02 February 2007
Encryption - Double-Edged Sword
MI5's former head, Stella Rimington, has made statements that encryption helps terrorists work secretly and "has made it more difficult for intelligence services to access the information".
While I agree that this is true, encryption does allow people to transmit secret messages that no one can read. There is another side of the coin too though, to name a few of the advantages, it allows banks to keep account data safe, companies can transmit secure information via VPN and other Internet means and governments can communicate with their interests in other countries (i.e. embassies).
There is always a trade-off, higher security can cost more freedom and in this case it can cause a loss of security in the business sector. Is it really a good idea for intelligence services to be able to decrypt business and banking information?
While I agree that this is true, encryption does allow people to transmit secret messages that no one can read. There is another side of the coin too though, to name a few of the advantages, it allows banks to keep account data safe, companies can transmit secure information via VPN and other Internet means and governments can communicate with their interests in other countries (i.e. embassies).
There is always a trade-off, higher security can cost more freedom and in this case it can cause a loss of security in the business sector. Is it really a good idea for intelligence services to be able to decrypt business and banking information?
Labels: encryption, security
