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    Is It Really Encrypted When the Key Is Public and Automatic?

    IT Discussion
    encryption software legal
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    • DashrenderD
      Dashrender @scottalanmiller
      last edited by

      @scottalanmiller said in Is It Really Encrypted When the Key Is Public and Automatic?:

      @DustinB3403 said in Is It Really Encrypted When the Key Is Public and Automatic?:

      @scottalanmiller said in Is It Really Encrypted When the Key Is Public and Automatic?:

      @Obsolesce said in Is It Really Encrypted When the Key Is Public and Automatic?:

      @scottalanmiller said in Is It Really Encrypted When the Key Is Public and Automatic?:

      @Obsolesce imagine if you were a lock smith, and you sold someone a lock and key. And you told them about the strength of the key and promoted the lock as being so tough to break into. And then secretly made a kept a copy of that key, and then sold those copies to other people!

      If you were a locksmith, everyone would demand you go to jail, of course. Exactly the same here.

      Sure, that sounds illegal to me... but again, I don't know exactly what they are claiming to do, actually doing, selling, tos/eula/etc.

      They are selling their system as described: they are promoting the customer's data as being encrypted. Then selling that same encryption key to their competitors.

      It's all still encrypted, just with a horribly thought out process for encryption.

      It is, but the key is stored with it. If you weld a key in a lock, it becomes a door knob. That's the scenario here, there is never a time that the data is encrypted without the ability to read it.

      I think this is the closest analogy you've put forth so far - but welding is a bit to far, I simply think saying "leave the key in the lock" Because in that case, the key can be removed - just like the key can be removed from the local computer - doesn't matter than others have copies, or can get copies...

      so run it from there - what are the legal liabilities?

      scottalanmillerS 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • scottalanmillerS
        scottalanmiller @Dashrender
        last edited by

        @Dashrender said in Is It Really Encrypted When the Key Is Public and Automatic?:

        @scottalanmiller said in Is It Really Encrypted When the Key Is Public and Automatic?:

        @DustinB3403 said in Is It Really Encrypted When the Key Is Public and Automatic?:

        @scottalanmiller said in Is It Really Encrypted When the Key Is Public and Automatic?:

        @Obsolesce said in Is It Really Encrypted When the Key Is Public and Automatic?:

        @scottalanmiller said in Is It Really Encrypted When the Key Is Public and Automatic?:

        @Obsolesce imagine if you were a lock smith, and you sold someone a lock and key. And you told them about the strength of the key and promoted the lock as being so tough to break into. And then secretly made a kept a copy of that key, and then sold those copies to other people!

        If you were a locksmith, everyone would demand you go to jail, of course. Exactly the same here.

        Sure, that sounds illegal to me... but again, I don't know exactly what they are claiming to do, actually doing, selling, tos/eula/etc.

        They are selling their system as described: they are promoting the customer's data as being encrypted. Then selling that same encryption key to their competitors.

        It's all still encrypted, just with a horribly thought out process for encryption.

        It is, but the key is stored with it. If you weld a key in a lock, it becomes a door knob. That's the scenario here, there is never a time that the data is encrypted without the ability to read it.

        I think this is the closest analogy you've put forth so far - but welding is a bit to far, I simply think saying "leave the key in the lock" Because in that case, the key can be removed - just like the key can be removed from the local computer - doesn't matter than others have copies, or can get copies...

        so run it from there - what are the legal liabilities?

        You can't remove the key from the app, though. It's literally welded in. You'd have to remove the door, to remove the key.

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • scottalanmillerS
          scottalanmiller @Dashrender
          last edited by

          @Dashrender said in Is It Really Encrypted When the Key Is Public and Automatic?:

          so run it from there - what are the legal liabilities?

          Can't. Key is required to be with the data for the app to run. It's inside the app, can't he separated.

