US warns of risks from deeper encryption

The head of the US Department of Homeland Security has warned the cybersecurity industry that encryption poses “real challenges” for law enforcement.

In a speech at a cybersecurity conference, RSA in San Francisco, Sec Jeh Johnson called on the industry to find a solution that protected “the basic physical security of the American people” and the “liberties and freedoms we cherish”. He said he understood the importance of encryption for privacy but asked the audience to imagine what it would have meant for law enforcement if, after the invention of the telephone, all the police could search was people’s letters.