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List:       cryptography
Subject:    BBC Online 18/3/99: "UK 'struggling with Internet encryption'"
From:       Robert Hettinga <rah () shipwright ! com>
Date:       1999-03-19 0:53:42
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Date: Thu, 18 Mar 1999 23:20:19 +0000
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Subject: BBC Online 18/3/99: "UK 'struggling with Internet encryption'"
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_298000/298618.stm

UK 'struggling with Internet encryption'
========================================
The vast majority of Internet traffic passes through the US

The UK Government's handling of Internet encryption will be criticised by a
House of Commons select committee when it reports after the Easter holidays.

The BBC's Susan Watts reports on the doubled-edged sword which is Internet
encryption

BBC Two's Newsnight programme has learned that the government will be
accused of dithering over what system to use.

The Internet is booming, with about 10,000 people going online in the UK
every day.

But as the amount of e-mail and other Internet traffic grows there are
increasing worries about the dangers of criminals and others hacking in and
stealing vital information.

Tony Blair's government has been accused of dithering
It is a problem which affects everyone - from those making credit card
purchases over the Internet to huge companies anxious to protect
confidential information from competitors.

Powerful encryption software

The answer appeared to be encryption. American Phil Zimmermann invented
Pretty Good Privacy (PGP), an encryption code which allows people to protect
their cyber messages from unwanted attention.

John Carr, an Internet consultant with children's charities: "One is bound
to be worried about the danger of encryption."
But the dangers of strong encryption software alarms national governments
and law enforcement agencies who fear it could be used by paedophiles,
terrorists and drug dealers to communicate secretly around the globe.

A new system - key escrow - was invented in a bid to thwart such groups.

This software encrypts e-mails and other sensitive material to prevent it
falling into the wrong hands.

E-mail messages can be encrypted

But the code is available to police forces and other agencies, so anyone
sending illegal information through the Net cannot be sure their messages
are not being read by the police.

Our correspondent, Susan Watts, says: "It is like giving your house keys to
the police."

Not popular with businesses

But the system has been criticised by business leaders, civil liberties
groups and medical associations who believe there is a danger of
confidentiality, security and civil liberties being abused.

Newsnight has learned that the trade and industry select committee has
criticised the government for dithering over key escrow.

It says the government wasted two years looking at the system and then
decided it would be too harmful to the UK's booming cyber-economy.

The government has now given the Internet industry until 1 April to come up
with an alternative to key escrow which will satisfy the National Criminal
Intelligence Service (NCIS).

'Potentially devastating'

The director general of NCIS, John Abbott, says failure to replace key
escrow could be "devastating".

There is a danger of paedophiles encrypting obscene material
"Our capability to tackle serious and organised criminal operating at the
top level will be severely impaired.

"We are particularly concerned about the next five to ten years when
encryption will become embedded in systems almost automatically," says Mr
Abbott.

Mr Zimmermann says: "I worry about terrorists and criminals using PGP but I
can't see how to give cryptography to the masses without making it available
to terrorists and criminals."
---------------------------
Let us know what you think.

We try hard to make BBC News Online the best news site on the Web. Your
views on what we're doing and how we could make things even better are
important to us. So if there's anything you want to say, please e-mail us at
newsonline@bbc.co.uk.

--- end forwarded text


-----------------
Robert A. Hettinga <mailto: rah@philodox.com>
Philodox Financial Technology Evangelism <http://www.philodox.com/>
44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
"... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
[predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'

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