The Paris attacks have given the government an excuse to renew efforts to gain access to encrypted private communications. In the face of well-planned terrorist activity, such a move sounds like a reasonable step towards greater security — but it is not. And, in fact, there is no evidence that the attacks were coordinated using encrypted technology — the opposite may actually be the case, with the terrorists’ communication occurring over unencrypted telephones.
Regardless, the argument that secure networks are hard for intelligence agencies to penetrate is true — and that means they are hard for everyone to penetrate, most especially those with evil intent. If the government can access our networks through a “backdoor,” there is very little we can do to stop a sophisticated terrorist organization, authoritarian governments, or other intruders from doing the same.
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