Proposals in Washington to make it easier to crack encrypted messages, coming in the wake of last month's terrorist attacks, have put lawmakers at odds with U.S. businesses. More than two-thirds of U.S. companies use encryption as an everyday business tool, . . .
Proposals in Washington to make it easier to crack encrypted messages, coming in the wake of last month's terrorist attacks, have put lawmakers at odds with U.S. businesses. More than two-thirds of U.S. companies use encryption as an everyday business tool, according to an InformationWeek Research survey. Some businesses now worry that legislation intended to help law-enforcement personnel decode encrypted data and communications could harm corporate security.

While no direct evidence has surfaced to indicate that encryption played a role in the events leading up to the attacks, intelligence agencies say criminals and anti-American groups, including Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda terrorist group, have in the past used encryption to protect their phone conversations and E-mail communications. Now, legislators are calling for laws that would make such conversations and messages less private by creating a "back door" in encryption products.

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