Brought to you by the Information Liberation Front Reproduced without permission from Communications Week Encryption Plan Gets Gov't Nod By Sharon Fisher WASHINGTON Encryption users and industry observers have said they are unhappy with the Clinton administration's endorsement of a comprehensive interagency review of cryptographic technology. The review was initiated last April and overseen by the Na- tional Security Council. It was scheduled to have been complet- ed by mid-October of last year. As part of the Feb. 4 release of the report, the administration said it has approved the Escrowed Encryption Standard (EES) as a voluntary Federal In- formation Processing Standard. The EES, known as both the Clipper proposal and Skipjack, was announced last April. The administration also said that the National Institute of Stan- dards and Technology and the Automated Services Division of the Treasury Department would be charged with storing the escrowed keys. The procedures for gaining access to the keys were also announced. The ESS proposal has been heavily citicized because of the escrow proposal, which gives law enforcement agencies access to the encryption keys via a warrantmuch like a wiretap. Industry observers have said an algoithm with such keys is inherently insecure. They voiced concern at the government's plans to keep the algorithm classified (Comm Week, Jan. 3). Critics said the ESS is a first step toward outlawing other forms of cryptog raphy, but the administration reiterated at the announcement that it had no such intention. Industry groups such as the Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, both based here, immediately launched grassroots protests against the announcements. Both groups have citicized the proposal since it was first announced. -