A Roadmap for Exceptional Access Research

Tags: 2010s Crypto Wars Exceptional Access

Authors: Varia, Mayank

Published: December 2018

URL: https://www.lawfareblog.com/roadmap-exceptional-access-research

Abstract: Mayank Varia, Research Associate Professor of Computer Science at Boston University and Co-Director of BU’s Center for Reliable Information Systems and Cyber Security, warns of the “dour consequences” of continued politicization in the “crypto wars” debate over End-to-End (E2E) and Exceptional Access (EA) encryption systems. In an effort to quell continued politicization, Varia proposes a four-step roadmap to inform the process of developing EA technology and aid future policy debates. Varia’s proposal includes: (1) a comprehensive review of the benefits and risks of an EA encryption system (from a policy viewpoint; (2) a skeletal definition of the security guarantees that EA encryption should provide (in order to mitigate policy risks); (3) a list of several possible capabilities that an EA system might provide in an attempt to identify a minimum viable product together with law enforcement; and (4) a call to construct policy to revive research in to EA’s technology challenges (an area that has been “mostly dormant” for two decades.This essay is part of a series of essays from the Crypto 2018 Workshop on Encryption and Surveillance.