Encryption

FBI: ‘Dozens’ of Terror Suspects Have Used Encryption to Hide from Law Enforcement

In the on­go­ing de­bate between law en­force­ment and the tech­no­logy com­munity over en­cryp­tion, the threat of ter­ror­ism in the home­land has long been the ace in the FBI’s hand.

FBI Dir­ect­or James Comey has in re­cent months re­peatedly asked tech com­pan­ies to cre­ate products that al­low law en­force­ment to ac­cess en­cryp­ted com­mu­nic­a­tions if they ob­tain a war­rant, warn­ing that strong en­cryp­tion al­lows ter­ror sus­pects to plot “in the dark.”

Speak­ing be­fore the Sen­ate Home­land Se­cur­ity Com­mit­tee on Thursday, Comey said the threat of homegrown ter­ror­ism has brought the tech in­dustry to the table to talk about ways to co­oper­ate with law en­force­ment over en­cryp­tion.