[Cryptography] Sadly predictable: Terrorism used as excuse to attack encryption

[Perry E. Metzger]

Following the Paris terrorist attacks, only hours passed before I
saw the first article asking whether we need to ban encryption or
provide magic impossible "golden keys" to break it. This New York
Times article is, if anything, late to the game:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/17/world/europe/encrypted-messaging-apps-face-new-scrutiny-over-possible-role-in-paris-attacks.html

Perhaps the terrorists in Paris used encryption, but then again so
does just about everyone else using the internet, and for good
reason: otherwise our already terrible online security situation
would be so bad that the network would become unusable. Sure,
perhaps the terrorists used encryption, but the terrorists also
perhaps used automobiles, maps and a host of other every-day
technologies, just like everyone else, all of which are critical to
a functioning technological society.

I think part of the problem here is that most people are
technologically illiterate and don't even know that they depend on
strong encryption every single day to keep them secure, or how much
worse off they would be if it ceased to exist. By contrast, if someone
tried to publish a scare story saying "attackers used dangerous new
AUTOMOBILE technology" no one would take the claims seriously.

Perry
-- 
Perry E. Metzger		perry at piermont.com