Essay on National Security: At What Price

The NSA performed an unlawful invasion of privacy by using web encryption. Technologist, Christopher Soghoian, states that the NSA used supercomputers to gain access to encryption that provides online privacy and security. “The encryption technologies that the NSA has exploited to enable its secret dragnet surveillance are the same technologies that protect our most sensitive information, including medical records, financial transactions and commercial secrets” (qtd. in Winter). Christopher’s explanation of the encryption technologies describes how anyone could be affected by this surveillance. This is considered unlawful because the NSA hacked technologies that protect our private information. This affects the security of the nation knowing that it is possible for someone to gain access to information that people have once though were private to them. This is not the first time that the NSA has tried to gain access to private information. In fact, “For the past decade, NSA has led an aggressive multipronged effort to break widely used internet encryption technologies”

The increasing power and functionality of technology has increasingly invaded privacy and complicated security. Technology has made it possible for the government to

The NSA, or National Security Agency, is an American government intelligence agency responsible for collecting data on other countries and sometimes on American citizens in order to protect the country from outside risks. They can collect anything from the people’s phone data to their browser history and use it against them in the court of law. Since the catastrophes of September 11 attacks, the NSA’s surveillance capabilities have grown with the benefit of George W. Bush and the Executive Branch (Haugen 153). This decision has left a country divided for fifteen years, with people who agree that the NSA should be strengthened and others who think their powers should be limited or terminated. Although strengthening NSA surveillance may help the

Technology has come a long way since the early 90’s. With modern advances, technology is just about incorporated in everything we do in our day-to-day lives. Since technology has been incorporated into our everyday lives, it may raise some concerns about what may be happening in the background. One of these concerns would be privacy, we all may take it for granted but it is our constitutional rights as Americans. But this all changed after the September 2001 attack on the twin towers.

The integrity of one’s communications and privacy of online activities is the largest casualty of the National Security Agency’s (NSA) surveillance over digital lives. Years since September 11, 2009, the NSA’s mass surveillance has greatly expanded due to the heightened concern that new technology can be used by terrorists to plan and execute a terrorist attack. In today’s age of technology, there are easier ways of accessing information and communication as well as new ways of hacking and gathering personal information. The new surveillance programs and regulations are enabled by the Patriot Act and post 9/11 paranoia, but it has been over fourteen years since the incident. After whistleblower, Edward Snowden, it was revealed that the government’s mass surveillance went beyond what many considered acceptable. It can be predicted that unless the U.S Government reins in NSA mass surveillance, the

Since September 11th, due to the use of powerful cryptography to hide the planning the terrorist actions, America has dropped its views of privacy technology as a defense against an intrusive government.  Instead, it appears that all of American society is now ready to allow many infringements of civil liberties in order to create a false sense of security.

Dingwen Zhang English 3 12 August 2016 NSA Surveillance NSA Surveillance: Is safety worth losing freedom? Recently there is debate about if it is okay for the United States government to spy on citizens using NSA and FBI. This became common knowledge when Edward Snowden leaked millions of documents that show the government is spying on the public. The United States government should not keep the NSA surveillance going because it hurts the public more than it keeps the public safe.

But unfortunately privacy today faces growing threats from a growing surveillance apparatus that is often justified in the name of national security. Numerous government agencies including the National Security Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Homeland Security, and state and local law enforcement

Keeping the United States of America safe from foreign threats is far from an easy task. However, preventing domestic threats is a much more complicated and delicate one. Government organizations such as the National Security Agency [NSA] are known to have invaded our privacy through our connection to technology. The NSA has publicly admitted to the surveillance. Due to media coverage, the NSA is often viewed as the main agency that bulk collects data. Emails, phone calls, and even our text messages have been surveilled under an NSA program known as “PRISM” (“Domestic Surveillance Techniques”). Everyday government organizations invade our privacy for the sake of national security in an attempt to defend us from domestic threats, but it seems they often take surveillance a step too far. United States citizens should understand legality of these actions, as well as the purpose this data collection serves.

