U.S. Lawmaker Advocates Enhanced Encryption For Internet Security

A U.S. lawmaker well versed in technology issues said Friday that government bodies and citizens should use more encryption, not less, to increase security on the Internet. In the wake of last Tuesday's hijackings that left more than 6,500 Americans . . . A U.S. lawmaker well versed in technology issues said Friday that government bodies and citizens should use more encryption, not less, to increase security on the Internet. In the wake of last Tuesday's hijackings that left more than 6,500 Americans dead or missing, policy-makers have called for limits on popular encryption software that allows users to scramble Internet communications for privacy.

The Central Intelligence Agency said earlier this year that encryption software was in use by radical Islamic groups such as Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda, believed to be behind the attacks last week.

But Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., said after a Capitol Hill panel on Internet security that proposed remedies such as "trapdoors" to allow government surveillance would effectively make Internet communications less secure.

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