RSA president slams crypto backdoors as useful only against petty criminals

The idea of making end-to-end encryption breakable is “so misguided as to boggle the mind,” according to Amit Yoran, the president of RSA.

He says it will “catastrophically weaken” security for those using it for legitimate purposes without accomplishing the goals for which it is sought – catching terrorists and the worst criminals. “It is solely for the ease and convenience of law enforcement when pursuing petty criminals,” he says, while the toughest adversaries would be unaffected.

“No terrorist or nation-state would ever knowingly use such technology,” he says, except to take advantage of innocent users by exploiting the backdoors. Only small-time actors with no technical sophistication will be caught, he says. The net result would be bad for businesses in all industries trying to defend their digital environments.

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