Reefa Posted August 22, 2015 Share Posted August 22, 2015 Encryption — used in everything from online banking to email — is so ubiquitous, one wonders if candidates have ever talked to a computer scientist. Jeb “I’m my own man” Bush sounds more and more like his know-nothing ex-president brother every day. This time, in between defending the Iraq War and saying he might bring back torture if elected president, he’s demanding that tech companies stop letting billions of the world’s citizens use encryption online to protect their information because of “evildoers.”Bush’s comments echo the dangerous sentiments of FBI director Jim Comey, who has publicly campaigned against Apple and Google for attempting to make our cell phones and communications safer by incorporating strong encryption in iPhones and Android devices.At a campaign stop earlier this week Jeb Bush said: “If you create encryption, it makes it harder for the American government to do its job – while protecting civil liberties – to make sure that evildoers aren’t in our midst.”There are so many things wrong with that statement it’s hard to know where to start. First of all, he seems to either be attacking, or just doesn’t understand, that the entire internet - and much of the economy really - is based around strong encryption. Every time he logs onto his email, uses online banking or wants to check his medical records online, there is some form of encryption that is protecting his data from criminals. So the fact that technology companies are “creating” encryption protects all of us.He was likely talking about end-to-end encryption implemented by Apple and the popular messaging app WhatsApp that lock out even the companies themselves to the content of text messages, so that only the two people talking to each other can ever see them. While opponents claim this is “helping terrorists,” even the most pro-government former intelligence officials readily admit there are still plenty of ways to track criminals who use encryption, and by attempting to outlaw it we put billions of completely innocent people at a much higher risk of having their personal information stolen by foreign governments or criminals.Unfortunately, Bush’s comments seem to be part of a pattern with the 2016 presidential candidates, none of whom seem to understand the basic precepts of technology, and the critical role encryption plays in all of our cybersecurity.Republican candidate Carly Fiorina, who has been getting a lot of attention in recent weeks, sounded even more out of touch at the second-tier Republican debate a couple weeks ago when she lamented that companies need to “tear down cyberwalls” when asked about whether Apple and Google should be implementing end-to-end encryption.Putting aside the fact that “cyberwalls” are not a thing, it’s quite disturbing that candidates are so willing to undermine the backbone of the internet so off-handedly. Fiorina, who by virtually all accounts, was a failure as CEO of Hewlett-Packard ten years ago, showed off her (lack of) technical knowledge. While she may have been joking, even Hillary Clinton’s comment about “wiping” her notorious email server “with a cloth” is distressing as well. Her own comments on the encryption issue, while vague, did not give the sense that she understands the issue either.It begs the questions: how many candidates have technologists or computer scientists advising their campaigns? Given how almost every week there is yet another security breach at a major company, and that voters are concerned about their online privacy, you’d think at least some of the candidates would attempt to capitalize on it by merely having a coherent policy that does not make them sound like they’ve never touched a computer (or sent a fax) before without the assistance of their aides.Strong end-to-end encryption is one of the best defenses against the massive cyber-attacks that have become all too frequent. If there is not a giant pile of data that is accessible by anyone, then the criminals can’t get it either.While it’s still shameful that current White House has refused to rein in its FBI director’s dangerous plans, at least behind the scenes White House officials reportedly know it’s a dangerous idea and President Obama deserves a bit of credit for acknowledging how important encryption is in many circumstances.In the modern world, the importance of strong encryption cannot be overstated. When will our presidential candidates understand that?theguardian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dMog Posted August 22, 2015 Share Posted August 22, 2015 there is a hell of a lot more to afraid of in that area "of what republicans think" and so many more scary things they want other than the data encryption thoughts that they have...they are just smart enough to know they gotta hide the stuff they want to do until they get elected...all one has to do is put a microphone on front of the likes of pat Buchanan and let talk for a while...it gets scary very quickly and he is just the tip of the iceberg...and by the way...i live in canada and it is scary listening to republican political rhetoric because when they are power that rhetoric becomes front and center as policy and laws passed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avitar Posted August 22, 2015 Share Posted August 22, 2015 My cloud data is encrypted :) ALL of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Owl Posted August 22, 2015 Share Posted August 22, 2015 My cloud data is encrypted :) ALL of it. well there IMHO is your first mistake, using the Cloud, the second is believing that if its encrypted its safe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CODYQX4 Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 100% of terrorists breathe air.Ban oxygen and solve all of the problems once and for all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CODYQX4 Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 My cloud data is encrypted :) ALL of it. If you didn't encrypt it yourself before uploading, then you might as well mail dick pics to the NSA.Cloud encryption is worthless if they (and by extension, court order, rogue employees, and hackers who hack the right server) can get the key. It is only secure if the CEO can't get it decrypted, even with a gun to their head. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefa Posted August 23, 2015 Author Share Posted August 23, 2015 Soz.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
212eta Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 :secret: :usama: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WALLONN7 Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 Gods bless the brainless!!! :beg: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
software182 Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 what if they are the real terrorist ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WALLONN7 Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 what if they are the real terrorist ? :fear: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avitar Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 Can you guys tell me how to encrypt files safely then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Owl Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 your biggest mistake is putting your files somewhere other than something that you have your hand on because if you think the cloud is safe your very much mistaken and I promise you anything that you can encode / encrypt can be cracked might take time but it can be cracked Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dMog Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 there is nothing whatsoever on my computer or the websites i go to that would, if seen by any government, law enforcement ...or more importantly...my wife cause me any trouble...the big one here is the wife... :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Owl Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 there is nothing whatsoever on my computer or the websites i go to that would, if seen by any government, law enforcement ...or more importantly...my wife cause me any trouble...the big one here is the wife... :Dplenty on my machines but the wipe program works exceedingly fast Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VileTouch Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 your biggest mistake is putting your files somewhere other than something that you have your hand onI can't put my files THERE! :blink:it would be... uncomfortable, to say the least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timeover Posted August 26, 2015 Share Posted August 26, 2015 100% of terrorists breathe air.Ban oxygen and solve all of the problems once and for all.Oh noes you just made me realize that I'm a terrorist D: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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