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[FYI] Did Encryption Empower These Terrorists?
- To: debate@lists.fitug.de
- Subject: [FYI] Did Encryption Empower These Terrorists?
- From: "Axel H Horns" <horns@ipjur.com>
- Date: Wed, 12 Sep 2001 19:34:48 +0200
- CC: krypto@thur.de
http://www.msnbc.com/news/627390_asp.htm
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Did Encryption Empower These Terrorists?
And would restricting crypto have given the authorities a change to
stop these acts?
By Steven Levy
NEWSWEEK WEB EXCLUSIVE
Sept. 11 — “Well, I guess this is the end now. . . .” So wrote the
first Netizen to address today’s tragedy on the popular discussion
group, sci.crypt. The posting was referring what seems like an
inevitable reaction to the horrific terrorist act: an attempt to roll
back recent relaxations on encryption tools, on the theory that
cryptography helped cloak preparations for the deadly events.
BUT THE DESPONDENCY reflected in the comment can be applied more
generally. The destruction of the World Trade Center and the attack
on the Pentagon comes at a delicate time in the evolution of the
technologies of surveillance and privacy. In the aftermath of
September 11, 2001, our attitude toward these tools may well take a
turn that has profound implications for the way individuals are
monitored and tracked, for decades to come.
[...]
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