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Intercepting Communications

Explore the controversies surrounding the interception of communications, including wiretapping, encryption policies, and the use of cryptography. Discuss the role of the NSA and Echelon, as well as the fundamental issues and trust in government.

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Intercepting Communications

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  1. Intercepting Communications Thanks to Sherry Clark for her notes Mary Jean Harrold

  2. Outline • Overview of the Controversies • Intercepting Communications • Cryptography and Its Uses • Encryption Policy: Access to Software, Keys, and Plaintext • Fundamental Issues Mary Jean Harrold

  3. Overview of Controversies • Communications’ privacy is affected by what? Mary Jean Harrold

  4. Intercepting Communications (1) • Wiretapping • What is history of restrictions on telephones? Q: Can law enforcement intercept communications without a court order? Mary Jean Harrold

  5. Intercepting Communications (2) • Wiretapping • How have laws changed with new technologies and events? Q: Does the USA Patriot Act supersede ECPAs restrictions? Mary Jean Harrold

  6. Intercepting Communications (3) • Designing Communications Systems for Interception and Tracking • What is CALEA? • What obstacles is it designed to overcome? • Why did privacy advocates object to CALEA? • CALEA allows for the interception of PINs. Do you support this use? Mary Jean Harrold

  7. Intercepting Communications (4) • Carnivore • What is Carnivore? • Why do proponents say it’s needed? • Why do opponents say it violates rights? • Does Carnivore violate the 4th Amendment? • What is the current status of Carnivore? Mary Jean Harrold

  8. Intercepting Communications (5) • NSA and Echelon • NSA (National Security Agency): • Collects and analyzes communications to find threats to national security. • Echelon: • What is it? Q: Should the NSA be permitted to intercept all e-mail entering and leaving the U.S.? Mary Jean Harrold

  9. Cryptography and Its Uses (1) • Cryptography • Definition: • Hiding data in plain sight. • Terms: • Plaintext: Original, readable message or data. • Cyphertext: Modified, unreadable message or data. • Encryption: The act of converting plaintext into cyphertext. • Decryption: The act of reverting cyphertext back to readable, plaintext. Q:Are there other ways to hide a message in plain sight? Mary Jean Harrold

  10. Cryptography and Its Uses (2) • Public Key Cryptography • How does it work? • What are the benefits? • How does key-size affect the “strength” of encryption? Mary Jean Harrold

  11. Cryptography and Its Uses (3) • Encryption • Used by: • Military personnel. • Financial institutions. • Human-rights activists. • Government agencies. • Anyone wanting to keep messages or data private. Q: Why are strong encryption tools needed by human-rights activists? Mary Jean Harrold

  12. Cryptography and Its Uses (4) • Steganography • Definition: • Hiding data so that its existence is not known. • Examples: • Digital watermarks. • Hiding text in image files. • Used by: • Military, • Publishers, • Anyone wishing to hide messages or data. Q: How might steganography be incorporated into textbooks? Why? Mary Jean Harrold

  13. Encryption Policy: Access to Software, Keys, and Plaintext (1) • Secrecy and Export Controls • Control of Secrecy • The NSA designs unbreakable codes for the U.S. government. • The NSA attempts to break codes used by other governments. • In the past, the NSA also controlled the funding for and publishing of cryptographic research. • Control of Exportation • Early U.S. policy prevented the exportation of strong encryption. • Meanwhile, foreign production and use of strong encryption negatively impacted U.S. competition in the world market. • Cryptographic researchers, privacy advocates, and others successfully challenged exportation restrictions. Q: Why did the U.S. government insist on controlling export of strong crypto? Mary Jean Harrold

  14. Fundamental Issues (1) • Role of Secrecy • U.S. Policy Keeps Secret: • Cryptographic research. • Wiretap ease or difficulty. • Encryption algorithms. • Software (e.g. Carnivore). • Global endeavors (e.g. Echelon). • Problems: • Secret algorithms cannot be tested by experts. • ‘Backdoors’ might exist. • NSA-influenced wiretap and encryption exportation bills Q: What factors affect the strength of an encryption algorithm? Mary Jean Harrold

  15. Fundamental Issues (2) • The Ever-changing Status Quo • Past: • Simple codes and cyphers. • Present: • 512-bit RSA encryption. • AES (Advanced Encryption Standard). • Future: • Quantum computing. • Quantum cryptography. Q:Today, do coders or decoders have the upper hand? Mary Jean Harrold

  16. Fundamental Issues (3) • Trust in Government • Appropriate or Abusive? • Wiretapping by FBI and local police. • Wiretapping by NSA. • Strong encryption restrictions. • Clipper Chip and Key Escrow. • Roving wiretaps. • Cell-phone tracking (and E-911). • Key logger systems. • Development of a nationwide standard for surveillance. • Immediate decryption technology built in to the Internet. Mary Jean Harrold

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