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Exploring Encryption and Potential Mechanisms for Authorized Government Access to Plaintext Proceedings of a Workshop (2016) / Chapter Skim
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4 Session 2. Use Cases and the Feasibility of Segmenting Encryption Policies
Pages 13-16

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From page 13...
... Drawing from his past experience working in the finance industry and with Google Health, Donner used the finance and health care sectors to illustrate how industries handle highly sensitive information, including their use of encryption. In the context of finance, Donner described the complex networks of data holders, data flows, and transit points involved in carrying out daily transactions in both consumer banking and institutional finance.
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From page 14...
... Andrew Sherman reiterated this point with regard to these industries, saying government wouldn't need exceptional access to his laptop because the source data for it came from a system to which "the legal department would gladly give you access with the right paperwork." In addition, Donner likened most institutional databases to a "maze of twisty passages," suggesting that anyone seeking access, exceptional or otherwise, to most corporate data would likely need someone from the institution to help navigate the database to find the desired information anyway. Given this context, he posited that it likely is not reasonable to expect the government to expend the resources necessary to use a backdoor to tap into such databases when the institution could simply be directly asked to provide the information.
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From page 15...
... During the period when export controls were in effect, Microsoft added a "server-gated cryptography" feature to its Web browser Internet Explorer to allow selection of strong cryptography when connecting to servers outfitted with special certificates for their server keys, even if the underlying Windows operating system only supported weak encryption, LaMacchia said. Netscape implemented a similar feature for its browser that it called "International Step-Up." The result, according to LaMacchia, was a mix of confusion and unintended consequences; while Microsoft forged a workable solution, it was difficult to test and deploy and also difficult to remove once export controls changed a few years later and server-gated cryptography was no longer needed.
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From page 16...
... Any requirement that ensures access at lower layers necessarily is very difficult and involves breaking boundaries between different pieces of the system. LaMacchia expanded on this point, explaining that segmenting horizontally would require engineers to break "abstraction boundaries" that are crucial to the integrity of computer programs.
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Key Terms

  • government access
  • corporate data
  • medical data
  • export controls
  • require exceptional

  • strong encryption
  • provided access
  • access horizontally
  • controls changed
  • various sectors

  • mobile devices
  • segregating exceptional
  • mented exceptional
  • requiring exceptional
  • enables exceptional

  • segment exceptional
  • relatively secure
  • allow selection
  • workable solution
  • weak encryption

  • engineering perspective
  • web browser
  • technical framework
  • daniel kahn
  • called google

  • boundaries built
  • butler lampson
  • encryption plays
  • possibly provide
  • help navigate


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