US warns of risks from deeper encryption

The US Department of Homeland Security secretary has warned the cyber security industry that encryption poses "real challenges" for law enforcement and national security.

In a speech at the world's largest cyber security conference, RSA in San Francisco, Jeh Johnson called on the industry to find a solution that protects "the basic physical security of the American people" and the "liberties and freedoms we cherish".

He said he understood the importance of encryption for privacy but asked the audience to imagine what it would have meant for law enforcement if after the invention of the telephone, all the police could search was US mail.

"The current course on deeper and deeper encryption is one that presents real challenges for those in law enforcement and national security," he said.

Secretary Johnson's comments echo those of FBI director James Comey who called on Congress late last year to stop the rise of encryption where no one holds a key and so law enforcement cannot unlock it.

In the UK, the director of GCHQ criticised US technology companies last year for becoming "the command and control networks of choice" for terrorists by protecting communications. Across Europe, law enforcement agencies have become particularly concerned about their inability to track the communications of citizens who plan to travel to the Middle East to join the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isis).

Technology companies including Apple, Google and Facebook have all increased encryption on products used every day by millions of people, partly as a reaction to the Edward Snowden revelations of a mass National Security Agency surveillance programme.

These services include Apple's iMessage and Facebook's WhatsApp. Google and Yahoo have pledged to roll out end-to-end encryption on their web mail services by the end of the year.

Secretary Johnson was speaking at a conference where almost 30,000 security professionals have gathered for the week and several encryption-focused security companies are selling their wares on the show floor.

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Unlike in the fight against terrorism or conventional warfare, governments are becoming increasingly dependent on a cyber security industry to defend companies and the nation.

Secretary Johnson said the government did not have all the answers and needed help from the private sector. He announced plans to open a satellite office of the Department of Homeland Security in Silicon Valley and also called on many of the in-demand specialist security engineers to do a "tour of service" for their country by spending a stint in government.

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