Category Archives: keyescrow

G7 Comes Out in Favor of Encryption Backdoors

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From a G7 meeting of interior ministers in Paris this month, an "outcome document": Encourage Internet companies to establish lawful access solutions for their products and services, including data that is encrypted, for law enforcement and competent authorities to access digital evidence, when it is removed or hosted on IT servers located abroad or encrypted, without imposing any particular technology… Continue reading G7 Comes Out in Favor of Encryption Backdoors→

IEEE Statement on Strong Encryption vs. Backdoors

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The IEEE came out in favor of strong encryption: IEEE supports the use of unfettered strong encryption to protect confidentiality and integrity of data and communications. We oppose efforts by governments to restrict the use of strong encryption and/or to mandate exceptional access mechanisms such as "backdoors" or "key escrow schemes" in order to facilitate government access to encrypted data…. Continue reading IEEE Statement on Strong Encryption vs. Backdoors→

Ray Ozzie’s Encryption Backdoor

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Last month, Wired published a long article about Ray Ozzie and his supposed new scheme for adding a backdoor in encrypted devices. It’s a weird article. It paints Ozzie’s proposal as something that "attains the impossible" and "satisfies bo… Continue reading Ray Ozzie’s Encryption Backdoor→

Ray Ozzie’s Encryption Backdoor

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Last month, Wired published a long article about Ray Ozzie and his supposed new scheme for adding a backdoor in encrypted devices. It’s a weird article. It paints Ozzie’s proposal as something that "attains the impossible" and "satisfies both law enforcement and privacy purists," when (1) it’s barely a proposal, and (2) it’s essentially the same key escrow scheme we’ve… Continue reading Ray Ozzie’s Encryption Backdoor→

Apple to Store Encryption Keys in China

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Apple is bowing to pressure from the Chinese government and storing encryption keys in China. While I would prefer it if it would take a stand against China, I really can’t blame it for putting its business model ahead of its desires for customer priva… Continue reading Apple to Store Encryption Keys in China→

Apple to Store Encryption Keys in China

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Apple is bowing to pressure from the Chinese government and storing encryption keys in China. While I would prefer it if it would take a stand against China, I really can’t blame it for putting its business model ahead of its desires for customer privacy. Two more articles…. Continue reading Apple to Store Encryption Keys in China→

More on the Going Dark Debate

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Lawfare is turning out to be the go-to blog for policy wonks about various government debates on cybersecurity. There are two good posts this week on the Going Dark debate. The first is from those of us who wrote the "Keys Under Doormats" paper last year, criticizing the concept of backdoors and key escrow. We were responding to a half-baked… Continue reading More on the Going Dark Debate→

Companies Handing Source Code Over to Governments

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ZDNet has an article on US government pressure on software companies to hand over copies of their source code. There’s no details because no one is talking on the record, but I also believe that this is happening. When asked, a spokesperson for the Justice Dept. acknowledged that the department has demanded source code and private encryption keys before. These… Continue reading Companies Handing Source Code Over to Governments→

New NIST Encryption Guidelines

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NIST has published a draft of their new standard for encryption use: "NIST Special Publication 800-175B, Guideline for Using Cryptographic Standards in the Federal Government: Cryptographic Mechanisms." In it, the Escrowed Encryption Standard from the 1990s, FIPS-185, is no longer certified. And Skipjack, NSA’s symmetric algorithm from the same period, will no longer be certified. I see nothing sinister about… Continue reading New NIST Encryption Guidelines→