Computer Security Logs

The NY Times (among others) reports on the Obama administration’s desire to force software developers to build backdoors into security software. This seems like a law just begging for unintended consequences.

This doesn’t have to be viewed as an evil attempt to expand power. It’s realistic to view this as a way to keep the same abilities as they have with the old technology. Just like businesses that see their market fad away as technology advances, legislate rather than compete.

Let’s assume there’s zero abuse and it’s used as described, after getting a legally obtained warrant for legitimate criminal investigations. How long before those backdoors make it out into the world? It can only be a matter of time.

From the article, an event in Greece was mentioned:

In 2005, it was discovered that hackers had taken advantage of a legally mandated wiretap function to spy on top officials’ phones, including the prime minister’s.

Unfortunately, unlike telephones, modern communication travels the internet, out there for anyone to pull in the bits.

Let’s face it, the bad guys will still have their own backdoor-free encryption but gain access to the legal stuff. That is, those who were already smart enough to use strong encryption today. It’s not like the U.S. has the market on programmers cornered. There’s also those who say the new law wouldn’t force open source development to include the backdoors.

Others have pointed out there’s other ways to get the information, such as sneaking in a key logger. Granted, probably not a effective as having a ready-made door, but a lot fewer problems. With the backdoor they’ll still only catch the stupid criminals, and the smart criminals will have another way to rip off the honest folks.

The world moves forward, legislation is not going to stop it.