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What to Read and Watch to Decode Encryption

What to Read and Watch to Decode Encryption

By Kevin Bankston, The Washington Post | Updated: 28 March 2016 18:16 IST

If you have an iPhone, all of your smartphone data is encrypted by default. If you use WhatsApp, your instant messages are fully encrypted. Much of your Web browsing is encrypted, too, and more of it every day. All of that code makes sure our private data stays private - but it's also making law enforcement investigators nervous. That's why the FBI is at war with the tech industry over whether and how the government might ensure its own access to all of that encrypted data. The FBI went to court to force Apple to help unlock an encrypted iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino, California, shooters; that case is now on hold as the FBI tests out its own method for breaking into the phone. But the broader encryption debate isn't going away anytime soon. Here's what you should read and watch if you want to decode the crypto controversy:

"Crypto," Steven Levy

Today's policy battles over encryption are almost identical to the Crypto Wars of the 1990s, which pitted hackers and corporations against the government. (Spoiler alert: Encryption won.) This fast-paced 2001 history of encryption technology and the controversies surrounding it, from one of America's most accomplished tech journalists, is required reading if you want to understand the current debate.

"Cryptonomicon," Neal Stephenson
Encryption plays a key role in this multi-generational epic from one of America's best science-fiction writers. Spanning World War II and '90s-era Silicon Valley, the 1999 thriller provides readers a solid technical grounding in how encryption works while also being immensely entertaining.

"Sneakers," directed by Phil Alden Robinson
Code-breaking technology is at the center of this much-loved 1992 comic cyber-caper from the same screenwriters who wrote the hacker classic "WarGames." The plot pits Robert Redford and his team of misfit hackers against the villainous Ben Kingsley in a chase for something the FBI probably wishes it had right now: a mysterious black box that can break any encryption code.

"Last Week Tonight With John Oliver: Encryption"
Do you want to understand the crypto debate in less than 20 minutes while laughing yourself silly? Then watch this very NSFW clip from March. Once again, Oliver and his team put mainstream journalists to shame by reporting on a complex policy issue with more detail and nuance than anyone else. Watch till the end, or you'll miss the brilliant parody of an Apple commercial.

"Citizenfour," directed by Laura Poitras
Edward Snowden's revelations about the National Security Agency's broad surveillance accelerated the widespread deployment of encryption and set the stage for today's crypto conflict. Whether you think Snowden is a criminal, a hero or both, this Oscar-winning 2014 portrait of the man at the moment his life changed is mandatory viewing for anyone who wants to understand what he revealed and why he did it.

"Mr. Robot," Season 1
The first season of this thriller from USA Network doesn't deal directly with encryption. But its dark tale of an Anonymous-like hacker collective is easily the most technically accurate depiction of hacking I've ever seen in TV or film, and the show's creator just revealed at the South by Southwest Interactive conference that the next season will specifically tackle the encryption controversy. So catch up now!

"Keys Under Doormats," MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory
If you want a technically detailed explanation of why government-mandated surveillance back doors would be a very bad idea, look no further. Echoing many of the arguments that won the '90s Crypto Wars, this in-depth 2015 report from more than a dozen of America's top computer security minds lays it all out. And you don't need a computer science degree to understand it - I promise.

"Ten Reasons Why Backdoor Mandates Are a Bad Idea," New America's Open Technology Institute

This blog post from last year, summarizing my testimony to Congress, is your crib sheet for when you want to look like a total crypto expert at cocktail parties. My South by Southwest talk on the subject was called "Top Ten Reasons to Be a Crypto Absolutist."

Kevin Bankston is the director of New America's Open Technology Institute, a public interest organization dedicated to keeping the Internet open and secure.

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