Cybersecurity

Homeland Security chairman rails against encryption backdoors

House Homeland Security Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) railed against encryption backdoors during a cybersecurity address on Thursday and discussed the growing threat of Russian involvement in the United States. 

Speaking at an Internet Security Alliance (ISA) meeting, McCaul primarily stumped for a bill, co-written with Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), that would create a commission to investigate how to handle the controversy over encryption, which renders data inaccessible from law enforcement. 

That commission, he said, could avoid the “knee-jerk response” of mandating backdoors in encryption, something he said would be devastating. He added that around half of mobile encryption apps are designed outside the United States, making it jurisdictionally impossible to regulate. 

Twice in his talk, he mentioned the possibility that such legislation would “drive [tech companies] offshore.”