The Internet Society (ISOC) Board of Trustees strongly supports the Internet Architecture Board's (IAB) statement that encryption should be the norm for Internet traffic, and believes that this is an important additional step of ongoing efforts by the technical community to address the important issue of pervasive monitoring.
The IAB’s statement aligns with the Internet Engineering Task Force's (IETF) statement that pervasive monitoring, whatever the source, must be considered an attack on the Internet as well as current work across IETF working groups to strengthen protocols.
User trust is critical to the Internet's continued growth and evolution. Realizing the IAB's aspiration would drastically reduce the ability to eavesdrop or modify information sent over the Internet.
Like the IAB, the ISOC Board of Trustees recognizes that implementing this aspiration raises a number of practical issues and technical challenges.
In addition to network management, intrusion detection, and spam prevention, we expect there will be economic and policy challenges.As the organizational home for the IETF, the Internet Society will take an active role in facilitating and participating in the conversations required to address these challenges going forward.
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About the Internet Society
The Internet Society (http://www.internetsociety.org) is the trusted independent source for Internet information and thought leadership around the world. It is also the organizational home for the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). With its principled vision, substantial technological foundation and its global presence, the Internet Society promotes open dialogue on Internet policy, technology, and future development among users, companies, governments, and other organizations. Working with its members and Chapters around the world, the Internet Society enables the continued evolution and growth of the Internet for everyone.
