Cops See an Encryption Problem. Spyware Makers See an Opportunity.
The Trump administration is once again pushing for access to encrypted data. But some intelligence companies are selling a sneakier route around protection.
Published in
6 min readDec 10, 2019
By Patrick Howell O’Neill
- The US Senate is set for a new hearing into encryption
- The big question: Is there new legislation mandating encryption back doors?
- Meet the Israeli company selling a tool to push people off encrypted services
Suppose you’re a cop who wants to eavesdrop on an encrypted phone call, the kind of call billions of people make all the time on WhatsApp. Old-fashioned wiretaps don’t work, since the technology underpinning encryption guarantees you’ll get nothing. You could try to hack a target’s phone and listen in — but that’s often a difficult and expensive proposition. Or you could legally demand that the company behind the service allow law enforcement a way to see the encrypted data, but that can mean a long and expensive legal battle.
This long war between law enforcement and the technology industry will continue when the US Senate opens a hearing on data encryption Tuesday morning.