          DashrenderD ObsolesceO 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • scottalanmillerS
            scottalanmiller @Dashrender
            last edited by

            @Dashrender said in Is It Really Encrypted When the Key Is Public and Automatic?:

            @scottalanmiller said in Is It Really Encrypted When the Key Is Public and Automatic?:

            @JasGot said in Is It Really Encrypted When the Key Is Public and Automatic?:

            Legally, the data is encrypted and can be advertised as such. No laws broken.

            Is this true? In no other context would this be legal. Using "encryption" to refer to something that requires nothing secret to read has never been legal.

            flip that on its ear - has it been specifically illegal? I'm guessing not.

            Using a standard term to mean the complete opposite? Yes, that's generally illegal.

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • DashrenderD
              Dashrender @scottalanmiller
              last edited by

              @scottalanmiller said in Is It Really Encrypted When the Key Is Public and Automatic?:

              @Dashrender said in Is It Really Encrypted When the Key Is Public and Automatic?:

              so run it from there - what are the legal liabilities?

              Can't. Key is required to be with the data for the app to run. It's inside the app, can't he separated.

              OK I misunderstood then.. gotcha..

              scottalanmillerS 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • scottalanmillerS
                scottalanmiller @Dashrender
                last edited by

                @Dashrender said in Is It Really Encrypted When the Key Is Public and Automatic?:

                @scottalanmiller said in Is It Really Encrypted When the Key Is Public and Automatic?:

                @Dashrender said in Is It Really Encrypted When the Key Is Public and Automatic?:

                so run it from there - what are the legal liabilities?

                Can't. Key is required to be with the data for the app to run. It's inside the app, can't he separated.

                OK I misunderstood then.. gotcha..

                You CAN remove the key and make the data unreachable, even by yourself. but only by deleting the app entirely.

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • scottalanmillerS
                  scottalanmiller
                  last edited by

                  But anyone else with the app will have your key, so you can stop yourself from reading it, but you can't stop anyone else.

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • ObsolesceO
                    Obsolesce @scottalanmiller
                    last edited by

                    @scottalanmiller said in Is It Really Encrypted When the Key Is Public and Automatic?:

                    @Dashrender said in Is It Really Encrypted When the Key Is Public and Automatic?:

                    so run it from there - what are the legal liabilities?

                    Can't. Key is required to be with the data for the app to run. It's inside the app, can't he separated.

                    Have you successfully been able to use it to decrypt other people's data?

                    DustinB3403D scottalanmillerS 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • DustinB3403D
                      DustinB3403 @Obsolesce
                      last edited by

                      @Obsolesce said in Is It Really Encrypted When the Key Is Public and Automatic?:

                      @scottalanmiller said in Is It Really Encrypted When the Key Is Public and Automatic?:

                      @Dashrender said in Is It Really Encrypted When the Key Is Public and Automatic?:

                      so run it from there - what are the legal liabilities?

                      Can't. Key is required to be with the data for the app to run. It's inside the app, can't he separated.

                      Have you successfully been able to use it to decrypt other people's data?

                      I don't know if that would be ethical to do specifically. But since there is apparently a demo environment if you could use your key to decrypt the demo data the proof is already sufficient while not exposing someone else's environment and data.

                      ObsolesceO scottalanmillerS 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • ObsolesceO
                        Obsolesce @DustinB3403
                        last edited by

                        @DustinB3403 said in Is It Really Encrypted When the Key Is Public and Automatic?:

                        @Obsolesce said in Is It Really Encrypted When the Key Is Public and Automatic?:

                        @scottalanmiller said in Is It Really Encrypted When the Key Is Public and Automatic?:

                        @Dashrender said in Is It Really Encrypted When the Key Is Public and Automatic?:

                        so run it from there - what are the legal liabilities?

                        Can't. Key is required to be with the data for the app to run. It's inside the app, can't he separated.

                        Have you successfully been able to use it to decrypt other people's data?

