Clipper's Revenge

[Robert A. Hayden]

Ok, this is a 'what if':

What if:
	The government backs down on clipper, agreeing that there will be 
	no escrowing of keys, but says that communications with the
	government must use Skipjack in order to establish a single
	encryption scheme for government communications.

	(this has the benefit of creating a huge userbase, thus establishing 
	it as a standard.)

What if:
	Skipjack, as designed, has a (secret) hole in it that will decrypt 
	ANY communications using it.  This means that anybody with the master
	skeleton key would be able to read Skipjack encrypted information.

=========================

If you think about it, the above makes sense.  The government wants to 
spy on the population, but the population can't know about the spying.  
Thus, they propose escrowing keys, which they know will raise public 
outrage.  They put up a half-hearted fight and then back down, making hte 
public thinks they've won.

In reality, though, Big Borther has won as they have put an compromised 
algorithm into general use that will allow them to do what they wanted to 
all along.

Granted, they couldn't prosecute cases with evidence from taped Skipjack 
communications, but as we've seen, wiretaps are used so infrequently that 
it really isn't relevant.  But, as long as they lay low, they can spy on 
any Skipjacked communications among business and other government agencies.

Is the above feasible?


____        Robert A. Hayden          <=> hayden at krypton.mankato.msus.edu
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