[Cryptography] TAO, NSA crypto backdoor program

[Bill Frantz]

On 12/30/13 at 5:42 PM, fergdawgster at mykolab.com (Paul Ferguson) wrote:

>I am also impressed at the level of effort here. I did not think we would
>be "here" -- figuratively speaking -- when everyone was calling Dorothy
>Denning the "Wicked Witch of the East" for her support of key escrow back
>in the early 90's on the cypherpunk list (I have not been on that list in
>many years).
>
>In any event -- and please don't take this the wrong way -- it is almost as
>sickening to me as someone telling a rape victim to sit back and enjoy the
>ride, or that they should admire their rapist for their technique and
>efficacy.
>
>I won't make any ham-handed comparisons to GOP candidates in 2011. :-)
>
>Seriously, the breadth & depth of how the NSA and the U.S. Intelligence
>Community has damaged trust in the post-9/11 Internet world is sick &
>twisted in the most grotesque way imaginable.
>
>It is not to be respected or admired in any way whatsoever. They have
>undermined everything we have been trying to do on the Internet in the name
>of safety and security for 20+ years.

One thing to remembrer in this mess: NSA isn't the only capable 
National Scale Adversary. While I might believe that NSA and 
GCHQ could, in the future, again be restrained by the rule of 
law, I don't believe we can use law to control the Russians and 
Chinese, to name just two. We have a wonderful worked example of 
the kind of threat we need to defend against. If we manage to 
rein in our eavesdropping agencies by use of law, we still have 
ones that aren't ours to worry about.

Cheers - Bill

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