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Reading Tim Cook's full interview with Time (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11318905 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11318905) I wonder if anyone at

by natch 11y ago

Reading Tim Cook's full interview with Time (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11318905 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11318905) I wonder if anyone at the DOJ is even having an honest discussion about the potential damage they would be doing to public safety if they won in court in the San Bernardino case. Which, granted, is a different case from what the EFF is talking about here but the same question applies: Is the DOJ even considering all the implications of what they do, and how they may be making us less safe by things like requiring back doors and (separately) enabling man in the middle scenarios?

x5n1 11y ago
People that make up the DOJ want to win. They never consider the implications of their wins. They are sort of like Charlie Sheen.
- xfour 11y ago
  Which in the end appeared to be a backlash of being diagnosed with HIV, so taking your anecdote to its full conclusion the DOJ is sickened with a terminal illness they haven't come to terms with dealing with.
rgbrenner 11y ago
The DOJ/FBI does not care about the damage. If they win, they get the benefits.. but all of the costs--weakened security, lost money, damage to companies, etc--are ALL external. Don't kid yourself, when all of these things happen, the FBI will not stand up and criticize itself... it'll blame the company that made/maintained the backdoor. When your company (or the company you work for) is compromised because of the backdoor the government mandated, it'll be your company's name on the notice being sent to your customers saying you lost their data; your company in court for the damage caused; your company that will foot the bill.
- jessaustin 11y ago
  Not only will they receive the direct benefits, but FBI will actually benefit from everyone else's suffering as well. Just like bored firefighters starting fires (a real thing that has happened many times in many places), they're eager to "help" those individuals and businesses who will lose lots of money after they've destroyed security online.
  - rgbrenner 11y ago
    Yes, absolutely. Also consider that criminal organizations that profit from stolen data will become more active (more data lost > more data to sell > more profits > more activity toward compromising data).. which means more organizations for the FBI to investigate. And there's the potential that victim companies could face prosecution also.. for example, if a company had a minor violation of HIPAA (et al) and was compromised due to a backdoor.. instead of the damage being minor and the company fixing the problem without any patient data being compromised.. instead it becomes a significant incident with real losses of patient data.. potentially opening the company up to prosecution for violation of HIPAA (or other laws).

by natch 11y ago

x5n1 11y ago

People that make up the DOJ want to win. They never consider the implications of their wins. They are sort of like Charlie Sheen.

xfour 11y ago
Which in the end appeared to be a backlash of being diagnosed with HIV, so taking your anecdote to its full conclusion the DOJ is sickened with a terminal illness they haven't come to terms with dealing with.

rgbrenner 11y ago

The DOJ/FBI does not care about the damage. If they win, they get the benefits.. but all of the costs--weakened security, lost money, damage to companies, etc--are ALL external. Don't kid yourself, when all of these things happen, the FBI will not stand up and criticize itself... it'll blame the company that made/maintained the backdoor. When your company (or the company you work for) is compromised because of the backdoor the government mandated, it'll be your company's name on the notice being sent to your customers saying you lost their data; your company in court for the damage caused; your company that will foot the bill.

jessaustin 11y ago
Not only will they receive the direct benefits, but FBI will actually benefit from everyone else's suffering as well. Just like bored firefighters starting fires (a real thing that has happened many times in many places), they're eager to "help" those individuals and businesses who will lose lots of money after they've destroyed security online.
- rgbrenner 11y ago
  Yes, absolutely. Also consider that criminal organizations that profit from stolen data will become more active (more data lost > more data to sell > more profits > more activity toward compromising data).. which means more organizations for the FBI to investigate. And there's the potential that victim companies could face prosecution also.. for example, if a company had a minor violation of HIPAA (et al) and was compromised due to a backdoor.. instead of the damage being minor and the company fixing the problem without any patient data being compromised.. instead it becomes a significant incident with real losses of patient data.. potentially opening the company up to prosecution for violation of HIPAA (or other laws).