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Nobody can be "trusted" with a backdoor, because it isn't really a valid concept. A backdoor is a vulnerability that doesn't care who you are or what your purp
by Deestan 6y ago
Nobody can be "trusted" with a backdoor, because it isn't really a valid concept.
A backdoor is a vulnerability that doesn't care who you are or what your purpose is or who pays you. If you found the backdoor it is open to you.
However hard the backdoor's security is, an insider recruited by Swedish intelligence (or Russia whatever the bogeyman du jour is) will leak the key at some point. Now all your "secure" shit can be accessed invisibly by Swedish hackers. By its very nature, the backdoor cannot easily be changed and its use cannot be detected.
A mundane example is the TSA keys. In addition to being leaked by greedy insiders making a quick buck, they've been leaked by accident several times. E.g. https://hackaday.com/2015/09/18/dear-tsa-this-is-why-you-shouldnt-post-pictures-of-your-keys-online/ https://hackaday.com/2015/09/18/dear-tsa-this-is-why-you-sho... They are now public knowledge, and a backdoor into your luggage from anyone who cares enough to file up a key.
- MaxBarraclough 6y agoThe TSA masterkey case is an interesting analogue example. I don't know much about locks, but I wonder how it could ever be secure, even if they never leaked photos of the masterkeys. In principle, it should be possible to reverse-engineer the shape of the masterkey from any masterkey-compatible lock. Would it be practical to do this?
- formerly_proven 6y ago- It is not secure - You can make/buy them - Luggage locks are all garbage anyway Most mechanical locks are garbage and neither resistant to practical physical attacks nor at all pick resistant. Many are vulnerable to super-generic low-skill attacks like bump keys and comb picks. Many electronic locks are garbage. Smart locks are complete garbage. See https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCm9K6rby98W8JigLoZOh6FQ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCm9K6rby98W8JigLoZOh6FQ for many practical examples.
- topkeks 6y agoI don't understand why Americans always use those garbage locks even in their homes. You never see such shitty locks in Northern Europe. Literally everyone is using Abloys.
- leetcrew 6y agophysical locks are meant only to deter casual/opportunistic attacks. LPL essentially makes this point in the video on his home security setup. it's pointless to spend a lot of money on a front door lock that takes more effort to pick than it takes to force open the door or smash a window.
- lallysingh 6y agoThis is the same TSA that's shown those keys in photo ops?
- poundofshrimp 6y agoJust give the government a copy of the private key. What could go wrong? It’s not like anyone is hacking into the government these days.
- 2OEH8eoCRo0 6y agoWhat about hardware backdoors where you would need physical access to the device?