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The Clipper Chip[1] immediately comes to mind as the most publicized case of the NSA wanting a backdoor in consumer products. There are also recent stories of t

by uxp 16y ago

The Clipper Chip[1] immediately comes to mind as the most publicized case of the NSA wanting a backdoor in consumer products. There are also recent stories of the US Government wanting similar encryption disabling mechanisms in other technology[2]. Coupled with the Patriot Act and it letting the NSA eavesdrop on communications, it gives a precedent. A quote I am reminded of is "If you are on the internet, you aren't being paranoid enough". [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clipper_chip http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clipper_chip [2] http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/09/fbi-backdoors/ http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/09/fbi-backdoors/

kgo 16y ago
Yeah, but 'wanted' doesn't equal 'did' like the OP claims.
- moe 16y ago
  I had always considered the Clipper-Chip incident to hint at the tip of an iceberg. Do you really think that was an isolated one-time event?
  - kgo 16y ago
    The Clipper Chip was introduced in the open. They tried to push it through legislation. It's not like the NSA blackmailed Intel executives to include the capabilities secretly in their Pentium Processors without notifying their customers. Same with the new proposed legislation. But all that demonstrates is that the NSA has an interest in being able to (legally) monitor encrypted communications. Which everyone already knows. If someone had 'busted' the NSA trying to do something sneaky and/or covert and/or illegal, then you could argue that it's the tip of some iceberg of nefarious activity. But like I said this was all done out in the open. You might as well say that because we know the FBI wiretaps phones through legally obtained court orders, that's the tip of the iceberg that points to millions of illegal wiretaps. It's a bad inference.
billswift 16y ago
The whole purpose of the Clipper Chip was the escrowed encryption - that is a big difference from a backdoor, especially from a concealed backdoor.

by uxp 16y ago

kgo 16y ago

Yeah, but 'wanted' doesn't equal 'did' like the OP claims.

moe 16y ago
I had always considered the Clipper-Chip incident to hint at the tip of an iceberg. Do you really think that was an isolated one-time event?
- kgo 16y ago
  The Clipper Chip was introduced in the open. They tried to push it through legislation. It's not like the NSA blackmailed Intel executives to include the capabilities secretly in their Pentium Processors without notifying their customers. Same with the new proposed legislation. But all that demonstrates is that the NSA has an interest in being able to (legally) monitor encrypted communications. Which everyone already knows. If someone had 'busted' the NSA trying to do something sneaky and/or covert and/or illegal, then you could argue that it's the tip of some iceberg of nefarious activity. But like I said this was all done out in the open. You might as well say that because we know the FBI wiretaps phones through legally obtained court orders, that's the tip of the iceberg that points to millions of illegal wiretaps. It's a bad inference.

billswift 16y ago

The whole purpose of the Clipper Chip was the escrowed encryption - that is a big difference from a backdoor, especially from a concealed backdoor.