Many companies and users are implementing encryption for their email. Even though this offers
create security, governments are quite often opposed for reasons noted
in the article below. Additionally, there is a possibility that by
encrypting traffic, there is no checking for malware which might be a
part of the payload.
==============================================================
infoworld.com
7/9/2015 - Grant Gross
FBI, DOJ want companies to back
off end-to-end encryption
The agencies want tech vendors to retain access to encrypted data to
comply with court-ordered warrants
U.S. tech companies should retain access to the encrypted information of
their customers, instead of providing end-to-end encryption, in order to give
police the tools they need to investigate crimes and terrorist activity, two
senior law enforcement officials said.
The U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI aren't seeking new legislation
to require tech companies to comply with warrant requests, at least for now,
and they don't want companies to build encryption back doors that give the
agencies direct access to communications and information stored on smartphones,
said Sally Quillian Yates, the DOJ's deputy attorney general.
Instead, the DOJ and FBI, in their continuing efforts to combat the use of
encryption by criminals and terrorists, are proposing that tech and
communications companies retain internal access to encrypted information so
that they can comply with court-ordered search warrants, she told the Senate
Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Several tech companies already retain some
access to customers' encrypted data, she said.
Legislation may eventually be necessary, but the DOJ is now looking for
voluntary compliance from tech companies, she said.
With new encryption services from tech companies, "critical
information becomes, in effect, warrant-proof," Yates said. "We are
creating safe zones where dangerous criminals and terrorists can operate and
avoid detection."
A recent push by tech companies toward end-to-end encryption, partly in
response to reports of mass surveillance programs, has led the DOJ and FBI to
raise concerns about law enforcement agencies "going dark" when
investigating crime. Last September, FBI Director James Comey Jr. first questioned decisions by Apple and Google to offer
encryption by default on their smartphone operating systems.
"The world has changed in the last two years," Comey told
senators. "Encryption has moved from something available to something that
is the default, both on devices and on data in motion."
Terrorist group ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) has used
encryption effectively, Yates said. ISIL makes first contact with many
potential recruits on Twitter, where the group has about 21,000 followers of
its English language feed, but then directs them to communicate further on an
encrypted messaging service, she said.
"This is a serious threat, and our inability to access these
communications with valid court orders is a real national security
problem," Yates added. "We must find a solution to this pressing
problem, and we need to find it soon."
U.S. tech companies should be able to find a way to provide law enforcement
access to encrypted data and still provide many of the security and privacy
benefits of encryption, Comey said. "The tools we are being asked to use
are increasingly ineffective in our national security work and in our criminal
work," he said. "I don't come with a solution -- this is a really,
really hard problem."
But Comey also rejected arguments by some computer scientists who say it's impossible to allow
police access to encrypted data without also opening it up to hackers.
"I think Silicon Valley is full of folks [who] have built remarkable
things that changed our lives," he said. "Maybe this is too hard, but
given the stakes ... we've got to give it a shot."
While companies like Google and Apple were not included in the hearing,
senators gave a mixed reaction to the testimonies of Yates and Comey. Some
senators suggested it would be nearly impossible to prevent foreign tech
vendors from offering encrypted communication products.
Senator Al Franken, a Minnesota Democrat, pressed Yates to provide
statistics about the number of criminal cases affected by encrypted data.
Before creating new regulations, Congress needs to have a "clear
understanding of the scope and the magnitude of law enforcement's security
interests," Franken said.
Yates couldn't provide a number of cases affected, saying it was difficult
because, in many cases, police don't seek a warrant when they know the
information they want is encrypted. But Cyrus Vance Jr., district attorney in
Manhattan, told senators his office has tried to pull data off 92 Apple phones
running iOS 8 in the past six months, and on 74 of those devices, the data was
encrypted.
Other senators were sympathetic to the encryption dilemma faced by law
enforcement agencies. Senator John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, pressed Comey to
tell lawmakers that U.S. residents will die if a solution wasn't found. Comey
declined, saying he doesn't want to scare people. The FBI will do the best job
it can with the crime-fighting tools it has, he said.
Still, Cornyn questioned companies that offer encryption without retaining
some access to the data. "It strikes me as irresponsible, and perhaps
worse, for a company to intentionally design a product in such a way that
prevents them from complying with a lawful court order," he said.
==========================================================
**Important note** - contact our company for
very powerful solutions for IP management (IPv4 and IPv6, security, firewall and APT solutions:
www.tabularosa.net
In addition to this blog, Netiquette IQ has a website with great
assets which are being added to on a regular basis. I have authored the
premiere book on Netiquette, “Netiquette IQ - A Comprehensive Guide to Improve,
Enhance and Add Power to Your Email". My new book, “You’re Hired! Super Charge
Your Email Skills in 60 Minutes. . . And Get That Job!” will be published soon
follow by a trilogy of books on Netiquette for young people. You can view my
profile, reviews of the book and content excerpts at:
www.amazon.com/author/paulbabicki
If you would like to listen
to experts in all aspects of Netiquette and communication, try my radio show on
BlogtalkRadio
Additionally, I provide content for an online newsletter via paper.li. I
have also established Netiquette discussion groups with Linkedin and Yahoo. I am
also a member of the International Business Etiquette and Protocol Group and
Minding Manners among others. Further, I regularly consult for the Gerson
Lehrman Group, a worldwide network of subject matter experts and have been a
contributor to numerous blogs and publications.
Lastly, I
am the founder and president of Tabula
Rosa Systems, a company that provides “best of breed” products for network,
security and system management and services. Tabula Rosa has a new blog and Twitter site which offers great IT
product information for virtually anyone.
==============================================
