Internet E-mail looks for security

✍ Scribed by Helen Meyer

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1997
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 127 KB
• Volume: 16
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0167-4048
• DOI: 10.1016/s0167-4048(97)84547-6

✦ Synopsis

Whom do you trust? The Federal Government in the United States seems to be getting more user friendly when it comes to their encryption policies, thanks to recent changes by the Clinton Administration that loosen some of the current restrictions and put the Commerce Department in charge of commercial encryption exports. For example, Commerce let V-One Corp. export its SmartGate crypt0 technology, a key management system controlled by the user, rather than the traditional 'trusted third party'. That opened the floodgates for big commerce providers like MCI as well as some financial institutions that want to keep their encryption keys in-house. Inhouse key management also eases concerns about keys being compromised at a third party company's site. Commerce approved Trusted Information System's request to export its strong cryptography technology, RecoverKey, another user-controlled key recovery process. But critics aren't so sure the Feds really are mellowing on this issue -authorities still could exercise key recovery without a warrant.