n the wake of disclosures concerning the possibility of the NSA inserting backdoors into RSA's encryption tools, there has been a great deal of debate in cybersecurity circles concerning the importance of law enforcement's need to access information versu

Scenario:

In the wake of disclosures concerning the possibility of the NSA inserting backdoors into RSA's encryption tools, there has been a great deal of debate in cybersecurity circles concerning the importance of law enforcement's need to access information versus the privacy and security of users. For this Assignment, choose one or the other of these positions and defend your position.

Instructions:

Following the process described in the “Writing a Persuasive Essay” document in Doc Sharing, write a 5–6-page research paper that argues whether or not law enforcement’s need to access unencrypted information when pursuing criminal or terrorist activity is more or less important than the privacy and security right of users. Be sure to expand on the ethical dilemma of inserting cryptographic backdoors, how effective federal surveillance has been in identifying criminal or terrorist activity, and the relative importance of user privacy and security when compared to the needs of law enforcement.