In the article, they discuss how the NSA has overreached and “cracked much of the online encryption relied upon by hundreds of millions of people to protect the privacy of their personal data, online transactions and emails” (Ball). Throughout the article, they argue that the NSA is interfering with American privacy, and security, by trying to win a war on encryption. They even reveal that the NSA is even coercing some unnamed technology companies and Internet Service Providers to cooperate with their demands and hand over keys or create backdoors. According to the NSA, this is “the price of admission for the US to maintain unrestricted access to and use of cyberspace” (Ball). Yet, at the same time they are effectively undermining the security of different networks. Additionally, the article “NSA Able to Foil Basic Safeguards of Privacy on Web” by Nicole Perlroth, Jeff Larson, and Scott Shane build on this argument of national security against privacy. They argue that the NSA is undermining everyday privacy in communications of today’s digital

Encryption is a wonderful and powerful tool when trustworthy people use it in an appropriate manner. If the tool falls into the wrong hands, it becomes less wonderful and more powerful. So what are the wrong hands and what should be done about it? Many corporations from the technology industry and organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) say nothing should be done about it. Americans have the right to privacy and encryption can provide that. On the other sided of the controversy, the Clinton Administration wants to secure access to all encryption keys so any encrypted communication can be intercepted, which will ensure social welfare. Governmental involvement in the use of encryption is a controversial issue. Throughout history, Governmental Agencies have interfered with the development and implementation of surveillance technology; this behavior may foreshadow future involvement with encryption. The debate of the Government's involvement is ongoing with valid points on both sides. In order to fairly evaluate both arguments, one must first understand cryptography and it's history of development.

People nowadays are uncomfortable with the Patriot Act because it collects so much data about people, and people worry about what happens with their data. The act was first established to catch threats to the public, but people question that the act may be over-stepping its boundaries (National Security, 1874). At a recent symposium at Loyola University Chicago, many discussions occurred about the safety of people’s data and how it was being used. The overall consensus is that the public does not like their data being unsecured and open to hackers. The Bell Telephone Company had access to many conversations and spied on suspicious ones. In our opinion, we prefer that companies and the government not keep our data for surveillance, but this is a hotly contested issue that will be argued for decades to

Digital privacy concerns, which have been a major issue in our country since 2001, increasingly violate our basic human rights as global citizens. The growing amount of government surveillance has manifested in the enactment of acts such as SOPA and CISPA. Although their intent on stopping digital piracy and attacks were clear, both were immediately met with harsh criticism; they allowed big corporations to violate our privacy rights by sharing our personal information with both other companies and the government. Our President, although publicly expressing his acknowledgement of the issue, failed to discuss an array of other pressing dilemmas regulated by the recently exposed National Security Agency (NSA), especially those involving

Encryption in book Blown to Bits by Hal Abelson, Ken Ledeen, and Harry Lewis is carefully analyzed by these three Computer Science majors is from the beginning of ciphering till exploitation occurred between the NSA and the Congressmen/Presidents of 1990’s. The industry and technological advancements for encryption began with the Egyptians who ciphered their language in Hieroglyphics around 2000 years ago. This creation led to a problematic industry for the Information Age because of the abuse of privacy. Though the fraudulent consequences of privacy are not protected by any amendment limitless resistance to being exposed for personal information has been growing ever since the beginning of security standards. What happened in September 11th, 2001 was not merely an inevitable catastrophe because the FBI warned the US Government and president years before 911 occurred. Encryption being a safety requirement in our era is the encoding of data transferring through communicative means. Anyone can have access to the data however there is a password when trying to steal or intercept someone 's information. The best way to encode your translation of personal information between two or more people is by verbal talking through whispers/soft speaking. Regulating encryption has always been a request from the NSA and the FBI because of exchanging violent plans or initiatives to seek perilous outcomes. The government feeds of privacy, not protected by the Founding Fathers or the

The purpose for an IT security policy is to provide “strategy, policy, and standards regarding the security of and operations in cyberspace, and encompasses the full range of threat reduction, vulnerability reduction, deterrence, international engagement, incident response, resiliency, and recovery policies and activities, including computer network operations, information assurance, law enforcement, diplomacy, military, and intelligence missions as they relate to the security and stability of the global information and communications infrastructure” ("Cyberspace policy RevIew", 2016).