Security Risks of FISA Reform

Venerable InfoSec veteran/forefather, Steve Bellovin, has a post on his blog about the security risks related to the so-called "Protect America Act" (aka FISA amendments/reform). He and a number of other infosec über-geeks have penned an article for IEEE Security & Privacy on the topic.

From his blog post:

Fundamentally, a wiretap is an intentional breach of security. It may be a desirable or even a necessary breach, but it is a breach nevertheless. Furthermore, the easier it is for the "good guys" to "break in", the easier it may be for the bad guys. The Greek cellphone tapping scandal is just one case in point.

There's another, more subtle, problem: if your wiretap is done incorrectly, perhaps by relying on incorrect information, you may miss traffic that you're entitled to hear (and should hear, to protect society).