Google Is Deploying New Encryption In Data Centres To Counter NSA

Speaking with the Washington Post Google has told the public that it is bolstering and upgrading its encryption methods amid fresh revelations that the NSA is capable of breaking through common encryption methods. Google has stated that it will fast track the upgrading of its encryption ahead of schedule. The plans are to bump up its SSL certificates to 2048 bits from the current 1024 making the keys 1024 times harder to break via brute force as each extra bit added increases difficulty exponentially.

Google is also apparently one of the few companies to use different encryption keys for each user sessions. As these keys change once a day it is possible to minimise the duration of a compromise of a user account. It is of course worth noting that these new methods by Google mean that you are protected from more widespread “drag net” style surveillance methods but if Google is served a legal document to reveal details on a particular individual then it still has to comply.

However, this is pretty much what all companies want anyway – a system whereby no one is “spied on” or put under “mass surveillance” but instead a system where everyone’s privacy is respected unless they are suspected of offences and criminality in which case a legally just court order should provide a warrant to seize their information. It does seem that the only way to achieve privacy for everyone is by forcing the NSA and other government agencies out of mass data flows by encryption.

Image courtesy of Google