Ars Technica: Australia advocates weakening strong crypto at upcoming “Five Eyes” meeting »
Two top Australian government officials said Sunday that they will push for “thwarting the encryption of terrorist messaging” during an upcoming meeting next week of the so-called “Five Eyes” group of English-speaking nations that routinely share intelligence.
Techcrunch: Australia wants Five Eyes to squeeze tech firms on encryption »
“I will raise the need to address ongoing challenges posed by terrorists and criminals using encryption,” Australian Attorney General Senator Brandis is quoted as saying, ahead of the meeting of the group next week.
“These discussions will focus on the need to cooperate with service providers to ensure reasonable assistance is provided to law enforcement and security agencies.”
The Five Eyes countries are: the US, the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
Techdirt: Australia To Push For Encryption Backdoors At Next ‘Five Eyes’ Meeting »
So far, there’s very little real evidence criminals and terrorists are using encrypted services at a higher rate than non-criminals/terrorists. There have been several statements made to that effect and backed by public displays of devices law enforcement officials claim can’t be unlocked, but most post-attack investigations show terrorists are still mostly using unencrypted communications platforms. Available evidence also shows investigations of normal criminal activity is rarely thwarted by device encryption. At this point, backdoors are a “solution” in need of a problem.