News: No 10's leaked memo reveals faults in RIP bill

[Yaman Akdeniz]

No 10's leaked memo reveals faults in RIP bill   
The Guardian

If it is possible to hack into Downing Street's email, then why does the 
government want firms to give up their encryption keys, asks online editor Victor 
Keegan Memo leak reveals rattled PM  Monday July 17, 2000.

Downing Street is understandably in turmoil over the implications the weekend 
leak revealing Tony Blair's thoughts about where the government is going wrong. 

Either the leak is the result of a highly placed "mole" or the work of a hacker. If it 
is a mole, then it can be dealt with. After all, Labour in opposition received 
numerous leaks from civil servants disaffected with the Conservative government. 
It is embarrassing - but part of a long political tradition of leaking. 

But suppose it is the work of hackers. This is a double embarrassment for the 
government. If it is possible to tap into the government's allegedly secure website -
 monitored and protected by the huge resources of MI5, MI6 and GCHQ - then 
where does this leave corporate sites, or the hundreds of thousands of less 
sophisticated sites created by small businesses? 

The government has pledged to make Britain the best place in the world for e-
commerce. But security is at the core of electronic business, to protect payments 
and to keep commercial secrets intact. If hackers can access the government's 
site, it sends a highly pessimistic message to companies around the world planning 
to do electronic business with UK companies. 

And, of course, individuals as well. Which raises the second embarrassment to the 
government. If the technology exists to break into secure government sites, 
including possibly emails, then why on earth is the government taking drastic 
powers through the RIP bill to force companies and individuals to give up their 
encryption keys? 

This move - the exact opposite of the policies of many other western countries - is 
based on the premise that companies and individuals will have to suffer because of 
the wider need to track down criminals such as paedophiles (the people least 
likely to surrender their secret codes). 

Yet it appears that the technology exists for the government to track down such 
people without risking the civil liberties of the rest of the nation. Explanations, 
please.   


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Mr. Yaman Akdeniz,
Director, Cyber-Rights & Cyber-Liberties (UK)
URL: http://www.cyber-rights.org
E-mail: lawya@cyber-rights.org
Tel: +44 (0)498 865116

Read the CR&CL (UK) Reports at:
http://www.cyber-rights.org/reports/ 
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