The FBI is unhappy that there are communications technologies that it cannot intercept, and wants a new requirement that software makers and communications companies create a back door so they can listen in when they want.
But a team of technology experts warns that would be nothing more than handing over to the nation’s enemies abilities they are not capable of developing for themselves.
According to a recent report in the Washington Post, the issue is being raised by the FBI because “there is currently no way to wiretap some of these communications methods easily, and companies effectively…”
The solution, according to the FBI, is a plan to fine companies when they fail to comply with wiretap orders, essentially requiring all companies to build a back door for wiretap capabilities into all their communications links.
“The importance to us is pretty clear,” FBI general counsel Andrew Weissman said in the report. “We don’t have the ability to go to court and say, ‘We need a court order to effectuate the intercept.’”
But a report at the Center for Democracy & Technology warns of the unintended consequences.
“Wiretap functionality allows covert access to communications that can be exploited not only by law enforcement, but by criminals, terrorists, and foreign military and intelligence agencies,” the report said. “Wiretap endpoints will be vulnerable to exploitation and difficult to secure.”
It cited a report called CALEA II: Risks of Writetap Modifications to Endpoints.”
It was being assembled just about the time the U.S. government was caught accessing telephone records for the Associated Press and describing a prominent journalist for Fox News as a potential criminal.
More:
http://www.wnd.com/2013/06/now-fbi-want ... -software/
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