FBI Director: Government-Proof Encryption Threatens National Security

[BarryDonegan]

http://truthinmedia.com/fbi-director-government-proof-encryption-threatens-national-security/

In an op-ed, FBI Director James Comey argued that data encryption methods that can not be cracked by agents of the government are a threat to US national security.

[timosman]

After paying brief lip service to the benefits of strong encryption, Comey began to lay out why he thinks future advancements in encryption technology will “inexorably affect my ability to do [my] job.”

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_3cib3fK139M/TMvVUSyIQJI/AAAAAAAAF2I/uXQ1XS1NFHM/s1600/Worlds+Smallest+Violin.jpg

[Ronin Truth]

What, operating those government decryption quantum computers just a little to challenging for your FBI IT crew? :p

[kpitcher]

What, operating those government decryption quantum computers just a little to challenging for your FBI IT crew? :p

Maybe the NSA doesn't let other letter agencies play with their toys.. waaaah!

[tod evans]

The idea that government should have access to civilian communications is flawed from the beginning.

It's akin to the idea that LEO's should have better arms than civilians.

Government MUST fear the citizenry to function properly....

[Ronin Truth]

The idea that government should have access to civilian communications is flawed from the beginning.

It's akin to the idea that LEO's should have better arms than civilians.

Government MUST fear the citizenry to function properly....

When did that situation last exist? :confused:

[tod evans]

When did that situation last exist? :confused:

Before I was born.....:(

[Suzanimal]

FBI Director: Government-Proof Encryption Threatens National Security

In an op-ed, FBI Director James Comey argued that data encryption methods that can not be cracked by agents of the government are a threat to US national security.


On Monday, Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey penned an op-ed in the national security blog Lawfare which claimed that data encryption techniques that are effective enough to challenge the government’s ability to crack them are a threat to national security.

“The logic of encryption will bring us, in the not-to-distant future, to a place where devices and data in motion are protected by universal strong encryption. That is, our conversations and our ‘papers and effects’ will be locked in such a way that permits access only by participants to a conversation or the owner of the device holding the data,” said Comey. After paying brief lip service to the benefits of strong encryption, Comey began to lay out why he thinks future advancements in encryption technology will “inexorably affect my ability to do [my] job.”


“When the government’s ability—with appropriate predication and court oversight—to see an individual’s stuff goes away, it will affect public safety,” asserted Comey. He continued, evoking terrorism, “That tension is vividly illustrated by the current ISIL threat, which involves ISIL operators in Syria recruiting and tasking dozens of troubled Americans to kill people, a process that increasingly takes part through mobile messaging apps that are end-to-end encrypted, communications that may not be intercepted, despite judicial orders under the Fourth Amendment. But the tension could as well be illustrated in criminal investigations all over the country. There is simply no doubt that bad people can communicate with impunity in a world of universal strong encryption.”

According to National Journal, Comey will testify on Wednesday before the US Senate’s Intelligence and Judiciary committees on the challenges law enforcement agencies face in keeping up with encryption techniques.

Earlier this year, President Obama took a position similar to Comey’s on the issue and said, “If we get into a situation which the technologies do not allow us at all to track somebody we’re confident is a terrorist… that’s a problem.”

....

http://truthinmedia.com/fbi-director-government-proof-encryption-threatens-national-security/?utm_source=jes&utm_medium=fb&utm_campaign=jes25

[ChristianAnarchist]

Smoke and mirrors... They can never stop this. As long as 15 years ago people were sending "illegal" information by posting jpeg images on the newsgroups that had code imbedded in them that only the one holding the key could encode. I'm not privy to what the illegal information was (since I never had the key) but I'm assuming it could have been child porn or software keys or secret corporate information. I only know that it was practiced way back then and I'm sure it's still taking place today on image hosting sites all over the globe. Who knows what information is hidden in all those cute kitty cat pictures...

[tangent4ronpaul]

Smoke and mirrors... They can never stop this. As long as 15 years ago people were sending "illegal" information by posting jpeg images on the newsgroups that had code imbedded in them that only the one holding the key could encode. I'm not privy to what the illegal information was (since I never had the key) but I'm assuming it could have been child porn or software keys or secret corporate information. I only know that it was practiced way back then and I'm sure it's still taking place today on image hosting sites all over the globe. Who knows what information is hidden in all those cute kitty cat pictures...

It's called Steganography and it's been around for a lot more than 15 years. It degrades the image slightly, but this is not that noticeable if you are only taking a small amount of message space (bits). If you take a lot of bits, it gets very noticeable.

I found it interesting when we got UBL (Oh yeah, I forgot he's living with Elvis and Lee Harvey Oswald :) ) that the news said they pulled out a ton of porn video tapes. Always wondered if that what a PSYOP to discredit him and help prevent him from being a martyr or if that was very smart as porn is banned in the middle east, so any found tape would disappear if found and never seen again... It's actually like evangelicals here, <wink, wink>, <nudge, nudge> but if a uniform finds you with one, expect it to disappear.

