Communications of the ACM
Apple, Google, WhatsApp Condemn British Spy Agency Proposal to Access Encrypted Messages
A number of technology companies and organizations have criticized an intelligence proposal by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters to permit law enforcement to spy on encrypted messages.
Credit: Silicon UK
Google, Apple, Microsoft, WhatsApp, and other technology companies and organizations have criticized an intelligence proposal by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) to permit law enforcement to spy on encrypted messages.
U.K. intelligence officials Ian Levy and Crispin Robinson argued the proposal ran parallel to modern wiretapping practices, and would not breach encryption security.
The plan would require messaging apps and other encryption service providers to modify software so covert investigators or "ghosts" could clandestinely join group chats and calls, with app users purposely kept unaware of their presence.
Opponents suggested in an open letter that the proposal would "create digital security risks by undermining authentication systems, by introducing potential unintentional vulnerabilities and by creating new risks of abuse or misuse of system."
From The Washington Post
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Abstracts Copyright © 2019 SmithBucklin, Washington, DC, USA
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