<
https://www.techdirt.com/2024/09/16/australias-security-chief-says-its-time-to-start-forcing-companies-to-break-chat-room-encryption/>
"More than a half-decade ago, the Australian government gave itself more
powers. These new powers allowed the government to
compel decryption —
something far easier said than done, especially if existing encryption was
expected to still protect everyone else but the government’s targets.
Shortly after the law was passed, Australia’s federal law enforcement and
national security agencies started wielding it against service providers. The
first wave was noticeable, but subsequent efforts have flown under the radar
for the most part, whether due to extreme amounts of secrecy or the new powers
not being quite as possible as the Australian government hoped.
Three years after the enactment of the law, the powers and their side effects
were reviewed by federal overseers. The review came to a couple of unsurprising
conclusions. First, the joint committee noted the program suffered from a lack
of rigorous oversight, which is pretty ironic when the statement is being made
by one of the program’s oversight bodies. Second, it said the law was great and
had no downsides, a conclusion it reached by… simply stating there were no
downsides.
“Agencies have made the case that these powers remain necessary to combat
serious national security threats, and some of the worst fears held by
industry at the time of passage have not been realised,” committee chair and
Liberal Senator James Paterson said.
Really refreshing to see a government body declare an unprecedented expansion
of powers to be a net benefit for all mankind. What’s hilarious is that there
are actually downsides, but since not
every outcome has been negative, the
new powers are somehow an unmitigated success. The committee chair did not say
“none” of the “worst fears” stated by the industry in opposition to these
powers have come to pass. Senator James Patterson says only “some” have “not
been realised,” which suggests others have been “realised.”
Apparently, getting its way isn’t sitting right with the current head of the
Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO). Companies must be made to
comply more often and more quickly. As Sarah Ferguson reports for Australia’s
ABC News, ASIO believes it’s time to fully flex powers that have apparently
only been
partially flexed previously."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
