Key recovery and confidentiality oops, where did I put that key?

National defense organizations have long had the requirement that their communications be secured against eavesdropping. Typically this confidentiality has been achieved by using cryptography to ensure that information can only be read by those who have the proper information, the key, to decrypt a message. As industry and private individuals begin to utilize open forms of communication, e.g. the Internet or cellular modems, it has become increasingly important to keep some parts of that communication confidential. In addition, because exposed systems such as laptop computers are holding more information that is either mission critical or sensitive, it becomes necessary to encrypt that information to preserve confidentiality. Those wishing to subvert that confidentiality are using increasingly more powerful computers or sophisticated methods, e.g. networked computers working in parallel. In response, industry is beginning to utilize stronger algorithms and/or longer keys to strengthen confidentiality. Essentially industry is now able to lock information in a “safe” so strong that if the key is lost, no amount of “dynamite” will open that safe. Therefore it is a prudent business practice to ensure that keying information is not lost. This paper discusses methods for recovering encrypted information as well as the risks and benefits. It presents a business case for the technology and discusses other influences, e.g. needs of law enforcement, import/export control, politics, regulation, and legislation