FEDERAL NETWORKING COUNCIL LOOKS AT ENCRYPTION ISSUES

Dan Kohn (dan@teledesic.com)
Mon, 28 Oct 1996 08:11:15 -0800

FEDERAL NETWORKING COUNCIL LOOKS AT ENCRYPTION ISSUES
The White House has asked the Federal Networking Council Advisory
Committee
to come up with recommendations on information security issues,
including
the administration's latest proposal for an encryption "key recovery"
plan.
A recent memo published by the Internet Architecture Board and the
Internet
Engineering Steering Group protested the key recovery plan, saying that
any
type of escrow system would "inevitably weaken the security of the
overall
cryptographic system, by creating new points of vulnerability that can
and
will be attacked... Sound cryptographic practice dictates that users
never
reveal their private keys to anyone, even a certification authority."
The
memo also recommended against any restrictions on key size. The
advisory
committee is working to draft a policy statement on encryption, which
will
address many of the conflicting issues surrounding the controversial
topic,
including the offensive and defensive uses of cryptography, and the
impact
of rapid technological advances. (BNA Daily Report for Executives 23
Oct 96
A23)