Susan Landau, Bridge Professor of Cyber Security and Policy, Tufts University
The First Crypto War were fought over end-to-end encryption for communications, and appeared largely over as a result of the EU's and US's loosening of export regulations in the late 1990s. The Second Crypto War, which began rearing its head shortly after the First Crypto War ended, appears to be about end-to-end encryption and locked mobile devices. It looks as if law enforcement is seeking exceptional access—access to encrypted communications and secured devices—through regulation or legislation. But things are seldom as they seem, and so it is with the Second Crypto War. I'll discuss why the fight is really over locked devices, the security risks involved should law enforcement's desires win out, and why end-to-end encrypted communications are here to stay.
