NSA Head Says Encryption is 'Foundational to the Future'

Security official says encryption is fact of modern life.

The head of the National Security Agency (NSA) stepped into the encryption debate this week with remarks to the Atlantic Council, an international affairs think tank based in Washington, D.C.  

As The Intercept reports, Adm. Mike Rogers told the group that the argument over encryption was a waste of time and that the technology was "foundational to the future": 

"Rogers stressed that the cybersecurity battles the U.S. is destined to fight call for more widespread use of encryption, not less. 'What you saw at OPM, you're going to see a whole lot more of,' he said, referring to the massive hack of the Office of Personnel Management involving the personal data about 20 million people who have gotten background checks.

'So spending time arguing about 'hey, encryption is bad and we ought to do away with it' … that's a waste of time to me,' he said, shaking his head."

Rogers comments contrast to recent positions taken by FBI director James Comey and Sens. Richard Burr (R-NC) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) who argued for more government access to back door communications and data. (Read more about the encryption debate here.)

In the video below, Reason TV producer Anthony L. Fisher gives you step-by-step instructions on how to protect your communications from prying eyes in the government and how to chat anonymously online. 

Chatting anonymously on the internet isn't used solely for shadowy criminal hackers and government operatives. From journalists to congressmen, learning how to adjust the privacy of our digital communication is becoming an ever more important skill.

Browsing and communicating on the internet anonymously is difficult, time-consuming, and painstaking. One weak link or careless trace of metadata can expose your identity to the world. But that doesn't mean you need a Master's Degree in computer science to avoid the prying eyes of the NSA. 

In five easy steps, Reason TV shows you the basics of "How to Chat Anonymously Online."

For full detailed steps, go here: https://reason.com/archives/2016/01/1…

Comments

[MSimon]

I actually want the government to read what I write.

[AlmightyJB]

You're free to share your ssn, credit card numbers, bank account numbers, 401K account passeords, or whatever you would like right now.

[Crusty Juggler]

I want the government to watch me on chatroulette.

[Hamster of Doom]

Watch Crusty on Chatroulette.

[Crusty Juggler]

I wish I had his moves. And his body.

[commodious spittoon]

You bunch of preverts.

[MJGreen - Docile Citizen]

Same, so long as they also Like it.

[AlmightyJB]

Good for him. It is such an obvious fact that it shouldn't even be up for debate. Certainly doesn't surprise me to see Comey and Feinstein taking the retarded monkey position on it though. Wanting to create a backdoor to all personal finacial information now flowing on the internet takes a special level of stupidity even beyond that of the average moron. They have such high regard for their own abilities and yet it is so unwarranted.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Makes you wonder what his angle is.

[AlmightyJB]

I was thinking the same same thing. Like we already have people inside at all the major ISPs so we don't even need to have this conversation

[AlmightyJB]

Or what Pathogen said below:)

[Jerryskids]

"So what we've got to ask ourselves is, with that foundation, what's the best way for us to deal with it? And how do we meet those very legitimate concerns from multiple perspectives?"

Yeah, he's not giving a 180-degree different take than Comey - he's just saying Comey's position of "let's not have encryption at all because it makes it too hard for us to spy on everybody" is a non-starter because we are going to have encryption whether we like it or not. So the question is "what's the best way to spy on everybody assuming they have encryption?"

The guy standing there with an axe arguing that a sword is not the best way to chop off your head is not necessarily arguing that your head doesn't need to be chopped off.

[Pathogen]

"NSA Head Says Encryption is 'Foundational to the Future'"
.
Translated: "We already have well established backdoors in most OS's, hard drive firmware, and encryption algorithms, so relax, let your guard down, and rest easy. Forget all about this encryption nonsense"

[Crusty Juggler]

That is what I thought, too.

[Hamster of Doom]

It's a good thing our government's systems are so secure. Could you imagine what an absolute disaster it would be if a hostile foreign government could riffle through every bit and byte of information not nailed down?

Phew! Dodged a bullet, right there.

[Ted S.]

You mean Hillary's email server?

[Hamster of Doom]

You can't spell "government security" without "unity". Or "tie vognet".

[Hamster of Doom]

Whatever.

[Pathogen]

Right? It's not like Chinese universities have "Hacking 101" competitions, every Friday, to see who can break into the Office of Personnel Management, or some other secure gov't network the fastest... That's crazy talk..

[Hamster of Doom]

And hey, even in the most unimaginably bad scenario, the data wouldn't be shared or sold. No one thinks like that. QED - the leak stops there, tops.

[Rich]

Actually, even if the data *were* shared or sold, your tax dollars are paying for identity monitoring. QED - no problem.

[Crusty Juggler]

This comic reminded me of you people.

[Heroic Mulatto]

TOP KEK

[Hamster of Doom]

In my opinion.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Wait, are you insinuating that I'm a lesbian? I've never even heard more than 30 seconds of a Meredith Brooks song!

[Crusty Juggler]

Let me translate that for us hip millennials: HM has never heard more than thirty seconds of a Tegan and Sara song.

[Hamster of Doom]

Could be. Could be. Could very well be.

[Libertarian]

OT: Anybody seeing these healthcare.gov ads that end with the phrase: "Avoid the penalty." I thought it was a tax!

[commodious spittoon]

It's in superposition between the two states, so it's technically incorrect to call it either a penalty or a tax. It's both and neither. Do you even quantum politics, bro?

[IceTrey]

Pentax.

[Jerryskids]

O merciful Allah, give thou a sign that the unbeliever may knowest thy might. Causeth thou now Bill Belichick suffer a fatal heart attack and fall upon Tom Brady, crushing his spine in manifold ways. In Allah's name we pray, Amen.

[Slammer]

Belichick already jinxed this game. He's not wearing the homeless hoodie.

[Ted S.]

Can't Brady and Manning both lose?

[Hyperion]

NSA Head Says Encryption is 'Foundational to the Future'

For his future as a worthless leech sucking the blood of the tax payers, yes.

[Rich]

Comey[, ] Burr[, and] Feinstein ? argued for more government access to back door communications

Paging SugarFree ?.

[See Double You]

They want back door access, alright.

[Winston]

So I've been reading a bit about the Academy awards dust-up and for supposedly "tolerant" internet people they really do seem to hate old white people, especially if they have the Wrong Views. Oh and white people can't be discriminated against and we need more diversity (not of political views naturally). This will end well. And so much for Gillespie's Peak PC argument.

My personal favorite was that The Big Short and Spotlight, which are based on actually people by the way, should have changed the race and gender of some characters since they are not famous and their race gender or sexuality had very little to do with anything. Now if they had used that as an excuse to turn a black woman into a white man...

[Ted S.]

They don't want diversity; they want LETELU: Looks Exotic, Thinks Exactly Like Us.

[Winston]

LETELU

That's a good one!

[Winston]

I forgot the whole "quotas are bad but we need a certain of women and non-whites in the Academy."

[I see wood chippers]

So spending time arguing about 'hey, encryption is bad and we ought to do away with it' ? that's a waste of time to me.'

Rogers comments contrast to recent positions taken by FBI director James Comey and Sens. Richard Burr (R-NC) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) who argued for more government access to back door communications and data.

Where's the contrast? Comey, Burr, and Feinstein aren't trying to do away with encryption. They're trying to get a back door into it.