Although criminals may, in fact, not use Clipper, it is conceivable that over time market forces could favor escrowed encryption. Organizations might require key escrow for their own protection, and vendors could favor it for its export advantage. The government will be ordering key-escrow products, and demand for interoperability could lead to its proliferation. Criminals could choose key escrow because it is more readily available, to communicate with the rest of the world, or to allow their own emergency access.
Predictor: Denning, Dorothy
Prediction, in context:In a 1994 article for the Journal of Criminal Justice Education, Dorothy Denning writes about the government’s plan to adopt the Clipper Chip, a growing Internet marketplace and the risk of emerging computer criminals: ”Clipper offers excellent security, indeed the best security on the market … Although criminals may, in fact, not use Clipper, it is conceivable that over time market forces could favor escrowed encryption. Organizations might require key escrow for their own protection, and vendors could favor it for its export advantage. The government will be ordering key-escrow products, and demand for interoperability could lead to its proliferation. Criminals could choose key escrow because it is more readily available, to communicate with the rest of the world, or to allow their own emergency access.”
Biography:Dorothy Denning was a professor and chair of Computer Science at Georgetown University in the 1990s, by which time she had been in the field of computer security and cryptography for two decades. Previous to her arrival at GU, she worked at Digital Equipment Corporation, SRI International and Purdue University. Her books include “Cryptography and Data Security” and “Information Warfare and Security.” She authored many Internet research studies. She was the first president of the International Association for Cryptologic Research. (Research Scientist/Illuminator.)
Date of prediction: December 13, 1994
Topic of prediction: Communication
Subtopic: Security/Encryption
Name of publication: Journal of Criminal Justice Education
Title, headline, chapter name: Crime and Crypto on the Information Superhighway
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://www.cs.georgetown.edu/~dennning/crypto/Crime-and-Crypto.txt
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney