Andrea Castillo on the Crypto Wars 2.0
Anti-encryption officials are dangerously wrong.
The "Crypto Wars" are here again, which means federal officials are doing all they can to limit the technological tools that keep our personal data secure. President Obama and leaders from the National Security Agency, FBI, and Department of Homeland Security have been pressuring the technology community to build "backdoors" that allow government access to encrypted data.
The War on Terror provides plenty of rhetorical ammunition to these anti-encryption officials, who seem to believe that purposefully sabotaging our strongest defenses against "cyberterrorists" is an effective way to promote national security. But they are dangerously wrong, argues Andrea Castillo, as recent revelations of decades-old security vulnerabilities imposed by encryption restrictions make all too clear.