[421] in cryptography@c2.net mail archive
Re: NSA responds to criticism over weakening cellular crypto
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Eric Blossom)
Fri Mar 21 18:38:20 1997
Date: Fri, 21 Mar 1997 12:48:36 -0800
From: Eric Blossom <eb@comsec.com>
Cc: cryptography@c2.net
In-Reply-To: <199703212006.PAA02318@jekyll.piermont.com> (perry@piermont.com)
> One wonders if the NSA cares about the billions of dollars lost by
> businesses each year because they lack strong cryptographic protection
> for their communications and computer systems, largely because of NSA
> pressure exerted via mechanisms such as the export control
> laws. Presumably, though, this bleeding wound on our economy isn't a
> "National Security" issue.
My sentiments exactly.
The other slime about the "export problem" for cellular phones is that
there is NO EXPORT PROBLEM. Because of spectrum allocation issues,
cellular manufacturers have to provide different models to different
countries anyway. They're already building different versions, so
there is no "export control" reason not to use good crypto in the US.
Eric
