Next thing we’ll hear that Trump is giving top secret security clearance to his 10 year old son, computer savvy Barron Trump.
After all Barron may not be up on the super top secret ability that the National Security Agency (NSA) and the U.S. Cyber Command are now applying to encrypt our most sensitive electronic communications.
If he has top secret clearance maybe Barron can enlighten his father as to our capabilities. If our intelligence specialists can’t get though to the next Commander in Chief, perhaps his son can.
Added:
I got to thinking that it is quite possible Barron is not only far more conversant with information technology, hacking,and cryptology than his father; but if he’s already given his father this advice about no computer being safe from hacking, he also may well be aware of quantum computing. After all, if as I suspect , he’s as curious about computers as most 10 year olds, he could be following advances on the various websites devoted to the latest breakthroughs. What he has no way of knowing is what ultra-top secret technology our own government is now using. While of course no 10 year old would ever be given this information, hopefully his father will.
And we can only hope his father will understand it.
Too bad Barron hasn’t convinced his father that rarely if ever are hackers caught in the act, and that all hackers leave unique electronic “footprints” which experts can detect and use to identify them.
Back in 2014 articles appeared about the breakthroughs in quantum computing that would enable unbreakable codes to assure that governments with the capacity to do so could communicate with utmost secrecy.
Now nearly three years later it is reasonable to assume that our multi-billion dollar investment in the NSA has put us on the cutting edge of quantum cryptology.
Wikipedia does a good job of summarizing the technical aspects of quantum cryptology.
A year ago this was published about the NSA and quantum cryptology:
More Details on the NSA Switching to Quantum-Resistant Cryptography
The NSA is publicly moving away from cryptographic algorithms vulnerable to cryptanalysis using a quantum computer. It just published a FAQ about the process:
Q: Is there a quantum resistant public-key algorithm that commercial vendors should adopt?
A: While a number of interesting quantum resistant public key algorithms have been proposed external to NSA, nothing has been standardized by NIST, and NSA is not specifying any commercial quantum resistant standards at this time. NSA expects that NIST will play a leading role in the effort to develop a widely accepted, standardized set of quantum resistant algorithms. Once these algorithms have been standardized, NSA will require vendors selling to NSS operators to provide FIPS validated implementations in their products. Given the level of interest in the cryptographic community, we hope that there will be quantum resistant algorithms widely available in the next decade. NSA does not recommend implementing or using non-standard algorithms, and the field of quantum resistant cryptography is no exception.
from www.schneier.com/…
How far along has the NSA progressed in this field? Are they already able to utilize this method to encode our most sensitive electronic transmissions?
Barron Trump needs to know.
Sunday, Jan 1, 2017 · 5:25:10 PM +00:00 · HalBrown
This story is getting a lot of well-deserved play, though it is being reported as a straight “Trump said this” story. It is another appalling example of the ignorance of the incoming Commander in Chief. I have no doubt his son knows, to say the least, a lot more about computers than his father. I wouldn’t be surprised if Barron told him that the only safe way to avoid a message being electronically compromised is to use couriers.
Aside from the undeniable fact that the use of couriers aren’t exactly the safest way to share information since they are physically vulnerable, the sheer number of messages that have to be shared makes it impossible to have enough carriers to go around. Consider that we send secret messages to all of our embassies, spies, and military installations in addition to our allies.
Of course, once again we see more proof thatTrump doesn’t know what he doesn’t know, and that he arrogantly states ludicrous Trump-truths which must make our own and our allies intelligence agents want to scream, and bring delight to intelligence agents of our adversaries.
Sunday, Jan 1, 2017 · 8:53:28 PM +00:00
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HalBrown
There’s a good article (really a second article in a series) from our next door neighbor Salon about Trump and his followers, and so many other people, believing in conspiracy theories. This is related to how Trump lacks the critical thinking ability needed in a president.
What is happening in the instance related to Trump’s ignorance about hacking and encryption is the other side of the conspiracy paranoia coin. It is not believing something when all the evidence proves it is true.
Unfortunately I am stymied in my attempts to figure out a way to foster a critical thinking atmosphere among the millions of people so prone to believing in implausible conspiracy theories. We live in a world where people are bombarded every day with fantasies they believe are true, from advertising to movies and TV shows, and with aspects of religion.
So many people seem to be hard-wired to believe that they want or need to believe rather than engage in rational analysis of the evidence.
www.salon.com/...