Not bullocks. The thesis is that very widely deployed cryptography is subverted, both by direct partnership and by infiltration - the Snowden leaks confirmed as

Not bullocks. The thesis is that very widely deployed cryptography is subverted, both by direct partnership and by infiltration - the Snowden leaks confirmed as much. I will give an example of some confirmed and speculative backdoors. Microsoft Windows and Phone. 1) Bitlocker keys are uploaded to OneDrive by 'device encryption'. "Unlike a standard BitLocker implementation, device encryption is enabled automatically so that the device is always protected. ... If the device is not domain-joined a Microsoft Account that has been granted administrative privileges on the device is required. When the administrator uses a Microsoft account to sign in, the clear key is removed, a recovery key is uploaded to online Microsoft account and TPM protector is created." http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn306081.aspx http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn306081.aspx 2) Device encryption is supported by Bitlocker for all SKUs that support connected standby. This would include Windows phones. "BitLocker provides support for device encryption on x86 and x64-based computers with a TPM that supports connected stand-by. Previously this form of encryption was only available on Windows RT devices." http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn306081.aspx#BKMK_Encryption http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn306081.aspx#BKM... 3) The tech media and feature articles recognise this. "... because the recovery key is automatically stored in SkyDrive for you." http://www.zdnet.com/surface-bitlocker-and-the-future-of-encryption-7000024613/ http://www.zdnet.com/surface-bitlocker-and-the-future-of-enc... 4) Here's how to recover your key from Sky/OneDrive. "Your Microsoft account online. This option is only available on non-domain-joined PCs. To get your recovery key, go to ...onedrive.com..." http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/bitlocker-recovery-keys-faq http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/bitlocker-recov... 5) SkyDrive (now named OneDrive) is onboarded to PRISM. (pg 26/27) http://hbpub.vo.llnwd.net/o16/video/olmk/holt/greenwald/NoPlaceToHide-Documents-Uncompressed.pdf http://hbpub.vo.llnwd.net/o16/video/olmk/holt/greenwald/NoPl... Similarly, Apple's newfangled full disk encryption KDE depends entirely on the security of the Secure Enclave UID, which it claims not to have. The UID is used in tandem with ~12 bits of user provided entropy (passcode). Apple may not have this UID (burned in by the manufacturer) but the manufacturer still does. The FBI/NSA etc need only to manipulate, partner or serve legal papers, or to infiltrate as an employee the manufacture of Secure Enclave devices and wallah. Microsoft implemented new TLS capabilities but added a backdoor so that the FBI could filter through it (pg. 30). http://hbpub.vo.llnwd.net/o16/video/olmk/holt/greenwald/NoPlaceToHide-Documents-Uncompressed.pdf http://hbpub.vo.llnwd.net/o16/video/olmk/holt/greenwald/NoPl... Microsoft removed the end-to-end crypto from Skype. They also have a newfangled 'voice recognition and translation feature'. Yummy. RSA's BSAFE (more wirely deployed than shills will insist) included DUAL_EC - in fact were paid to do it - which means that even if you were to use, for example, AES the randomness you used to do it would not be safe. As announced by Germany, TPM 2.0 was backdoored. China will not import TPM 2.0 (in fact any TPM from America) or Window 8.1 as a result. Lenovo (Chinese company) has a patent under the 380/286 classification 'key escrow' to extract keys stored in TPMs. https://www.google.com/patents/US8290164 https://www.google.com/patents/US8290164 The encryption standards for voice on telephony networks of course are completely broken and have been for 20 years. And taking a detour from backdoors themselves for a second you do realize that CALEA, the Stored Communications Act, and Section 215 of the Patriot Act require companies to provide data intercept methods, and key escrow or data access when the encryption is added by them. I could go on. Anyway - you get the point. It is NOT bullocks. Cryptography, both in implementation, as a practice and in standards is backdoored in a way that enables mass surveillance. Edit: A correction, as other users have pointed out - Germany specifically warned against the use of Windows with TPM - not TPMs themselves. See the following threads for more details.