13.9.1. transparent use, like the fax machine, is the key 13.9.2. easier token-based key and/or physical metrics for security - thumbprint readers - tokens attached to employee badges - rings, watches, etc. that carry most of key (with several bits remembered, and a strict "three strikes and you're out" system) 13.9.3. major security scares, or fears over "back doors" by the government, may accelerate the conversion - all it may take are a couple of very large scandals 13.9.4. insurance companies may demand encryption, for several reasons - to protect against theft, loss, etc. - to provide better control against viruses and other modifications which expose the companies they ensure to liability suits - same argument cited by safe makers: when insurance companies demanded better safes, that's when customers bought them (and not before) 13.9.5. Networks will get more complex and will make conventional security systems unacceptable - "Fortress" product of Los Altos Technologies - too many ways for others to see passwords being given to a remote host, e.g., with wireless LANs (which will necessitate ZKIPS) - ZKIPS especially in networks, where the chances of seeing a password being transmitted are much greater (an obvious point that is not much discussed) - the whole explosion in bandwidth 13.9.6. The revelations of surveillance and monitoring of citizens and corporations will serve to increase the use of encryption, at first by people with something to hide, and then by others. Cypherpunks are already helping by spreading the word of these situations. - a snowballing effect - and various government agencies will themselves use encryption to protect their files and their privacy 13.9.7. for those in sensitive positions, the availability of new bugging methods will accelerate the conversion to secure systems based on encrypted telecommunications and the avoidance of voice-based systems 13.9.8. ordinary citizens are being threatened because of what they say on networks, causing them to adopt pseudonyms - lawsuits, ordinary threats, concerns about how their employers will react (many employers may adopt rules limiting the speech of their employees, largely because of concerns they'll get sued) + and some database providers are providing cross-indexed lists of who has posted to what boards-this is freely available information, but it is not expected by people that their postings will live forever - some may see this as extortion - but any proposed laws are unlikely to succeed - so, as usual, the solution is for people to protect themselves via technological means 13.9.9. "agents" that are able to retransmit material will make certain kinds of anonymous systems much easier to use
Next Page: 13.10 Deals, the EFF, and Digital Telephony Bill
Previous Page: 13.8 The Battle Lines are Being Drawn
By Tim May, see README
HTML by Jonathan Rochkind