[Cryptography] French election attacked.

[Christian Huitema]

On 5/5/2017 8:55 PM, Phillip Hallam-Baker wrote:
> Might we hope that this is a huge deal for cryptography? France has
> traditionally been the Western country with the most restrictive laws
> on the use of cryptography.

That was the argument that eventually worked in the 90's in France: "If
we keep banning encryption , the Americans will have a field day spying
on our companies." The law banning encryption of electronic
communication dated from WW1, and so the opponents just had to maintain
status quo. But the DST and then the politicians became convinced that
keeping the ban amounted to unilateral disarmament, and the restrictions
were finally lifted. Somewhat. There is still a fair amount of red tape
required.

So yes, "the Russians are attacking our politicians" might be an
argument for boosting defenses. Although it might also cut the other
ways, as in "we should let the police help citizens from the Russians."

 
-- Christian Huitema