[Cryptography] Trump wants to collaborate with the Russians to secure U.S. elections

[Ron Garret]

On Jul 10, 2017, at 5:39 AM, Erik <erik at erikgranger.name> wrote:

> On 07/09/2017 10:30 PM, Ron Garret wrote:
>> 
>> It would be terrific we could all Just Get Along as Rodney King once put it.  And the U.S. is certainly not without sin.  But the sad fact of the matter is that at present the U.S. and Russia are still adversaries, and have been for over 70 years.  That kind of legacy is not so easily overcome.  And you certainly don’t transform a long-standing adversary into an ally simply by treating them as a trusted party in the design of your defenses.
>> 
> 
> Maybe not, however it appears to me that the sentiment is nice. Whether
> or not the final software is actually used in elections remains to be
> seen, I doubt it will be, but getting the two countries to work together
> on something is, generally speaking, an act that helps build diplomatic
> bonds. Diplomatic bonds are what we need with Russia.

[I’ve taken the liberty of re-formatting your reply so that it conform’s to Perry’s rule against top-posting.]

Do you really not see any other possible damage that this collaboration could do other than having compromised software actually used in elections?

Do you really believe that there are no more effective ways of transforming our diplomatic relations than collaborating on a matter of national security in which the Russians have already attacked us once?

I would have thought this would be obvious to the people on this list, but maybe it needs stating: the premise behind cryptography is that you have an adversary who is bound by technical limitations but not by any other rules.  They will lie, cheat, and steal in order to compromise you.  That includes, but is not limited to, pretending not to be your adversary, which is the basis of the most elementary attacks: phishing and social engineering.

Yes, it is true that sometimes one can turn the tables on an adversary by accepting their false proffer of friendship (e.g. 419eater.com) but this is fraught with peril and requires a fair amount of skill.  I’m trying very hard to keep my political views out of this discussion, but I’m sorry, I don’t see how a reasonable person can possibly believe that Donald Trump possesses the necessary skills.

rg

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