Category Archives: nationalsecuritypolicy

New White House Privacy Report

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Two days ago, the White House released a report on privacy: "Privacy in our Digital Lives: Protecting Individuals and Promoting Innovation." The report summarizes things the administration has done, and lists future challenges: Areas for Further Attention Technology will pose new consumer privacy and security challenges. Emerging technology may simultaneously create new challenges and opportunities for law enforcement and national… Continue reading New White House Privacy Report→

A Comment on the Trump Dossier

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Imagine that you are someone in the CIA, concerned about the future of America. You have this Russian dossier on Donald Trump, which you have some evidence might be true. The smartest thing you can do is to leak it to the public. By doing so, you are eliminating any leverage Russia has over Trump and probably reducing the effectiveness… Continue reading A Comment on the Trump Dossier→

A Comment on the Trump Dossier

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Imagine that you are someone in the CIA, concerned about the future of America. You have this Russian dossier on Donald Trump, which you have some evidence might be true. The smartest thing you can do is to leak it to the public. By doing so, you are eliminating any leverage Russia has over Trump and probably reducing the effectiveness… Continue reading A Comment on the Trump Dossier→

Classifying Elections as "Critical Infrastructure"

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I am co-author on a paper discussing whether elections be classified as "critical infrastructure" in the US, based on experiences in other countries: Abstract: With the Russian government hack of the Democratic National Convention email servers, and further leaks expected over the coming months that could influence an election, the drama of the 2016 U.S. presidential race highlights an important… Continue reading Classifying Elections as "Critical Infrastructure"→

Classifying Elections as "Critical Infrastructure"

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I am co-author on a paper discussing whether elections be classified as "critical infrastructure" in the US, based on experiences in other countries: Abstract: With the Russian government hack of the Democratic National Convention email servers, and further leaks expected over the coming months that could influence an election, the drama of the 2016 U.S. presidential race highlights an important… Continue reading Classifying Elections as "Critical Infrastructure"→

Encryption Working Group Annual Report from the US House of Representatives

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The Encryption Working Group of the House Judiciary Committee and the House Energy and Commerce Committee has released its annual report. Observation #1: Any measure that weakens encryption works against the national interest. Observation #2: Encryption technology is a global technology that is widely and increasingly available around the world. Observation #3: The variety of stakeholders, technologies, and other factors… Continue reading Encryption Working Group Annual Report from the US House of Representatives→

My Priorities for the Next Four Years

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Like many, I was surprised and shocked by the election of Donald Trump as president. I believe his ideas, temperament, and inexperience represent a grave threat to our country and world. Suddenly, all the things I had planned to work on seemed trivial in comparison. Although Internet security and privacy are not the most important policy areas at risk, I… Continue reading My Priorities for the Next Four Years→

Auditing Elections for Signs of Hacking

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Excellent essay pointing out that election security is a national security issue, and that we need to perform random ballot audits on every future election: The good news is that we know how to solve this problem. We need to audit computers by manually examining randomly selected paper ballots and comparing the results to machine results. Audits require a voter-verified… Continue reading Auditing Elections for Signs of Hacking→

Auditing Elections for Signs of Hacking

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Excellent essay pointing out that election security is a national security issue, and that we need to perform random ballot audits on every future election: The good news is that we know how to solve this problem. We need to audit computers by manually examining randomly selected paper ballots and comparing the results to machine results. Audits require a voter-verified… Continue reading Auditing Elections for Signs of Hacking→

Hacking and the 2016 Presidential Election

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Was the 2016 presidential election hacked? It’s hard to tell. There were no obvious hacks on Election Day, but new reports have raised the question of whether voting machines were tampered with in three states that Donald Trump won this month: Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. The researchers behind these reports include voting rights lawyer John Bonifaz and J. Alex Halderman,… Continue reading Hacking and the 2016 Presidential Election→