Submission + - Security through Obscurity and State Secrets (2jk.org)
jonklinger writes: Could a state with no secrets function better when protecting national security than a state that keeps information away from the general public? In this a brief article, we inspect what are the reasons for keeping classified information, what are they meant to protect and how do they protect national security. We present the method used by Israel, which is similar to most states. Israel’s approach, which is to keep all the information from the public, failed in general and caused nothing but costs on privacy, freedom of expression and national budgets.
Following our review, we will compare the classified information model to a model in information security, called Security through Obscurity and present how this model was perceived as flawed. Against it, we will present the Open Source Model, which creates transparency towards the general public, allowing it to inspect the security flaws, and therefore creating stronger protection.
Our conclusion would be that better national security could be reached by removing all classified information and disclosing all the information to the general public. We believe that by making the information public, the cost of the censorship apparatus will be eliminated. We also believe that adopting a ‘no classified information’ approach, governments may improve physical security when they rely on the foundations of open source security as detailed herein.