                        I don't know if that would be ethical to do specifically. But since there is apparently a demo environment if you could use your key to decrypt the demo data the proof is already sufficient while not exposing someone else's environment and data.

                        Is that what he did?

                        DustinB3403D scottalanmillerS 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • DustinB3403D
                          DustinB3403 @Obsolesce
                          last edited by

                          @Obsolesce said in Is It Really Encrypted When the Key Is Public and Automatic?:

                          @DustinB3403 said in Is It Really Encrypted When the Key Is Public and Automatic?:

                          @Obsolesce said in Is It Really Encrypted When the Key Is Public and Automatic?:

                          @scottalanmiller said in Is It Really Encrypted When the Key Is Public and Automatic?:

                          @Dashrender said in Is It Really Encrypted When the Key Is Public and Automatic?:

                          so run it from there - what are the legal liabilities?

                          Can't. Key is required to be with the data for the app to run. It's inside the app, can't he separated.

                          Have you successfully been able to use it to decrypt other people's data?

                          I don't know if that would be ethical to do specifically. But since there is apparently a demo environment if you could use your key to decrypt the demo data the proof is already sufficient while not exposing someone else's environment and data.

                          Is that what he did?

                          I think he mentioned it in or near the OP, yes.

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • scottalanmillerS
                            scottalanmiller @Obsolesce
                            last edited by

                            @Obsolesce said in Is It Really Encrypted When the Key Is Public and Automatic?:

                            @scottalanmiller said in Is It Really Encrypted When the Key Is Public and Automatic?:

                            @Dashrender said in Is It Really Encrypted When the Key Is Public and Automatic?:

                            so run it from there - what are the legal liabilities?

                            Can't. Key is required to be with the data for the app to run. It's inside the app, can't he separated.

                            Have you successfully been able to use it to decrypt other people's data?

                            Yes, that's how we found it. Someone sent us their data asking us to decrypt it. Which we did so, without getting a key from them.

                            travisdh1T 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • scottalanmillerS
                              scottalanmiller @DustinB3403
                              last edited by

                              @DustinB3403 said in Is It Really Encrypted When the Key Is Public and Automatic?:

                              @Obsolesce said in Is It Really Encrypted When the Key Is Public and Automatic?:

                              @scottalanmiller said in Is It Really Encrypted When the Key Is Public and Automatic?:

                              @Dashrender said in Is It Really Encrypted When the Key Is Public and Automatic?:

                              so run it from there - what are the legal liabilities?

                              Can't. Key is required to be with the data for the app to run. It's inside the app, can't he separated.

                              Have you successfully been able to use it to decrypt other people's data?

                              I don't know if that would be ethical to do specifically. But since there is apparently a demo environment if you could use your key to decrypt the demo data the proof is already sufficient while not exposing someone else's environment and data.

                              Yes, you can trivially get two demos and show that the data from one can be read from the other, for example.

                              ObsolesceO 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • scottalanmillerS
                                scottalanmiller @Obsolesce
                                last edited by

                                @Obsolesce said in Is It Really Encrypted When the Key Is Public and Automatic?:

                                @DustinB3403 said in Is It Really Encrypted When the Key Is Public and Automatic?:

                                @Obsolesce said in Is It Really Encrypted When the Key Is Public and Automatic?:

                                @scottalanmiller said in Is It Really Encrypted When the Key Is Public and Automatic?:

                                @Dashrender said in Is It Really Encrypted When the Key Is Public and Automatic?:

                                so run it from there - what are the legal liabilities?

                                Can't. Key is required to be with the data for the app to run. It's inside the app, can't he separated.

                                Have you successfully been able to use it to decrypt other people's data?

                                I don't know if that would be ethical to do specifically. But since there is apparently a demo environment if you could use your key to decrypt the demo data the proof is already sufficient while not exposing someone else's environment and data.

                                Is that what he did?

