[Clips] UK Government to force handover of encryption keys

Thu May 18 11:32:41 PDT 2006

I'm going to just lay-down and wait for the spaceship.....NOT!!! :0

On 18/05/06, R.A. Hettinga <rah at shipwright.com> wrote:
>
> --- begin forwarded text
>
>
>   Delivered-To: rah at shipwright.com
>   Delivered-To: clips at philodox.com
>   Date: Thu, 18 May 2006 14:10:20 -0400
>   To: Philodox Clips List <clips at philodox.com>
>   From: "R.A. Hettinga" <rah at shipwright.com>
>   Subject: [Clips] UK Government to force handover of encryption keys
>   Reply-To: rah at philodox.com
>   Sender: clips-bounces at philodox.com
>
>   <
> http://www.zdnet.co.uk/print/?TYPE=story&AT=39269746-39020330t-10000025c>
>
>
>
>
>   Government to force handover of encryption keys
>
>   Tom Espiner
>
>   ZDNet UK
>
>   May 18, 2006, 12:10 BST
>
>   The UK Government is preparing to give the police the authority to force
>   organisations and individuals to disclose encryption keys, a move which
> has
>   outraged some security and civil rights experts.
>
>   The powers are contained within Part 3 of the Regulation of
> Investigatory
>   Powers Act (RIPA). RIPA was introduced in 2000, but the government has
> held
>   back from bringing Part 3 into effect. Now, more than five years after
> the
>   original act was passed, the Home Office is seeking to exercise the
> powers
>   within Part Three of RIPA.
>
>   Some security experts are concerned that the plan could criminalise
>   innocent people and drive businesses out of the UK. But the Home Office,
>   which has just launched a consultation process, says the powers
> contained
>   in Part 3 are needed to combat an increased use of encryption by
> criminals,
>   paedophiles, and terrorists.
>
>   "The use of encryption is... proliferating," Liam Byrne, Home Office
>   minister of state told Parliament last week. "Encryption products are
> more
>   widely available and are integrated as security features in standard
>   operating systems, so the Government has concluded that it is now right
> to
>   implement the provisions of Part 3 of RIPA... which is not presently in
>   force."
>
>   Part 3 of RIPA gives the police powers to order the disclosure of
>   encryption keys, or force suspects to decrypt encrypted data.
>
>   Anyone who refuses to hand over a key to the police would face up to two
>   years' imprisonment. Under current anti-terrorism legislation, terrorist
>   suspects now face up to five years for withholding keys.
>
>   If Part 3 is passed, financial institutions could be compelled to give
> up
>   the encryption keys they use for banking transactions, experts have
> warned.
>
>
>
>   "The controversy here [lies in] seizing keys, not in forcing people to
>   decrypt. The power to seize encryption keys is spooking big business,"
>   Cambridge University security expert Richard Clayton told ZDNet UK on
>   Wednesday.
>
>   "The notion that international bankers would be wary of bringing master
>   keys into UK if they could be seized as part of legitimate police
>   operations, or by a corrupt chief constable, has quite a lot of
> traction,"
>   Clayton added. "With the appropriate paperwork, keys can be seized. If
>   you're an international banker you'll plonk your headquarters in
> Zurich."
>
>   Opponents of the RIP Act have argued that the police could struggle to
>   enforce Part 3, as people can argue that they don't possess the key to
>   unlock encrypted data in their possession.
>
>   "It is, as ever, almost impossible to prove 'beyond a reasonable doubt'
>   that some random-looking data is in fact ciphertext, and then prove that
>   the accused actually has the key for it, and that he has refused a
> proper
>   order to divulge it," pointed out encryption expert Peter Fairbrother on
>   ukcrypto, a public email discussion list.
>
>   Clayton backed up this point. "The police can say 'We think he's a
>   terrorist' or 'We think he's trading in kiddie porn', and the suspect
> can
>   say, 'No, they're love letters, sorry, I've lost the key'. How much
>   evidence do you need [to convict]? If you can't decrypt [the data], then
> by
>   definition you don't know what it is," said Clayton.
>
>   The Home Office on Wednesday told ZDNet UK that it would not reach a
>   decision about whether Part 3 will be amended until the consultation
>   process has been completed.
>
>   "We are in consultation, and [are] looking into proposals on amendments
> to
>   RIPA," said a Home Office spokeswoman. "The Home Office is waiting for
> the
>   results of the consultation" before making any decisions, she said.
>
>   The Home Office said last week that the focus on key disclosure and
> forced
>   decryption was necessary due to "the threat to public safety posed by
>   terrorist use of encryption technology".
>
>   Clayton, on the other hand, argues that terrorist cells do not use
> master
>   keys in the same way as governments and businesses.
>
>   "Terrorist cells use master keys on a one-to-one basis, rather than
> using
>   them to generate pass keys for a series of communications. With a
>   one-to-one key, you may as well just force the terrorist suspect to
> decrypt
>   that communication, or use other methods of decryption," said Clayton.
>
>   "My suggestion is to turn on all of Part 3, except the part about trying
> to
>   seize keys. That won't create such a furore in financial circles," he
> said.
>
>   --
>   -----------------
>   R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah at ibuc.com>
>   The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/>
>   44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
>   "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
>   [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
>   experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'
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>
>
> --
> -----------------
> R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah at ibuc.com>
> The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/>
> 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
> "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
> [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
> experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'
>

--
-G

"The knack of flying is learning how to throw yourself at the ground and
miss."
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