A Backdoor for Security Agencies?

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

You have got to be kidding!

The Dutch are right.  If there is a backdoor, some hacker will find it, therefore none should be created.  Strong encryption is fine because to break it you need a very big, expensive system. 

Encryption is a mugs game at best.  Private cypher codes are the way to go.  The difference between encryption and cypher codes is vast.  With encryption, you simply scramble the message using one or more keys.  With a cypher code you send groups of seemingly meaningless text that can only be understood by the recipient if he has the correct copy of the code book.

Both the Wehrmacht and the Japanese used encryption during WW II and in both cases their most secret schemes were broken.

For an example of the use of a private cypher code (albeit very simple) read Ken Follett's novel 'The Key to Rebecca'.  Without the correct edition of that little book, code breakers had no chance at all.

The drawback to cyphering is that decrypting is slow.  Encryption schemes between cooperating parties is fast.  It is all a matter of how much security you want.