George Mason University Encrypted Communications and Data Privacy Discussion

Question Description

On July 8, 2015, the FBI Director James Comey was set to testify against encryption before the Senate Intelligence Committee, as the United States and Britain push for “exceptional access” to encrypted communications. The FBI and GCHQ have said they need access to encrypted communications to track criminals and terrorists (Temple-Raston, 2015). On the other hand, fourteen of the world’s preeminent cryptographers, computer scientists and security specialists have issued a paper arguing there is no way to allow the government such access without endangering all confidential data, as well as the broader communications infrastructure (Abelson et al., 2015).

The Apple vs. FBI case is an extension of the above ongoing battle and controversy. I am interested to learn a bit more about your opinions regarding this debate and more, especially after reviewing the technical aspects of cryptography covered in Chapter 8. Share your point of views by answering the following questions. Make sure to cite your resources.

After reviewing Chapter 8, list top three reasons (based on your own understandings) as for why we need encryption. Feel free to share any example or specify some scenarios when discussing your opinions.
E-mail is one of the most widely used network-reliant application, but basic e-mail offers little to none security. Some technical solutions are available (e.g., PGP), however, never widely used by public. Why don’t people use email encryption in your opinion? How to overcome such hurdle?
Back to “exceptional access” proposal by the FBI, should all systems that use encryption be covered, or just some? Which ones in your opinion? What consequences or impacts of such program on our society (E.g., economy, information infrastructure, technological innovation, etc.)?

Upload your initial post no later than 11:59pm, Thursday, Oct. 29.

Comment/reply at least two of your colleagues’ posts no later than 11:59pm, Sunday, Nov. 1.

References

Abelson, H. et al. (2015). Keys Under Doormats . Communications of the ACM, 58(10), p. 24-26.

Temple-Raston, D. (2015, July 08). FBI Director Says Agents Need Access To Encrypted Data To Preserve Public Safety, retrieved on October 25, 2015 from http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/07/08/421251662/fbi-director-says-agents-need-access-to-encrypted-data-to-preserve-public-safety

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Whitman & Mattord, Chapter 8

The Principles of Encryption (Links to an external site.)

then I’ll give you two students reposes so you can comment on them

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