Re: How might new GAK be enforced?

[azur@netcom.com (Steve Schear)]

>Tim May asks:
>
>: Any other ideas on how the government plans to enforce GAK, to make GAK the
>: overwhelmingly-preferred solution?
>
>The problem seems somewhat analogous to the software copy protection
>problem and maybe the enfocement will be similar: make "examples" of a
>few high profile offenders who are exchanging blatantly un-GAKed
>traffic with foreigners. This assumes they fine tune the law to make
>such behavior illegal without having to prove you yourself exported
>the stuff to them. Wonder what the Supremes will say to that.

Another possible monkey wrench is to send non-GAK messages containg random
data.  Since the entropy of encrypted and RNG data should be identical you
can always maintain the messages contain nothing at all and cannot produce
a decrypt key since none exists.

>
>But that's not the end of the story. If there is lots of GAK encrypted
>traffic flowing about, then encrypted traffic in general is no longer
>noteworthy. So as long as your traffic looks like GAK, you won't be
>hassled until they try to read your traffic.

See above comment.

>
>So it's possible that products will appear that use pseudo-GAK
>protocols -- they look just like their GAKed cousins but the GAK
>fields contain plausiable garbage instead of keys. It could even
>turn out to be a vendor "quality control" thing -- oops, the GAK
>was supposed to work but...
>
>You couldn't do that with Clipper (except via Matt Blaze's brute
>forcing of the LEAF checksum) because the crypto wouldn't decrypt a
>packet with an invalid LEAF checksum. Since it was a sealed hardware
>module, implementers had no choice but to play by those rules. There's
>no such enforcable limitation on commercial software implementations.

Another casuality could be anonymity.  Once GAK is in place, look for a
requirement for Clipper cards in order to access ISPs.

-- Steve




PGP Fingerprint: FE 90 1A 95 9D EA 8D 61  81 2E CC A9 A4 4A FB A9
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Snoop Daty Data           | Internet: azur@netcom.com
Grinder                   | Voice: 1-702-655-2877
Sacred Cow Meat Co.       | Fax: 1-702-658-2673
7075 W. Gowan Road, #2148 |
Las Vegas, NV 89129       |
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Just say NO to prescription DRUGS.

"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for
 the good of its victims may be the most oppressive."
    -- C.S. Lewis

"Surveillence is ultimately just another form of media, and thus, potential
entertainment."
    -- G. Beato