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CuredBeef 8 points ago +9 / -1

The NSA may be the best in the world, but encryption is encryption. With the FBI crying constantly to backdoor iPhones, the NSA probably hasn't cracked the best algorithms. If anything, the NSA is by far the best with zero-day attacks and that'd be my guess if they had any insight into this.

And always encrypt my fellow pedes. No one has rights to your data but you.

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deleted 6 points ago +6 / -0
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RuleoVicus 4 points ago +4 / -0

Hence why I laugh about VPNs and people using Tor.

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preferredfault 2 points ago +3 / -1

It depends though. If you have an encryption key file like with PGP, monitoring the endpoints does nothing. That only works with things like HTTPS, because in order to encrypt data, you have to send the key over the internet. But if they key is never transported over the internet, and only through physical media or some other covert means, all you'll ever get is the encrypted data.

I could easily see some Chinese operative having a small thumb drive or some other storage device on them when they enter the country, that contains an encryption key. It could even be simply sent through physical mail on a regular basis if they want to constantly change encryption keys.

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jgardner 3 points ago +4 / -1

Not so simple. Https yes BUT given enough time with enough computers they will figure out what you said and saw.

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CuredBeef 4 points ago +5 / -1

Unless the NSA gets into your computer and obtains the decipher, no. Modern encryption is virtually impossible to crack. Even with the best super computers it would take billions of years to crack one encryption. The NSA may be powerful, but it can't bypass mathematics.

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jgardner 3 points ago +3 / -0

You'd be surprised. Not everyone is using the appropriate number of bits and such

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RuleoVicus 2 points ago +2 / -0

Exactly. As you pointed out, why would intelligence agencies demand a backdoor if it's so easy?

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MrBen23 1 point ago +1 / -0

Yes, but only when they need access expeditiously. Eventually, the government cracks the code. Example: Feds wanted access to San Bernadino shooter's iPhone. Apple refused. An Israeli company helped DHS crack it instead. Now it's believed the US government can crack every iPhone in existence.

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Sporadica 1 point ago +1 / -0

Fun fact, it's illegal to cross the border into USA with files encrypted over a certain bitrate because the gov't can't crack it. Whenever someone says "military grade" encryption they mean 4096bit