December 15, 2015 at 23:14The FBI wants backdoors, but so that they are not called backdoors
FBI Director James Komi, in his report to the US Senate Legal Committee, told the senators that he personally talked to technology executives, convincing them that the bureau needed access to encrypted electronic correspondence in order to counter terrorism. According to Komi, all his interlocutors agreed with him. Thus, the FBI continues to insist on the need for backdoors in the software used to communicate on the Internet, but simply they should not be called by this word - “backdoors”.
The director of Komi says that he is proposing a new model of interaction between intelligence agencies and technology companies. The FBI is absolutely not interested in exactly how agents will be granted access to the required data, because the key here is the freedom of the company. We need a different kind of mechanics: the FBI provides a court decision, and technical experts will decide how to organize this. Thus, this is not a matter of technology, but a matter of changing the business model, so there is no need to call such a “backdoor”.
In addition, James Komi's interlocutors explained their unwillingness to work with the FBI by the fact that this could end up harming online security and even just surfing the Internet. It is interesting that a year ago, as Komi noted, many FBI devices could still have access, but the situation changed in just a year and you have to persuade not only manufacturers, but also US senators.
Attempts by the FBI to somehow organize themselves access to electronic correspondence received a response at the very top: in May this year, the largest technology companies in America sent an open letter to President Barack Obamain which they directly asked for his permission not to embed backdoors in his software. At the end of November, another notorious agency well known for its straightforward attitude to the privacy of US citizens, the NSA announced that it was curtailing the program of mass wiretapping, which had begun in 2001.
The director of Komi says that he is proposing a new model of interaction between intelligence agencies and technology companies. The FBI is absolutely not interested in exactly how agents will be granted access to the required data, because the key here is the freedom of the company. We need a different kind of mechanics: the FBI provides a court decision, and technical experts will decide how to organize this. Thus, this is not a matter of technology, but a matter of changing the business model, so there is no need to call such a “backdoor”.
In addition, James Komi's interlocutors explained their unwillingness to work with the FBI by the fact that this could end up harming online security and even just surfing the Internet. It is interesting that a year ago, as Komi noted, many FBI devices could still have access, but the situation changed in just a year and you have to persuade not only manufacturers, but also US senators.
Attempts by the FBI to somehow organize themselves access to electronic correspondence received a response at the very top: in May this year, the largest technology companies in America sent an open letter to President Barack Obamain which they directly asked for his permission not to embed backdoors in his software. At the end of November, another notorious agency well known for its straightforward attitude to the privacy of US citizens, the NSA announced that it was curtailing the program of mass wiretapping, which had begun in 2001.