Why Encryption?

History

Ever since ancient times, people have used codes to conceal private messages. In the early days, they were mainly used my militaries and spies to prevent the interception of sensitive information in a written form. During World War II, the US and the UK broke most of the Axis codes, giving the Allies important information about enemy movements.

Today, the strongest encryption is still used by militaries. However, one important thing has changed - strong computerized encryption is now in the hands of the people.

Everyday Use

If you've ever bought something online, your financial information was probably encrypted using the RC4 (commonly called Arcfour) algorithm developed by RSA data security or the AES algorith developed by J. Daemen and V. Rijmen. Other common algortithms include DES, Blowfish, Triple-DES, Twofish, and IDEA. Whenever you see a small padlock in the statusbar of your web browser, you are using Secure Hypertext Transfer Protocol, called HTTPS. These technologies are essential for eCommerce, net security, and internet privacy. Without them, the web-based economy would collapse, all secure remote administration would become impossible, and the internet as a whole would be nearly useless.

Many people who want to send private email use PGP, the leading free strong encryption program in the world today.

Legal Issues

Before 1999, it was illegal to export strong cryptographic computer programs out of the USA. Even before then, it was impossible to enforce. Seeing this, the US government repealed the rules in that year and now it is legal to distribute encryption programs relatively restriction-free.

There have been motions in the US Congress to make possessing or using strong crypto illegal in the United States. This is a very important issue akin to anti-gun legislation. Here is my position on the legality of encryption software:

Why Crypto Should Never be Illegalized

Many people have asked the question "If crypto is available, won't terrorists and purveyors of child pornography use it to conceal themselves?"

The answer is a resounding and obvious yes. There is no reason that such people would ever communicate insecurely, as it could easily result in their prosecution.

If you don't consider any other information or evidence, it would seem that crypto should be illegalized. However, you must remember that the "bad guys" (who are already up to their eyeballs in illegality) would not hesitate to use crypto even if it were illegal.

It Can't be Done Anyhow

The RC4 algorithm is extremely simple - in fact, the sourcecode of an implementation of it can be printed (in a readable font size, mind you) on a coffee mug. It is thoroughly impossible to suppress such simple technology.

Conclusion

Therefore the only real effects of illegalizing encryption technology would be to destroy eCommerce, force all corporate communications back to the stone age, and cripple the internet. And yet, there would be absolutely no progress towards apprehending criminals.

Links

• You can find my PGP key and an implemenation of CipherSaber on my downloads page
• You can download free PGP products at the PGP freeware page