Op-ed on encryption: Privacy is no longer an argument

[Steven M. Bellovin]

In message <20010921010445.B5859 at cluebot.com>, Declan McCullagh writes:
>
>
>http://www.wartimeliberty.com/article.pl?sid=01/09/21/0450203
>
>   Crypto Op-Ed: Privacy No Longer an Argument
>   posted by admin on Thursday September 20, @11:39PM
>
>   M. W. Guzy has a provocative and not entirely coherent essay
>   in Wednesday's St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Excerpt: "(Then-Senator
>   John) Ashcroft wrote that mandating deciphering tools was tantamount
>   to requiring 'individuals to surrender the keys to their house... to
>   the FBI just in case they are someday suspected of breaking the law.'
>   Somehow, that argument rings a little hollow when viewed through the
>   smoldering ruins of the World Trade Center... Now, the landscape has
>   changed. National sovereignty is at stake, and defeat is not an
>   option..." Note that Guzy's essay is part condemnation of modern
>   capitalism, part criticism of business for its support of market
>   liberalism, and entirely inspired by wartime rhetoric. 


Apart from anything else, Guzy misses the technical argument:  that key 
escrow will likely make things worse.  In a recent (post-attack) 
interview, I asked the reporter what would happen to escrowed keys if 
Robert Hansen were still at large.  As for "but lives aren't at stake" 
-- that's far from clear.  What if an attacker takes out the power grid 
or gas pipelines in the middle of winter?  (According to the Russian 
Interior ministry, a hacker took control of Gazprom's pipelines last 
year.  Gazprom is the largest natural gas producer in the world.)  For 
that matter, a few days ago the New York Times reported on a proposal 
to add remote piloting features to planes, as an anti-hijacking 
measure.  How are those links to be secured?

		--Steve Bellovin, http://www.research.att.com/~smb
				  http://www.wilyhacker.com





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