[Edu-sig] raging debates and the relevance of a real education

[kirby urner]

Students lucky enough to get exposure to RSA (the algorithm) along their
math track are likely having more informed debates in their classrooms,
regarding the Apple vs. FBI standoff.

They're certainly better equipped, concept-wise, than less privileged kids
who might not even get any SQL in all four years of high school (!).

The first stories I saw were about how the run-of-the-mill techie saw no
reason to weigh in i.e. why pick a side?

Then came the heavy hitters like John McAffee and Gen. Hayden.

An aspect of the story I see differently reported is:

(A)  when the passcode is miss-entered more than 10 times, the phone wipes
away its data (99% of the stories put it this way)

(B)  the phone doesn't have to wipe anything except the decrypt bits,
leaving the phone encrypted forever (1% put it this other way). [1]

One might argue the difference between "erased" and "indecipherable" is
negligible, but as we were discussing "mental models" earlier this month, I
think it's an important distinction to make.

The "erased" mental model leaves people understanding why the FBI couldn't
get to the data in that case:  it's gone.  The "forever encrypted" mental
model reminds people of something else:  the data is still there, just the
code in uncrackable.

A lot of father-knows-best types (e.g. Cyrus Vance) would like the public
to forget all about uncrackable codes.

Were the algorithm in question RSA, we could say the phones owner needs the
passcode to get access to d, the secret complement of N, the public key. [2]

Even if I know my public key, forget about decryption of d is lost, and
that's a lot longer than 6 digits. Getting the passcode right is merely
giving d permission to do its work.

I wonder how many evil sibs have deliberately miss-entered codes to forever
lock the other's phone.  That'd be akin to tossing it under a bus right?
Tsk. [3]

Kirby

PS:  I wonder who believes this paragraph (I don't):

"It’s possible, of course, for authorities to physically open the phone,
pull out the computer chips and bombard them with lasers or radio
frequencies to get at the information they need. But experts aren’t sure
how much — if any — data would be lost in the process." [4]

Sounds like BS to me.

[1]
https://stratechery.com/2016/apple-versus-the-fbi-understanding-iphone-encryption-the-risks-for-apple-and-encryption/

[2]
http://controlroom.blogspot.com/2006/05/rsa-using-pythonic-notation.html

[3]
http://forums.macrumors.com/threads/a-hack-to-find-my-sisters-password-for-the-login-screen.237721/

[4]
http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2016/02/17/the-fbi-wants-to-set-a-legal-precedent-not-break-into-an-iphone/
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