Re: Reactions to reported NSA PRISM program

[Emery Rudolph <erudolph () UMD EDU>]

Gary,

I have had similar thoughts and have been on the fence about this, because I too see the value in the security agencies 
having access to data that keeps our country, assets and friends safe. The issue invariably comes down to how willing 
are we as a country to blatantly dismiss the 4th amendment rights to privacy, which parenthetically extent to modern 
day areas like data. You hit the nail on the head when you said the issue is really the abuse of power, which is 
absolutely 100% inevitable. It is in these abuses that we run the danger of unjustly persecuting and prosecuting people 
because of personal and evil motives. 

Our constitutional rights are not a hindrance to our safety, as much as they define who we are as a nation. Freedom of 
privacy does necessitate that the intelligence community become more adept at finding effective ways to track those who 
mean us harm, but in the end, that is much more palatable than simply gathering data on everyone and sifting through. 
That is more than a slippery slope, it is a fast track to corruption of our values and a breakdown of our identity. 

All of that is personal opinion and not reflective on any views of my institution. 

On the matter of Information Technology - I am very interested to learn the actual mechanisms employed by the NSA to 
house and mine this data, how much data do they collect and how long do they retain it? What types of infrastructures 
they have in place to allow this to be efficient and effective. The NSA has the keys to most major technology ciphers, 
but it is possible to still encrypt data with non-standard ciphers that use astronomically larger and stronger keys 
offset enough to secure your data. Of course, this requires a lot of work and coordination, but can be done. 


Very Best Regards,

Emery Rudolph, MS
Manager
IT-ETI-PS Enterprise UNIX Services
University of Maryland
(301) 405-9379
http://www.umd.edu




-----Original Message-----
From: The EDUCAUSE Security Constituent Group Listserv [mailto:SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU] On Behalf Of Flynn, 
Gary - flynngn
Sent: Friday, June 07, 2013 9:45 AM
To: SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU
Subject: Re: [SECURITY] Reactions to reported NSA PRISM program

<personal opinion> 

I think if anyone expects the government to foil terrorism plots, such
monitoring is necessary. There is certainly a substantial risk of abuse
and scope creep but I don't see any realistic option. If terrorists are
allowed to leverage today's technology unimpeded, there will be larger and
more coordinated attacks. When something happens, people will ask "why
didn't you know about that?".

Our society is extremely vulnerable. If you cannot fix the
vulnerabilities, you have to monitor and detect. Our freedom is our
vulnerability so I don't think anyone wants to "fix" that. Some privacy
may have to be sacrificed to preserve freedom.

Scope creep is probably the primary threat. "We must monitor threats to
the American way of life and our economy. We will add the following to the
definition of terrorist - tobacco smugglers, DMCA violators, gun
collectors, spam senders, and people who don't curb their dogs".

There is a large gray area in the middle where I'm sure there will be
constant disagreement and worries about who will watch the watchers.

I don't like it. But I think it is necessary.

</personal opinion>



On 6/7/13 9:02 AM, "Kevin Halgren" <kevin.halgren () WASHBURN EDU> wrote:

> For those of you already using Google or Microsoft cloud e-mail
> solutions, I'll be curious to hear the reactions on your campuses to
> this news.
>
> I believe the tech companies are telling the truth when they say they
> don't provide direct backdoor access into their systems and that the
> PRISM presentation may overstate the cooperation and capabilities of the
> system, however that doesn't preclude the government from abusing
> existing systems and capabilities e.g. those under CALEA lawful
> intercept capabilities.
>
> Kevin
>
> -- 
> Kevin Halgren
> Assistant Director - Systems and Network Services
> Washburn University
> (785) 670-2341
> kevin.halgren () washburn edu