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   Encryption is under attack  but it's "vital for law enforcement," said former   
   US investigator   
      
   Date:   
   Fri, 31 Oct 2025 14:01:27 +0000   
      
   Description:   
   During a discussion at an event for Global Encryption Day 2025, a former   
   investigator joined technologists and activists in the call to protect   
   encryption.   
      
   FULL STORY   
      
   Encryption has never been so crucial for our online security as it is right   
   now, yet so at risk  and even some cops are worried.    
      
   This is the technology that the best VPN and messaging apps use to scramble   
   people's communications into an unreadable form to prevent unauthorized   
   access. Yet, encryption is increasingly the target of lawmakers who are   
   looking for ways to guarantee a way for authorities to access encrypted data.    
      
   The problem is that, experts have long warned, there's no way to create such    
   a backdoor to encryption without inevitably undermining its level of   
   protection. A crucial safety net, especially nowadays, as cyberattacks are   
   getting increasingly more frequent and destructive.    
      
   It didn't, then, come as a total surprise that "A Shield in Uncertain Times:   
   The Role of Encryption" was the theme of this year's commemoration for Global   
   Encryption Day , which falls on October 21.    
      
   What was certainly more staggering was witnessing a former investigator join   
   technologists and activists in the call to protect encryption.    
      
   Talking during an online discussion, James A. Baker, Former General Counsel    
   of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, said: "Encryption helps keep    
   people safe. Encryption is vital to law enforcement to protect society."   
      
   Client-side scanning? "A fundamentally bad idea"   
      
   "Going dark" is the term that law enforcement uses to describe the inability   
   to access digital communications due to strong encryption. An obstacle that,   
   they say, makes it difficult to conduct investigations.    
      
   This debate, and the so-called "crypto-wars" that come with it, are nothing   
   new. Yet, the novelty lies in how lawmakers have been trying to find a   
   solution to end it, what's known as client-side scanning.    
      
   EU lawmakers are especially infamous for pushing this idea in what's been   
   nicknamed the Chat Control proposal.    
      
   Here, Europeans' private chats could soon be scanned directly on the device    
   in the lookout for child sexual abuse material (CSAM) before getting   
   encrypted. According to Signal, this is exactly how malware works .    
      
   This is also the reason why the US halted the Online Safety Act's provision    
   on encryption backdoors since " it's technically feasible to do so. "    
      
   Baker also believes that client-side scanning is just "a fundamentally bad   
   idea."    
      
   He said: "It won't help law enforcement to protect the people they want to   
   protect, but it will expose them to more threats."    
      
   That's because, as technologists have said time and time again, it's not   
   technically possible to build a backdoor that only law enforcement can   
   exploit. This means that such a system would also create an entry point for   
   cybercriminals and adversary governments into our private communications.    
      
   Baker, however, recognizes that law enforcement and lawmakers are under a lot   
   of pressure to find a solution that can help investigators halt hideous   
   crimes, like terrorism or child abuse, while maintaining online security for   
   everyone.    
      
   Yet, he believes that focusing on encryption is not the right path.    
      
   He said: "Encryption is one of the tools we have to protect citizens and   
   organizations. If we, as law enforcement, think we need to protect society,    
   we need to factor that in and find a different way [to combat crimes]."   
      
   ======================================================================   
   Link to news story:   
   https://www.techradar.com/vpn/vpn-privacy-security/encryption-is-under-attack-   
   but-its-vital-for-law-enforcement-said-former-us-investigator   
      
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