How Working Remote And Protecting Encryption Is Natural For This Blockchain Company – Forbes

As most of us look to avoid Zoom Bombings, whether by some hacker with a hoodie on the Web or your dog or cat wanting your attention, the challenges of working from home are perhaps the greatest obstacles that the vast majority of Americans face as we navigate the COVID-19 pandemic. These concepts bring to light the idea of how safe we are on these electronic devices in terms of our privacy, both at a personal level and for corporations and their clients. As the U.S. Senate considers a new piece of legislation called the EARN IT Act, many are concerned the bill would kill end-to-end encryption, an element of technology that allows for private communication. This concern comes at a time when staying at home is the only option.

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For one company in the blockchain industry, remote working is nothing new - prior to, during, and after COVID-19, all employees at this company have always worked remotely. In speaking with Corey Petty, Chief Security Officer of Status, a company offering an open-source Ethereum-based app that includes a private chat messenger, crypto-wallet and Web 3 browser, I learned some important lessons on how to work from home as an organization and as an individual. Additionally, I was able to understand the importance of end-to-end encryption and the backlash against new legislation in Congress that may force companies to stop using this type of cryptography.

In discussing the keys to success in remote working, Petty commented, It starts with understanding communication within the organization and using the available tooling that are online today...Especially for a company like status, where we are distributed across the globe, time zones become increasingly a part of that communication overhead and dealing with asynchronous communication has to be something that you are used to. Its establishing a digital workplace.

It must be hard if you are used to just asking a friend or colleague to come over and ask a quick question, and Petty notes establishing a digital workplace is really hard to do depending on how a company is set up and can be unique to the individual processes businesses go through. Leadership is key, and Petty notes, Having a very good COO who knows what they are doing and how to communicate is pivotal...[a company] has to have the ability to adapt and change how they operate very quickly or they are not going to be able to survive.

He notes it is important to manage the work-life balance as well and separate yourself from your work and living space. Additionally, organizational time management such as setting up regular meetings with the groups you need to be talking to and using all available videoconferencing applications for that type of thing is critical so that as an individual, you have a better idea of how to organize your time and get work done. However, dont ask Petty to talk to him in a Zoom chat. Based on his expertise in security, this is something that he notes, I would not use Zoom. Petty also does note that with companies like Status, this is really easy because they do not make physical products. Most of what we do is software development or protocol development so the digital aspect of our company is almost 100% whereas a lot of companies who dont have that opportunity need to be creative on who they can send home and who they cant and organize those processes accordingly.

Policy Of Ending End-To-End Encryption Policy In the United States

In terms of surviving, Status as well as other blockchain companies who see encryption as essential not only to their business models, but also on the principles of maintaining anonymity and privacy in a digital workplace, concerns of new legislation in the Senate has them concerned. The EARN IT Act, introduced by the Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), stands for earning immunity that would end internet platforms such as Facebook or Twitter from having automatic immunity from lawsuits with respect to what is posted on their platform.

The bill makes an exception to the Communications Decency Act, which under Section 230 normally provides immunity, in cases of child sexual abuse, requires a list of best practices to be established by companies that a Commission headed up by the U.S. Attorney General would help oversee the development of.

Many organizations are not taking the proposal lightly and are pushing back. The Electronic Frontier Foundation stated that the EARN IT Act is unconstitutional and violates our First and Fourth Amendment rights. The EFF is urging people to call their Senators to vote No on this legislation.

Petty said he ...sees the exception to Section 230 as an enforcement tool for whatever leverage the EARN IT Act provides, and quite frankly, an underhanded one. It essentially turns a voluntary list of best practices to be mandatory, for operating a tech company in the U.S. without the legal protections of Section 230 is infeasible.

Encryption probably faces its most challenging fight ever and blockchain companies should take heed, because with the Chair and Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, along with 10 Co-Sponsors, voting to recommend the bills passage, combined with both the previous President and the current one actually agreeing on a topic, this bill may just be as strong in politics as end-to-end encryption is in technology. As former President Obama noted at a SXSW Conference in 2016, if the government cannot crack encryption, it is like everyone walking around with a Swiss bank account in their pocket.

Obama comments at SXSW in 2016 on encryption

Petty notes encryption is the last bastion of a strong defense and weakening encryption usually comes at the expense of the defender, not the attacker...The process of introducing backdoors and selective access to encryption schemes is not one that is not should be rushed...There is an overwhelming consensus that this is a wrong move to take and its moving in the wrong direction.

Although the verdict on end-to-end encryption is not out yet, one thing does appear certain: that decentralized companies from the blockchain space have a lot to offer in the way of offering protection for company security as well as tips for working from home.

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How Working Remote And Protecting Encryption Is Natural For This Blockchain Company - Forbes