The FBI's Stance on Encrypted Communications

[InfoSec News <alerts () infosecnews org>]

http://blogs.wsj.com/experts/2015/04/20/the-fbis-stance-on-encrypted-communications/

By Amy Hess
Executive Assistant Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Apr1l 20, 2015

{This post is in response to the article, Should Law Enforcement Have the 
Ability to Access Encrypted Communications}

AMY HESS: Imagine an America where federal, state, and municipal law 
enforcement agencies cannot access critical communications, even when 
legally authorized to do so. Imagine a time when the police cannot pursue 
logical leads in electronic data to rescue a missing child, identify the 
co-conspirators of a massive fraud scheme, or obtain relevant evidence of 
an elected official’s public corruption. Imagine the injustice if a 
suspected criminal can hide incriminating communications without fear of 
discovery by the police, or if information that could exonerate an 
innocent party is inaccessible.

With the move to ubiquitous encryption, that time is closer than you 
think. Increasingly, law enforcement investigations require some degree of 
access to encrypted communications—whether stored on a computer or mobile 
device, or transmitted over a communication service provider’s network—and 
that access is increasingly limited.

The FBI firmly supports the development and adoption of robust encryption 
as a key tool to strengthen cybersecurity, secure commerce and trade, 
safeguard private information, and promote free expression and 
association. However, absolute encryption does not mean absolute safety. 
Terrorists and other criminals also use encryption to conceal and 
facilitate their crimes.

No one in this country should be beyond the law. The notion that 
electronic devices and communications could never be unlocked or 
unencrypted – even when a judge has decided that the public interest 
requires accessing this data to find evidence — is troubling. It may be 
time to ask: Is that a cost we, as a society, are prepared to pay?

[...]

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