                                We have access to a lot of customer data because figuring out why it is corrupt, what has gone wrong with it, backing it up, or moving it to another platform is all stuff that we do with this specific data. So customers are requesting that we work with their data regularly, since the vendor who encrypts it doesn't know how.

                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • travisdh1T
                                  travisdh1 @scottalanmiller
                                  last edited by

                                  @scottalanmiller said in Is It Really Encrypted When the Key Is Public and Automatic?:

                                  @Obsolesce said in Is It Really Encrypted When the Key Is Public and Automatic?:

                                  @scottalanmiller said in Is It Really Encrypted When the Key Is Public and Automatic?:

                                  @Dashrender said in Is It Really Encrypted When the Key Is Public and Automatic?:

                                  so run it from there - what are the legal liabilities?

                                  Can't. Key is required to be with the data for the app to run. It's inside the app, can't he separated.

                                  Have you successfully been able to use it to decrypt other people's data?

                                  Yes, that's how we found it. Someone sent us their data asking us to decrypt it. Which we did so, without getting a key from them.

                                  #facepalm

                                  scottalanmillerS 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • scottalanmillerS
                                    scottalanmiller @travisdh1
                                    last edited by

                                    @travisdh1 said in Is It Really Encrypted When the Key Is Public and Automatic?:

                                    @scottalanmiller said in Is It Really Encrypted When the Key Is Public and Automatic?:

                                    @Obsolesce said in Is It Really Encrypted When the Key Is Public and Automatic?:

                                    @scottalanmiller said in Is It Really Encrypted When the Key Is Public and Automatic?:

                                    @Dashrender said in Is It Really Encrypted When the Key Is Public and Automatic?:

                                    so run it from there - what are the legal liabilities?

                                    Can't. Key is required to be with the data for the app to run. It's inside the app, can't he separated.

                                    Have you successfully been able to use it to decrypt other people's data?

                                    Yes, that's how we found it. Someone sent us their data asking us to decrypt it. Which we did so, without getting a key from them.

                                    #facepalm

                                    Yeah, pretty funny.

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • ObsolesceO
                                      Obsolesce @scottalanmiller
                                      last edited by

                                      @scottalanmiller said in Is It Really Encrypted When the Key Is Public and Automatic?:

                                      @DustinB3403 said in Is It Really Encrypted When the Key Is Public and Automatic?:

                                      @Obsolesce said in Is It Really Encrypted When the Key Is Public and Automatic?:

                                      @scottalanmiller said in Is It Really Encrypted When the Key Is Public and Automatic?:

                                      @Dashrender said in Is It Really Encrypted When the Key Is Public and Automatic?:

                                      so run it from there - what are the legal liabilities?

                                      Can't. Key is required to be with the data for the app to run. It's inside the app, can't he separated.

                                      Have you successfully been able to use it to decrypt other people's data?

                                      I don't know if that would be ethical to do specifically. But since there is apparently a demo environment if you could use your key to decrypt the demo data the proof is already sufficient while not exposing someone else's environment and data.

                                      Yes, you can trivially get two demos and show that the data from one can be read from the other, for example.

                                      So basically the software itself is the key. Yeah, that can't be legal. That's like saying your data is encrypted with BitLocker or FileVault, but anyone with BitLocker or FileVault respectively can decrypt your data.

                                      scottalanmillerS 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • scottalanmillerS
                                        scottalanmiller @Obsolesce
                                        last edited by

                                        @Obsolesce said in Is It Really Encrypted When the Key Is Public and Automatic?:

                                        So basically the software itself is the key.

                                        That's exactly correct. The software is the key, the key is always the same.

                                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • scottalanmillerS
                                          scottalanmiller @Obsolesce
                                          last edited by

                                          @Obsolesce said in Is It Really Encrypted When the Key Is Public and Automatic?:

                                          That's like saying your data is encrypted with BitLocker or FileVault, but anyone with BitLocker or FileVault respectively can will automatically decrypt your data without even trying.

                                          FTFY

                                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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