How Great Encryption Protects the Children and Your Privacy

Encryption is Math! An Insecure Equation Exposes Everyone to Danger Online!

An explanation into the possible consequences of a world without proper and safe encryption and security methodology.

Episode #10-15 released on November 17, 2019

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I am going to start off with a very well-known quote that is used as an appeal for pity and emotion, “Think of the Children”. By the time I am done, you should, at the very minimum, understand my side, even if you do not agree with me. There is something to be said in having a civil discourse.

Edward Snowden explained that there is no way to make code insecure to good guys and secure against bad guys. There are many reasons for this, and the primary reason is simple, Encryption is Math, and it requires huge numbers and complicated and flawless equations and methodologies to remain secure. In order to make it easier to be cracked by governments, we'd have to weaken the equation, use smaller numbers, or destroy the security altogether by recording everything in a method that can later be accessed by anyone, this includes Governments, Police, Justice, and because that kind of security isn't perfect, malicious actors.

Why is encryption important?

Encryption protects everyone! I know, you may believe you have nothing to hide, but the day you do, everyone will be able to determine what you are hiding, unless you are ready to hide everything, even the completely legal and boring stuff.

I know that some of you will automatically argue that if encryption protects everyone, it, also, protects criminals. And, you are absolutely right, but not in a way you are willing to admit to yourself, just yet. You see, most law-abiding citizens, and I mean most, will use technology as required by laws, provided that the developers of the software they are using, are, also, abiding by the law, themselves. Criminals, especially knowledgeable ones, will continue to use encryption and circumvent technologies regardless of laws put in place. It is then in the best interest of law-abiding citizens to be using the same, if not better encryption than any of the malicious groups.

What could happen if we weakened encryption and security today?

This is but an example, it may or may not have happened, yet, but in the advancements of technology and medicine, it will happen. A child is brought into a hospital, as per procedure all the clothes are removed to make sure there are no hidden injuries. Doctors and Nurses try to evaluate the medical condition of the child and determine it is unknown. Today's technology, also, for remote assistance with specialized medical professionals, and the blood tests and other tests aren't sufficient. The medical professional is provided with video access to see what is going on with the patient, as well as, photographs of various parts to aid in the assistance of the medical intervention. The specialist recognizes the condition, and provides the information and treatments required to save the child. Take this event, use the same technology and go back 30 years into my time when encryption wasn't legal, or into any country without sufficient encryption, or just into an everyday insecure hospital now. There is a slim chance that a malicious hacker breaches the hospital security, and if the malicious hacker is a pedophile, takes images and videos and distributes online on the darknet. Yet, another theoretical victim of technology.

You see, strong encryption and security practices are important for everyone. If the hospital and the other specialist use strong encryption and security methodologies, not only would this theoretical child be safe from this, but the malicious hacker wouldn't have access to any of the information, photos or video feeds.

It is for this reason, that encryption is important and if you won't do it for yourself, for once, someone will be using the following phrase correctly, “Think of the Children”. In the scenario presented, there is no time for the parents and child to check if there are any creeps on the network, no time to know if they are truly safe, and only time to save the child's life, but at what price? A life without privacy and security, is not a life worth living, it is not a life that is safe, and is not a life at all. A life like that, is like a lifetime prison sentence, and we don't want to expose any children, teenagers, vulnerable adults, or anyone else, to that kind of danger online.

Fight for Encryption and a Safer World!

Host : Steve Smith | Music : | Editor : Steve Smith | Producer : Zed Axis Dot Net

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