Encryption

Homeland Security Committee Releases Encryption Report

Encryption can be defined as the process of limiting access to data by “using a code or mathematical algorithm so as to [make the data] unintelligible to unauthorized readers,” according to the report. In the cases of Paris and San Bernardino, the attackers were able to use encrypted communications to evade detection, which is known as “going dark.”

The report advocates reframing the current encryption debate from “privacy verses security” to “security verses security.” Encryption is a double edged sword—the same technology that protects critical infrastructure, financial transactions, trade secrets, and more can also prevent law enforcement from investigating criminals and terrorists.

As Homeland Security Today previously reported, following the San Bernardino attacks, the Department of Justice and Apple Inc. engaged in a standoff over the tech company’s refusal to comply with an FBI investigation by unlocking the iPhone used by Syed Farook, one of the suspects involved in the attacks.