Math 1111: Cryptography

A round up of current conversations about surveillance and privacy in light of the Paris attacks.

Today's New York Times features a debate of sorts over the value of increased surveillance after the Paris attacks. Click through for five different views on this complex issue.

Fairly easy to read argument from a crypto expert (Columbia University computer scientist Steven Bellovin) on the dangers of "back doors" in computer systems.

This article talks about the want for greater government surveillance after the Paris attacks. It mentions that since Edward Snowden released information about the NSA's digital surveillance power, a lot of measures have been taken to restrict government surveillance. However, since the Paris attacks, the US government is pushing to bring that power back.

This is a PDF file of a chapter taken from a book that contains essays on many issues that arise from "big data." This chapter specifically pertains to our privacy versus security debate because it provides reasons as to why bulk data collection does not work as well as alternative options to mass surveillance.

This is the results of a Pew Research survey in May (of 2015) regarding Americans' opinions of the NSA, surveillance, national security, etc. This could be useful in the security vs. privacy paper, to look at the public opinion on these issues.

Whether it is on Facebook, Twitter or a text on your cell phone, many will see photos and videos flying through cyberspace over the holiday season. Maybe some of these pictures and videos won't be so joyous; this is when digital decisions may have been made in haste.

An article debating security/surveillance vs. privacy post-Snowden leaks, written fall 2014 for Stanford Lawyer Magazine

Discusses some of the points we brought up in class and provides statistics, but data is from 2013 and could potentially show the effects of events in the past two years when combined with Abbey's post

This article discusses the faults in former deputy director of the CIA Michael Morell's statement that the use of encrypted apps made it difficult to stop terrorists. Claims that encrypted communications put them out of reach was false - there had been no change in al Qaeda tactics. Also, author Howard points out that there isn't a clear dichotomy between privacy and security.

Privacy advocates are pushing back against arguments from the intelligence community that more surveillance powers would have prevented the deadly Paris terrorist attacks. They're offended at what they see as naked opportunism from supporters of tough surveillance powers and argue the rhetoric - including suggestions that National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden has blood on his hands - has gone too far.

I think it's pretty interesting that one of the world's largest internet corporations is going to find the security vulnerabilities of our modems and routers. Will they just be helping us fix them, or using the errors for their own gain?

I think it's pretty interesting that one of the world's largest internet corporations is going to find the security vulnerabilities of our modems and routers. Will they just be helping us fix them, or using the errors for their own gain?

The article takes a look at why NSA spying is inherently illegal, and substantiates the claim with official documents. Great for pro-privacy arguments, but also a good counterargument to address for pro-security.

Focusing on the consequences of the Patriot Act and how the US government upped the security on civilians after 9/11, this is a really nice graphic that gives a scary visual on the expanded powers of the national government in the name of security. It's from the ACLU, so this gives a pretty good perspective of, specifically, curbed liberties.

A well-reasoned argument from our favorite security blogger, with plenty of links to help us in writing our final paper. It is also an interesting article as it talks about the debate before Snowden, Wikileaks, and other whistleblowers.

This piece captures some of the complexity of the surveillance / privacy debate as it applies to Snowden and the Paris attacks.

This article describes how, during the Cold War, the major distributor of cryptography machines (Crypto AG) worked with the NSA. This professional relationship provided the NSA with shortcuts on how to break ciphers created from the different machines. Also, Crypto AG was revealed as not having given the most up to date models to all countries, probably through deception. This raises the question of morality involving basic warfare. How is it moral for this supposedly trusted third party company to have special allegiances with the United States?Would the United States have the same opinion on this actions morality if they were the ones being sold out of date equipment? Or if one of their opponents had shortcuts?

Malicious adverts have been found on the UK version of the Match.com dating website. Anyone caught out by the booby-trapped ads could fall victim to ransomware, said security company Malwarebytes, which spotted the cyber-threat. The malicious ads appeared on pages of the dating site via an ad network that pipes content to Match and many other places.

Example of how improving technology requires new encryption that hasn't yet been cracked

Describes the personal relationship between President Abraham Lincoln and those who encoded military telegraph messages during the Civil War