From: newsbytes@clarinet.com Newsgroups: clari.nb.general Subject: Kahn Sees On-Going Battle On Cryptography 06/14/93 PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 14 (NB) -- David Kahn, author of "The Codebreakers", speaking at the Third CPSR Cryptography Conference, told those assembled that he sees an on- going battle between government and privacy advocates over personal and business uses of cryptography. Kahn began by saying "My thesis is that the growth of cryptography follows the growth of communication. When there was little literacy, writing itself was a form of cryptography" "A great leap forward came in World War I -- the use of radio brought the need for greater use of codes to insure the privacy of messages. In the fall out after the war, the use of cipher machines was attempted but this approach was not really practical until computers came along," he added. According to Khan, in recent times, interest in cryptography has grown dramatically. "When the RSA algorithm was mentioned in Scientific American, there were 5,000 requests for reprints of the article; the story "Ultra Secret" about the breaking of the Germans' code raised interest and threats such as computer "hackers", viruses and cellular phone fraud raised additional interest in cryptography and the protection of privacy," he said. Kahn then moved to his Antithesis: "(The) Government wants to stop the movement toward privacy. (The) Government wants to know about criminal and terrorists. It tries to accomplish this objective through such things as export controls and the Clipper & Capstone chips," he told the audience. "The Government sees its activity. not as an additional intrusion into individual privacy. but as an attempt to maintain the present state. However, the domain of individual rights has been expanding -- the Miranda warnings, abortion decisions and the more strident avocation of privacy rights are examples of this trend," he said. "The Government moves are trying to block the advance of privacy rather than intrude into present rights. Export limits inhibits business expansion," he added. Kahn concluded: "Now we have to look for the synthesis. It's a matter of "privacy is good" and "business profits are good" versus "security is good." The question that must be answered is how to balance these goods. Do we give up the first for the second?" "The World Trade Center bombing shows that terrorism is here and is a concern. Government wants to hold back technology. This can't be done forever but can be done for a while. Government will argue that the temporary holding back will save some lives and properties," he said. In the question and answer period that followed, Bill Murray, consultant to Deloite and Touche, commented: "When the government wants us to give up the right to private communications, it must show us the danger (that warrants it). If drug dealers and terrorists are the problem, it should be demonstrated that drug dealers and terrorists are abusing private communications." In response to a Newsbytes question as to whether the triumph of the expansion of privacy rights over government concerns was inevitable, Kahn said: "Privacy is to powerful a force to be stopped. It will eventually prevail." Ross Stapleton, a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) analyst, commented: "These changes in information may cause a rethinking of the concept of national sovereignty. Governments have always have tried to control the flow of information; with the new technology and communications capabilities, they cannot. control it any longer." Murray said: "We cannot control it but we can criminalize it and that would be a mistake. By criminalizing drugs, we have destabilized society. There is so much illegal money from this policy that courts, law enforcement departments and legislatures have been corrupted." Asked by Newsbytes if he saw illegal money growing if the government tries to rein in the growth of cryptography or tries to make wiretapping more pervasive, Murray said: "No, it's not analogous in the money sense. But the criminalizing of anything without real justification causes destabilization." (Barbara E. McMullen & John F. McMullen/19930614/Press Contact: David Banisar, Computer Professionals For Social Responsibility, 202-544-9240 (voice); 202-547-5481 (fax); banisar@washofc.cpsr.org on the Internet) "Copyright 1993 by (I have no idea who). Reposted with permission from the ClariNet Electronic Newspaper newsgroup clari.nb.general. For more info on ClariNet, write to info@clarinet.com or phone 1-800-USE-NETS."