The US Department of Justice (DOJ) this week released the first report from its Cyber Digital Task Force – which was set up in February to advise the government on strengthening its online defenses.
The report [PDF], compiled by 34 people from six different government agencies, examines the challenges facing Uncle Sam´s agencies in enforcing the law and protecting the public from hackers. It also lays out what the government needs to do to thwart looming threats to its computer networks.
Let´s (not) Encrypt
If you´ve been following the news for the last few years it will come as no surprise that the Justice Department is not a fan of the common man having access to encryption.
The report bemoans the current state of encryption and its ability to keep the government from gathering and analyzing traffic for criminal investigations. The word ´encryption´ comes up 17 times in the report, not once in a favorable light.
In the past several years, the Department has seen the proliferation of default encryption where the only person who can access the unencrypted information is the end user, the report reads.
The advent of such widespread and increasingly sophisticated encryption technologies that prevent lawful access poses a significant impediment to the investigation of most types of criminal activity.