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[FYI] Encyrption - "CIA's Tenet Says al-Qa'ida Still a Serious Threat"



http://cryptome.org/cia-fbi-threats.htm

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US Department of State
International Information Programs 

Washington File
_________________________________ 

06 February 2002 

CIA's Tenet Says al-Qa'ida Still a Serious Threat 

[...]

Encryption  

One of the most important of these steps involves the FBI's 
encryption initiative. Communication is central to any collaborative 
effort--including criminal conspiracies. Like most criminals, 
terrorists are naturally reluctant to put the details of their plots 
down on paper. Thus, they generally depend on oral or electronic 
communication to formulate the details of their terrorist activities. 
 
Although the FBI, and the law enforcement community at large, fully 
supports the development and use of innovative technologies to ensure 
that the United States remains competitive in today's global market, 
we remain extremely concerned about the serious public safety threat 
posed by the proliferation and misuse of technologies that prevent 
law enforcement from gaining access to the plaintext of terrorist 
and/or serious criminal-related evidence obtained through either 
court-authorized electronic surveillance or the search and seizure of 
digital evidence.  

The use of commercially available, non-recoverable encryption 
products by individuals engaged in terrorist and other serious 
criminal activity can effectively prevent law enforcement access to 
this critical evidence. Law enforcement's inability to gain access to 
the plaintext of encrypted communications and/or computer evidence in 
a timely manner seriously impairs our ability to successfully prevent 
and prosecute terrorist and/or other serious criminal acts.  

This significant challenge to effective law enforcement poses grave 
and serious public safety consequences. Unless the FBI enhances its 
ability for gathering and processing computer data obtained through 
electronic surveillance, search and seizure of computer evidence, and 
its ability to gain access to the plain text of encrypted evidence, 
investigators and prosecutors will be denied timely access to 
valuable evidence that could be used to prevent and solve terrorist 
and other serious criminal acts.  

[...]

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