[Cryptography] The vultures circle...

[Jan Schaumann]

[Feel free to moderate from list; I just might be rambling.]

"Perry E. Metzger" <perry at piermont.com> wrote:
 
> None of these segments interviewed anyone with a contrary opinion,
> or indeed anyone with any technical expertise.

The real danger here is the ever applicable Gell-Mann Amnesia effect[1];
*we* know this is hogwash, but the majority of the people take it as
fact that Evil Doers(tm) are empowered (solely) by spooky encryption
(and what do the rest of us have to hide anyway?).

On the brighter side, though, not all media is willing to throw us under
the bus just yet.  The editorial board of the NY Times, after its
journalists initially fell into the "uhoh, crypto" trap[2], asserted
well that

  requiring that companies build such back doors into their
  devices and software could make those systems much more
  vulnerable to hacking by criminals and spies.[3]

As bleak as Crypto Wars 2.0 (or is it 2.1 now? Who keeps track?) look
today, I like to think that all is not lost.  For every 5 articles
conjuring the crypto boogie man, there is still one that tries to
keep some balance.

But yes, we do need everybody's help.  The coming election will no doubt
be shaped by the events in Paris; the positions taken by the candidates
already reflect what they think their supporters or target audience
wants them to say.  As cynical as I am, I hope the repugnant statements
this has already elicited will in fact be to their detriment.

-Jan

[1] https://twitter.com/jschauma/status/659891307104641024
[2] https://web.archive.org/web/20151115191248/http:/www.nytimes.com/2015/11/16/world/europe/paris-attackers-communicated-with-isis-officials-say.html
[3] http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/18/opinion/mass-surveillance-isnt-the-answer-to-fighting-terrorism.html