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(fwd) New antiencryption DoD center breaks PGP




Forwarded message follows:
On Sun, 26 Sep 1999 12:28:14 GMT, in comp.security.pgp.discuss
kzog@my-deja.com wrote:

The DoD has opened a $17 million antiencryption/computer privacy center
which is linked to the NSA and has an FBI laison Lab on site.  A grant
from the Clinton administration of $ 80 million to break PGP and other
available cyphers in the USA will allow full access to any computer told
by a lab spokesman to ABC.  Six months ago ABC reported that the Clinton
administration was just playing for time with its export controls until
it could crack high grade encrytion.  Well the contols are gone and the
lab is on line.    SEE BELOW



              Teaching About Hi-tech Crime
              The new program also trains investigators,
              who will be assigned full time to military
              posts and bases worldwide. Typical classes
              are three weeks of about a dozen students
              learning about espionage, hackers, networks
              and special computer hardware.
                   ?What we intend to handle here is the big
              and large,? Ferguson said, citing examples
              where huge amounts of data need to be
              analyzed or where a particularly savvy
              criminal scrambled his digital records and
              won?t give up his password.
                   Although Ferguson and others declined to
              discuss specific cases already under way, they
              described as rare those involving encrypted
              files.
                   The White House agreed last week to
              allow sale of the most powerful
              data-scrambling technology with virtually no
              restrictions, although military and law
              enforcement officials have long warned that
              criminals and terrorists might also use the
              technology.
                   Ferguson said he was confident that
              techniques to break those messages will be
              adequate once Congress approves a proposal
              by the Clinton administration to give the FBI
              $80 million over four years for the technology.

                   Defense Department officials also
              acknowledged that the lab?s proximity to the
              nearby National Security Agency, the
              government?s premier code-breaking
              organization, was a primary factor in deciding
              its location.


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