In breaking news from 1995, the Washington Post takes advantage of a leaked CIA history paper to retell the remarkable tale of Crypto AG, a purveyor of encryption products to dozens of governments – and allegedly a wholly controlled subsidiary of US and German intelligence. Nick Weaver, Paul Rosenzweig, and I are astonished at the derring-do and unapologetic enthusiasm for intelligence collection. I mean, really: The Pope?

This week’s interview is with Jonathan Reiber, a writer and strategist in Oakland, California, and former Chief Strategy Officer for Cyber Policy and Speechwriter at the Department of Defense, currently senior advisor at Technology for Global Security and visiting scholar at the UC Berkeley Center for Long-Term Cybersecurity. His recent report offers a candid view of strained relations between Silicon Valley and the Pentagon. The interview explores the reasons for that strain, the importance of bridging the gap, and how that can best be done.

Continue Reading Episode 300: Wiretapping the Pope

In this episode, Nick Weaver and I discuss new Internet regulations proposed in the UK. He’s mostly okay with its anti-nudge code for kids, but not with requiring proof of age to access adult material. I don’t see the problem; after all, who wouldn’t want to store their passport information with Pornhub?

Continue Reading Episode 260: Sending our passports to Pornhub

Episode 207: What to do about China?

Our interview this week is with Ambassador Nathan Sales, the State Department’s Counterterrorism Coordinator.  We cover a Trump administration diplomatic achievement in the field of technology and terrorism that has been surprisingly undercovered (or maybe it’s not surprising at all, depending on how cynical you are about

Episode 177: We’re back!

In Episode 177, fresh from hiatus, we try to summarize the most interesting cyber stories to break in August. Paul Rosenzweig kicks things off with the Shunning of Kaspersky.  I argue that the most significant – though unsupported – claim about Kaspersky is Sen. Shaheen’s assertion that all of the

Episode 167: Blockchain Takes Over the Podcast

Episode 167 sees blockchain take over the podcast again.  With Stewart traveling, Alan Cohn hosts another of the podcast’s periodic deep dives into all things blockchain and digital currency.  Our guest is Meltem Demirors, Director of Development at Digital Currency Group.  Podcast regular Maury Shenk joins members

With Stewart on vacation, the blockchain takes over the podcast! In episode 121, Jason Weinstein and Alan Cohn talk all things bitcoin, blockchain, and distributed ledger technology, and interview Jamie Smith, Global Chief Communications Officer for the BitFury Group, one of the largest full-service blockchain technology companies.

In the news roundup, Alan led

Podcast 109In episode 109, we interview Perianne Boring of the Chamber of Digital Commerce on the regulatory challenges of bitcoin and the blockchain.  In the news roundup, we bring back Apple v. FBI for what we hope will be one last round, as the San Bernardino magistrate voids her All Writs Act motion for mootness and attention shifts to other investigators hoping to crack iPhone security, both in the US and in Europe. 
Continue Reading Steptoe Cyberlaw Podcast – Interview with Perianne Boring