What Is Encryption? – Internet Society

Personal security: Encryption backdoors can be opened by anyone who finds them, including cyber criminals who will work overtime to find and exploit them with devastating consequences for the personal security of billions of people, including:

Compromised personal privacy and security: End-to-end encrypted communications protect the identity of journalists, activists, protected witnesses, undercover police, and many others who rely on secure and confidential communications. Vulnerable communications put these people at risk.

Putting vulnerable populations at risk: End-to-end encryption has helped protect vulnerable individuals, including victims of abuse and LGBTQ+ people who use encryption to communicate confidentially and to seek help without fear of retribution. Victim advocates use encryption to confidentially discuss relocation plans with survivors of domestic abuse.

Jeopardizing banking and financial information: By weakening encryption, personal banking information, credit card data, and other sensitive financial information is easier for cyber criminals to access and exploit.

Compromising the private identities of billions of people: Weakening encryption exposes information like health records, personal identification data, and other important data that makes it easier for cyber criminals to steal the identities of billions of people.

National security:Encryption backdoors could create new opportunities for bad actors, including hostile governments, terrorist organizations, and international crime rings, to access and exploit government officials confidential communications, and penetrate and attack confidential computer systems and databases. This could cause wide-scale, systemic disruptions to economies, infrastructure, and national security including:

Compromising government data: Government breaches are frequent, such as the colossal breaches at the United States Office of Personnel Management, the Indian governments Aadhaar database, and the sensitive information of European Union elected officials. Authorities arent able to keep encryption backdoors safe from hackers and criminals, putting confidential data and critical infrastructure like banks and the power grid at risk.

Undermining financial and economic security: By making personal information and bank data less secure, encryption backdoors could unintentionally facilitate identity theft and financial fraud with devastating consequences for individuals, businesses, and the nations economic stability.

Jeopardizing life-sustaining infrastructure: Introducing vulnerabilities into critical infrastructure systems like electrical power grids via the secure communications systems used by its operators could allow bad actors to hijack the grid and deny power to thousands, leading to widespread public fear, economic harm, physical injury, and even deaths. Other critical public services that rely on encryption to keep citizens safe include elections, hospitals, and transportation.

Compromising military operations: Encryption supports important government entities that rely on encryption to safeguard nation states.

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What Is Encryption? - Internet Society