Ride the Lightning

Shut the Back Door! Now the NSA Wants Front Door Access to Your Data

April 14, 2015

As Naked Security wrote yesterday, the NSA wants a multi-part encryption key for 'front door' access to your data. NSA Director Michael Rogers has suggested a solution which he thinks strikes a balance between what the NSA wants (everything) and a citizen's right to privacy.

He proposes a multi-part encryption key, created by various tech companies, which could unlock any device. Rogers said the key could be broken into several parts, meaning no one agency or company would be able to use it without the co-operation of the others. He said, "I don't want a back door. I want a front door. And I want the front door to have multiple locks. Big locks."

Rogers believes that his proposal for a 'front door' is both sound and justified, allowing for access as and when required by the NSA and law enforcement, while keeping data safe from hackers and other forms of attack.

Donna Dodson, chief cyber­security adviser at the Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technologies pointed out that a master key still presents a risk, even if it is broken into parts held by different parties: "The basic question is, is it possible to design a completely secure system? There's no way to do this where you don't have unintentional vulnerabilities."

Marc Zwillinger, a former Justice Department official now working as an attorney for tech companies on encryption-related matters, said that law enforcement should not have the undeniable right to access every means of communication between two parties. I certainly agree.

Why Rogers thinks this alternative will be more palatable to tech companies or citizens mystifies me. You want my data? Get a warrant.

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