Secret services would like to force all countries in the world to install duplicate keys, i.e. back doors, for encrypted communications.
For as long as security measures have existed, there has been debate about their benefits and strength. back doors always comes up in digital communication. High-quality locks are desirable in the analog world to protect valuables from theft. Things should now change in the digital world. The Five Eyes (i.e. the secret services of the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Canada) now want to force all countries in the world to install duplicate keys, i.e. back doors, for encrypted communications. To this end, a meeting of the Five Eyes interior ministers took place in Australia at the end of August. This proposal poses serious disadvantages for the economy and national security of every state.
Messenger instead of mobile communications
When cell phones began their triumph, there were only unencrypted short messages (also known as SMS, Short Message Service). Before the era of smartphones, some manufacturers developed their own proprietary formats to protect the content of messages. In recent years there has been a shift towards messenger apps that use the Internet to transmit messages. This meant that developers could and can use open standards with strong encryption that are not subject to the legally required interfaces for telecommunications monitoring in mobile networks.
This telecommunications surveillance (also known internationally as lawful interception) is an integral part of the network infrastructure and constantly records location data, logins, operating times, addresses, mobile phone identification and other data. Modern messengers therefore usually use the principle of end-to-end encryption, where only the communicating end devices have the key to the message. The network does not know these and cannot see the content of the messages. This is only possible via mobile data access, i.e. internet access.
The dangers of these interfaces were illustrated by Edward Snowden's published documents in 2013 and the Athens wiretapping scandal in 2004 and 2005. Back in 2015, James Bamford, American journalist and intelligence expert, gave the opening lecture at the DeepSec conference and explained how the Greek government's cell phones were tapped by unknown parties via legally required back doors. Kostas Tsalikidis, the network manager in charge, committed suicide days after the interception configurations became known. Despite a lengthy investigation, the perpetrators of the wiretapping were never found.
Mathematics is not legal in Australia
Security researchers and engineers are well aware of the dangers of poorly implemented and insecure communications. For this reason, strong cryptography and secure communication have been pushed by technology companies and developers since the Snowden revelations. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) have standardized protocols in all standards in recent years that do not contain backdoors or intentionally weakened algorithms. The modern Internet, and thus our current communication society, is based on these standards.
The technicians are trying to create the equivalent of safe bridges, which must not have any predetermined breaking points. Infrastructure must be reliable. It should not be forgotten that it is not only telephone calls and messages that are affected by the legal vulnerabilities. Demands for duplicate keys affect financial transactions, the entire World Wide Web, all applications on smartphones, the Internet of Things, all smart technologies, in short, all companies and markets worldwide.
Former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has given top priority to demands to be able to read all communications worldwide, anytime and anywhere. He said in July this year that Australia's legal code was above mathematics. He was referring to criticism from researchers of cryptography, which is a branch of mathematics. This logic is questionable because no one has yet declared gravity illegal in order to prevent accidents at work or to make it easier to climb mountains. The only question is whether you want real security or not. Fire safety is a good analogy. Nobody wants protection against fires that don't always work. Likewise, no one wants to use electronic payment methods that are secure until revoked.
National security is being abolished internationally
The Five Eyes' demand can also be reformulated. Since the services also use mathematics to protect their countries, they would have to weaken themselves. This particularly applies to economic espionage, which very often crosses national borders. Complete destruction or sabotage of important information security components is a short-sighted reflex. It's not just about the flagship companies in Silicon Valley. Backdoors and duplicate keys put a strain on all communication about trade secrets and secure electronic communication between lawyers and the judiciary and authorities.
It should not be forgotten that this demand will not only be made by the Five Eyes if it is implemented by governments. The United Nations currently maintains a list of 206 member states. The demands of the Five Eyes will then also be made by the “206 Eyes”. Those responsible for politics are very well advised not to ignore the warnings of experts. If one agrees with the demand for backdoors, the Five Eyes secret services must then also disclose their own national communications to the services of Europe, Russia, China and North Korea, because the mathematics of security or insecurity applies equally to everyone. The requirement therefore has absolutely nothing to do with reality, and certainly not with information security.
Solutions not possible in monologue
Security researchers are in the same boat as the authorities. They also have to find attackers and have to work with or against protective measures. Nevertheless, IEEE, IETF and all technical organizations do not back down from the requirement for strong security. Since the Five Eyes demands explicitly address legislative measures, this is a valuable compliment for the technicians. This means that the technical implementation is very difficult or cannot be attacked with the currently available means.
The implementation of security is always a result of interdisciplinary collaboration. It is precisely for this reason that the DeepSec Conference would like to bring together representatives from research, authorities, business and the international hacker community every year. A connected world requires connected thinking. Isolated solutions or short-term measures are not future-oriented. Therefore, this year's DeepSec conference has placed its focus on infrastructure, Internet of Things, mobility (be it radio, device or transport) and also cryptography. Specialists from four continents will exchange ideas in Vienna in November to counter threats of the future. We look forward to constructive cooperation and your visit.
Sources, program and booking
The DeepSec conference days are November 29th and 30th. The training takes place on the previous two days, November 27th and 28th. The event location is the hotel The Imperial Riding School Vienna – A Renaissance Hotel, Ungargasse 60, 1030 Vienna.
You can find the current program under the link: https://deepsec.net/schedule.html
James Bamford summarized his talk in the publication “In-Depth Security – Proceedings of the DeepSec Conferences Volume 2” as an article entitled “A Death in Athens – The Inherent Vulnerability of “Lawful Intercept””. The book is available in stores and through the DeepSec conference (it can be ordered directly from DeepSec GmbH). His lecture can be viewed online as a video https://vimeo.com/150691584
You can order tickets for the conference and training sessions using the link https://deepsec.net/register.html .
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