[liberationtech] What would you reply to this?

[Julian Oliver]

..on Sun, Jun 14, 2020 at 02:46:43PM -0400, Ali-Reza Anghaie wrote:
> I think people still don't understand what risk surfaces are actually worth
> attacking - and they latch onto encryption without any of the other OPSEC
> considerations, side-channel attacks on the information and groups being
> protected, etc.
> 
> This XKCD still applies:  https://xkcd.com/538/
> 
> The problem is the companies and politics still should _strive_ for the
> best in each applicable area but people are deluding themselves when they
> consider a Nation State threat model as their baseline. -Ali

Statements like this are completely unfounded and unproductive:

"The intelligence services of major world powers have the skills and tools to crack any company’s best attempt at
encryption."

If that were the case, the global financial system, whole governments, would be
undermined. Police and Federal Investigators would not seek physical access to
activist phones, etc. Encryption, when implemented and deployed properly, works.
As regards forward resilience to cracking, encryption is lead-time against an
adversary.

Cheers,

Julian

> 
> On Sun, Jun 14, 2020 at 2:38 PM Yosem Companys <yosem at techlantis.com> wrote:
> 
> > Alex Nicholson  10:43 AM
> > Curious what others think about this... this past week @Jason Calacanis (
> > launch.co) talked about the need for all-user end-to-end encryption on
> > services like Zoom in China, and basically anyone operating in or through
> > China, because of the Chinese govt’s likelihood of intercepting and/or
> > interfering with communications as it likes. However, I would argue that
> > the conversation is severely under-estimating the sophistication of the
> > Chinese govt. The US’s NSA can crack any encryption in the world and listen
> > to any communications it wants. Why would we think China’s version of the
> > NSA is any less sophisticated? Commercial encryption prevents interception
> > by hackers and criminals, low-level operations without the budgets or
> > resources of state actors. The intelligence services of major world powers
> > have the skills and tools to crack any company’s best attempt at
> > encryption. So what does it matter if a service like Zoom or anything
> > touching China is encrypted or not? If it touches Chinese soil, fibers, or
> > airspace, it can be read by their govt. If it’s encrypted, it prob won’t
> > be read by criminals and civilian hackers only. Thoughts?
> >
> > [image: upload image]
> > Yosem Companys
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> >
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