A group of prominent UK cryptographers has, via on open letter, called on US and UK authorities to investigate which security products, protocols and standards have been purposefully weakened by their respective intelligence services.
The letter claims the US National Security Agency and the UK Government Communications Head Quarters (GCHQ) have been acting against the public's interest.
Several researchers from the Universities of Bristol, London, Birmingham, Luxembourg, Southampton, Surrey, Kent, Newcastle and University College London signed the letter.
The cryptographers claim the original set of publications based on whistle-blower Edward Snowden's files "were concerned with surveillance of Internet communication happening more indiscriminately and on a much larger scale than previously thought".
It goes on to say that more recent publications are compelling the cryptographers to act, as they are a cause of far greater worry, presenting "the systematic undermining of cryptographic solutions and standards".
The researchers say they welcome the additional funding both governments have put towards cyber defences, particularly as everyone relies on cryptography to secure devices, credit cards, Internet communications and suchlike.
However, they claim the leaked documents show that in order to effectively conduct their surveillance, the NSA and GCHQ have deliberately weakened cryptographic standards by placing exploitable backdoors in security solutions.
"One of the prime missions of the security services is to protect citizens and corporations from cyber attack. By weakening cryptographic standards, in as yet undisclosed ways, and by inserting weaknesses into products which we all rely on to secure critical infrastructure, we believe the agencies have been acting against the interests of the public that they are meant to serve," the letter states.
Researchers said they find it "shocking" that these agencies have been accused of undermining the very systems in place to protect the public, and that by weakening security in order to eavesdrop on their enemies they are weakening the public's security too, and leaving the public vulnerable to potential enemies.
Finally, the academics called on the relevant parties to disclose which systems are weakened in order to fix them, and to create a "proper system of oversight with well-defined public rules that clearly forbid weakening the security of civilian systems and infrastructures".
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