Forwarded From: illusions <illusionst_private> 'Back door' doesn't get very far A U.S. government panel has failed in a two-year effort to design a federal computer security system that includes ''back doors,'' a feature that would enable snooping by law enforcement agencies, people familiar with the effort said this week. The failure casts further doubt on the Clinton administration policy -- required for government agencies and strongly encouraged for the private sector -- of including such back doors in computer encryption technology used to protect computer data and communications, according to outside experts. But administration officials said the panel, which is set to expire in July, simply needed more time. The 22-member panel appointed by the secretary of commerce in 1996 concluded at a meeting last week that it could not overcome the technical hurdles involved in creating a large-scale infrastructure that would meet the needs of law enforcers, panel members said. The group was tapped to write a formal government plan known as a ''Federal Information Processing Standard,'' or FIPS, detailing how government agencies should build systems including back doors. - San Jose Mercury News -o- Subscribe: mail majordomot_private with "subscribe isn". Today's ISN Sponsor: Repent Security Incorporated [www.repsec.com]
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