​“Backdoor” access to encrypted information may give hackers a key to the “front door”

With the number and frequency of cyber-attacks on the rise, US government officials in intelligence and security sectors are asking for “backdoor” or exceptional access to Americans’ private accounts, such as What’sapp or Facetime ,including encrypted data on those accounts. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) claim that they need access to heavily encrypted, or protected, data on commercial and private networks in order to prevent potential cyber and terror attacks. However, critics assert that the appeal for “backdoor” access defeats the entire purpose of data encryption in the first place, which is to protect sensitive data with confusing lines of code, and would give hackers and criminals a key to the “front door’.

FBI Director James Comey noted that groups such as ISIS use data encryption to get secret messages and attack plans out to their recruits, and that the US needs access to this data in order to prevent a potential security breach. Indeed, the US government’s memory is still fresh with the diplomatic damage caused by Edward Snowden’s NSA document leak two years ago, as well as the Sony Pictures breach that was allegedly carried out by North Korean hackers, among other recent occurrences. According to Comey, “encryption threatens to lead us all to a very, very dark place,” but many in the technology sector disagree.

Meanwhile, Silicon Valley companies like Apple are increasing security on mobile devices to prevent access to private information—what some call preventing “front door” access to citizens’ data. This is because security experts and engineers alike believe that agency backdoor access could actually pave the way for terrorists, hackers and national governments to gain access to sensitive information. “We’ve said that no backdoor is a must, and we’ve said that encryption is a must,” Apple CEO Tim Cook clarified at a recent technology conference. Other technology companies and citizens groups are joining in the call for more data encryption in light of contemporary threats, instead of less or weakened encryption.

Though government agencies may believe that “backdoor” access to encrypted data is the best form of deterrence against potential hacks and security breaches, many in the high-technology and engineering communities tend to disagree. Maybe it’s time for the US government to start listening to its citizens before it potentially misguided efforts effectively provide hackers with “front door” and open access to the very information it contends to protect.