Re: Cryptography + steganography = plausible deniability
Absolutely spot on, Pizza. Governments are going balls to the wall to weaken the very measures that societies needs for legitimate security purposes. They are completely blind to the obvious--that in the process they increase the vulnerability of critical financial and infrastructure operations. Worse, their initiatives will do little or nothing to counter the measures that terrorists are far more likely to employ.
Nothing is more detrimental to security than the illusion of security.
If the terrorists' objective is to do what was recently done in Paris they do not need high tech cryptography. The planning can be done by word of mouth over cups of coffee. Once the plan is set, all that are needed for execution are street maps,a calendar, watches, and a willingness to die for the cause.
Engagement and human intel are the best, perhaps the only effectve, countermeasures for this kind of threat.
Freedom exacts a price and carries risks that demand hard decisions. Decisions like, do we wish to remain a society that welcomes and helps those in need, knowing that some intend us harm? Or do we want to lock our borders and live in a police state? Or, hopefully, something in between where the benefis and risks are in reasonable balance.
These are not idle questions. These are questions we must each answer for ourselves, individually and as a society. They are NOT questions that those who govern can or should be allowed to make without our informed consent..
Biting the hand that feeds IT