Extraction of the data and decryption are different beasts.

-t

[puppetmaster]

Is there any government proof encryption?

[Occam's Banana]

Is there any government proof encryption?

Yes. It was used for the Declaration of Independence. And the US Constitution. And the Bill of Rights (especially the 9th & 10th amendments).

Apparently, the encoding of those documents is so strong that the government hasn't been able to crack any of them ...

[DamianTV]

*sigh*

The REAL threat to National Security is Citizen Proof Encryption. Top it off with Secret Laws, Secret Jails, Secret Courts, Secret Sentences, and a Congress that could give two squirts of piss less what the people need: Privacy to grow according to their own self-determination, not Corporations or Corporate Governments.

[Ronin Truth]

*sigh*

The REAL threat to National Security is Citizen Proof Encryption. Top it off with Secret Laws, Secret Jails, Secret Courts, Secret Sentences, and a Congress that could give two squirts of piss less what the people need: Privacy to grow according to their own self-determination, not Corporations or Corporate Governments.

"The very word "secrecy" is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths and to secret proceedings. We decided long ago that the dangers of excessive and unwarranted concealment of pertinent facts far outweighed the dangers which are cited to justify it. Even today, there is little value in opposing the threat of a closed society by imitating its arbitrary restrictions. Even today, there is little value in insuring the survival of our nation if our traditions do not survive with it. And there is very grave danger that an announced need for increased security will be seized upon by those anxious to expand its meaning to the very limits of official censorship and concealment. That I do not intend to permit to the extent that it is in my control. And no official of my Administration, whether his rank is high or low, civilian or military, should interpret my words here tonight as an excuse to censor the news, to stifle dissent, to cover up our mistakes or to withhold from the press and the public the facts they deserve to know." -- President John F. Kennedy, Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, New York City, April 27, 1961

[Ronin Truth]

Before I was born.....:(


Before my great, great, great grandfather was born.....:(

[timosman]

"The very word "secrecy" is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths and to secret proceedings. We decided long ago that the dangers of excessive and unwarranted concealment of pertinent facts far outweighed the dangers which are cited to justify it. Even today, there is little value in opposing the threat of a closed society by imitating its arbitrary restrictions. Even today, there is little value in insuring the survival of our nation if our traditions do not survive with it. And there is very grave danger that an announced need for increased security will be seized upon by those anxious to expand its meaning to the very limits of official censorship and concealment. That I do not intend to permit to the extent that it is in my control. And no official of my Administration, whether his rank is high or low, civilian or military, should interpret my words here tonight as an excuse to censor the news, to stifle dissent, to cover up our mistakes or to withhold from the press and the public the facts they deserve to know." -- President John F. Kennedy, Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, New York City, April 27, 1961

Wow, what a difference a few years can make. From the same speech:



Without debate, without criticism, no Administration and no country can succeed--and no republic can survive. That is why the Athenian lawmaker Solon decreed it a crime for any citizen to shrink from controversy. And that is why our press was protected by the First Amendment-- the only business in America specifically protected by the Constitution- -not primarily to amuse and entertain, not to emphasize the trivial and the sentimental, not to simply "give the public what it wants"--but to inform, to arouse, to reflect, to state our dangers and our opportunities, to indicate our crises and our choices, to lead, mold, educate and sometimes even anger public opinion.

http://www.jfklibrary.org/Research/Research-Aids/JFK-Speeches/American-Newspaper-Publishers-Association_19610427.aspx

[ChristianAnarchist]

Is there any government proof encryption?

I believe truecrypt is the best for simplicity and strength. It is (was) open source and therefore unlikely to have any back doors. I think the goons put pressure on them to stop providing it and claim that you should use microsoft encryption instead (oh, I'm sure they don't have a back door - not...). Truecrypt is powerful enough that you can even encrypt your entire operating system if you like. Of course all encryption is only good if you have a strong password. I would use at least 12 characters... ;)

[kpitcher]

I believe truecrypt is the best for simplicity and strength. It is (was) open source and therefore unlikely to have any back doors. I think the goons put pressure on them to stop providing it and claim that you should use microsoft encryption instead (oh, I'm sure they don't have a back door - not...). Truecrypt is powerful enough that you can even encrypt your entire operating system if you like. Of course all encryption is only good if you have a strong password. I would use at least 12 characters... ;)

truecrypt is discontinued but there are forks that are still being worked on. Truecrypt did hold up to the FBI attempts at trying to crack it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TrueCrypt

There are a number of potential secure encryption options out there. Since no one knows what the NSA can actually do who knows.