Circumstances such as real-time multimedia and high bandwidth data will disable the Net. Routing problems, specifically misconfigured routers, were cited as a final threat. I agree with the panelists' contention that protocols for secure DNS will decrease the risk of malicious attacks, though it is questionable by what fraction the risk will be decreased. Patrick Ball of the AAAS Science and Human Rights Program outlined security problems and provided crypto solutions for human rights organizations. He stated that human rights groups need encryption and digital signatures for protection.
Ball finds traffic analysis a major threat to privacy, and suggests the use of anonymous remailers.
Toren outlined the law enforcement perspective on crypto and privacy. He stated that unbreakable encryption will threaten public safety because it can be used to conceal criminal activity. Furthermore, Toren suggests that privacy and liberty must be protected without leaving a harbor for criminality. Toren's comments created strong response from the attendees and consequently, the question and answer session was lengthy. Matt Blaze expressed an interesting analogy in describing a paper shredder that created a digital copy of a document and sent it off to a central database.