No Subject

["Peterson, Doug" <dpeterson@jonescyber.com>]

This is my first post to the list.  I though this might be interesting.

Taken from:
http://wire.ap.org/APwire/pages/center/?STORYOID=206f.599a&FRONTID=TECHN
OLOGY&SLOC=AP&SKEY=LATECLAMMOSSFUMEELANFUM&SLOG=sidebar

07/09/1997 17:34 EST 

FBI Wants Computer Decoding Ability 

By CASSANDRA BURRELL 
Associated Press Writer 

WASHINGTON (AP) -- American law enforcers want to be allowed to decode
scrambled computer messages during investigations in much the same way
as they now use wiretaps, FBI director Louis Freeh said Wednesday. 

Freeh's plea in Senate testimony came as the computer industry bitterly
fights bills aiming to restrict the export of sophisticated
data-scrambling devices to foreign computer users. 

Offenders inside the United States are turning increasingly to computers
to commit such crimes as child molestation, child pornography and drug
trafficking, Freeh told the Senate Judiciary Committee. Some
investigations are hindered by the criminal use of complex equipment
that scrambles messages into codes that are all but impossible to crack
without code keys. 

``Major drug dealers are now using encrypted communications, and they
are using it to our distinct disadvantage,'' Freeh said. 

The best solution would include setting up a key recovery system where
developers of encryption devices deposit ``keys'' with a third party
that can unscramble their codes, he said. As with wiretaps, authorities
would have to obtain court orders to make the keys available for law
enforcement. 

The same data-scrambling technology that is making the Internet a safer,
more secure place to do business is causing headaches on Capitol Hill,
where lawmakers are struggling with its regulation. 

On one side are computer software and hardware developers trying to
compete with companies operating abroad without restrictions. On the
other side are enforcement authorities who say they don't want to tie
the hands of U.S. businesses but need a way to eavesdrop on computer
criminals. 

``At stake are some of our most valuable and reliable investigative
techniques and the public safety of our citizens,'' Freeh said. Without
a key system, ``the ability of law enforcement to investigate and
sometimes prevent the most serious crimes and terrorism will be severely
impaired. Our national security will also be jeopardized.'' 

Currently, encryption technology is sold without restriction inside the
United States. 

In an attempt to keep pace with technology advancing at lightning speed,
the Clinton administration relaxed export controls last year. The
computer industry complained the loosening didn't go far enough. 

``The current law is unacceptable. The status quo is unacceptable,''
said Sen. Bob Kerrey, D-Neb., co-sponsor of one of several encryption
bills moving through Congress. 

Sponsored by Kerrey and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., that bill would set
up a key recovery system to give computer companies strong incentives to
make keys available to investigators who obtain a court's permission. It
would link companies' cooperation to quicker, easier export rules. 

The Senate Commerce Committee approved the bill last month and
recommended the full Senate pass it. A more liberal bill sponsored by
Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., and Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., fell by the
wayside. 

The Business Software Alliance, a coalition of computer businesses,
promptly denounced the Kerrey-McCain bill as ``a step backward'' that
would hurt American competitiveness. 

``Strong cryptography is exactly like a good safe,'' said Raymond Ozzie,
chairman of Iris Associates, a subsidiary of Lotus Development and IBM
Corp. ``The best safe in the world cannot protect you if the combination
is written on a scrap of paper and left lying around or is otherwise
known to the safe cracker,'' he said in testimony submitted to the
Senate committee. 

A House bill introduced by Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., would bar the
government from requiring businesses to set aside keys. 

The Clinton administration has criticized that bill. Its provisions, the
administration said, would ``severely compromise law enforcements'
ability to protect the American people from the threats posed by
terrorists, organized crime, child pornographers, drug cartels,
financial predators, hostile foreign intelligence agents and other
criminals.'' 

Doug Peterson