, as they sift through it trying to find your connections to terrorism. That 'investigation' would include your family, your friends, your employer, and everyone you know, and they'd sift through their lives, too, looking for any links to terrorism. Your life would be essentially ruined.

The Hardest Problem

[Humbubba]

In "A Higher Loyality" James Comey says encription is "the hardest problem I encountered in government... The leaders of tech companies don't see the darkness the FBI sees. Our days are dominated by the hunt for people planning terrorist attacks, hurting children, and engaging in organized crime. We see humankind at its most depraved, day in and day out. Horrific, unthinkable acts are what the men and women of the FBI live, breathe, and try to stop. I found it appalling that the tech types couldn't see this." (pg 87, A Higher Loyalty by James Comey)

James Comey sees a darkness abroad and in the general public here, and wants the tools to get evidence against those bad actors. The problem is, of course, those tools work on the good and bad alike, turning us all into potential victims of a surveillance state. None of us are perfect. Encryption backdoors make Lavrentiy Beria's quote even more profoundly threatening: "Show me the man and I'll find you the crime."