Tech makers and users want to insure that privacy remains in their control. But government officials and law enforcement insists that they need digital access to defend national security interests.
The privacy versus security debate took stage earlier this week in Southern California, according to Bloomberg. At a Wall Street Journal Digital Live conference, Apple CEO Tim Cook defended the company’s strong privacy measures, including software that top government agencies cannot breach.
But speaking just ahead of Cook, NSA Director Admiral Michael Rogers stopped short of acknowledging that the agency was comfortable with unbreakable encryption technologies, stressing the compromise that he believes needs to be struck between privacy concerns and the government’s need to identify potential threats.
The debate centered around so-called “back doors” that would give government and police agencies access while still allowing otherwise strong encryption. Cook suggested that such a proposal is naive, stating that any back door would ultimately be comprised more widely than for those it was intended, rendering such privacy systems – and the businesses that depend on secrecy — broadly vulnerable.
Rogers agreed that strong encryption was important, but backed off when asked if the agency supported impenetrable systems, stating that the strength of encryption programs should not trump security concerns. He warned that security is needed because cyber attacks on critical infrastructure are inevitable, noting that he believes that Islamic state actors may already view cyber hacking as a new “weapons system.”