il'c JJorf land (Dbseruer__________________ August is, 2010
Page 8
Bans Reflect Unease with Encryption
Technology a
hurdle for law
enforcement
The foreign governments are
essentially a decade behind in com
ing to terms with encryption, a tech
nology that's fundamental to the
Internet as a medium of commerce.
Encrypted communications are
(AP) — Threats by the govern scrambled in a complex process to
ments o f India, the United Arab ensure that only the intended re
Emirates and Saudi Arabia to shut cipient can read them, using the
down BlackBerry's corporate e-mail proper digital key. This often takes
services reflect unease about a tech place behind the scenes, without
nology that the U.S. government the user needing to do anything.
also took a while to accept.
When you submit your credit card
Governments in India and the Middle East have considered
shutting down Blackberry’s corporate e-mail services because of
. Encrpytion, a technoglogy that keeps correspondence private, but
poses problems for law enforcement.
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number on a shopping site, the com
munication is encrypted. When you
log in to your bank's site, that con
nection is encrypted as well.
Most companies use encrypted
connections for their corporate e-
mails, at least if employees need to
access e-mail outside the office
through virtual private networks
and other secure systems. One o f
the reasons Research In Motion
Ltd. has been so successful with its
BlackBerry phones is that it brought
that level o f security to e-mail-ca-
pable phones.
Encryption, however, poses a
problem for law enforcement offi
cials. They can intercept encrypted
messages, but can't read them, un
less the encryption is poor and
agents have vast com puter re
sources to use in unscrambling them.
Traditional investigative tools such
as wiretaps don't work. Canada's
RIM and other technology compa
nies stress that they agree to legal
requests from law enforcement, but
in RIM's case, it can't decrypt the
messages on its corporate e-mail
service.
BlackBerrys seem to have been
singled out by foreign governments
because the devices provide an easy
and convenient way to communi
cate securely. But there are many
other ways to communicate in an
encrypted fashion, and any gov
e rn m e n t th a t's se rio u s ab o u t
squelching encrypted communica
tions would need to go after them as
well.
According to a representative o f
Indian Internet service providers,
the Indian government plans to go
after Google Inc., presumably for its
Gmail service, and Skype SA for its
voice and video conferencing soft
ware.
The U.S. State Department has
waded into the issue, saying it hopes
to broker a compromise that ad
dresses the legitimate security con
cerns o f some governments while
ensuring that the free flow o f infor
mation is not compromised.
That's somewhat ironic, consid
ering the U.S. restricts exports o f
encryption technology. The restric
tions are light, but were quite com
prehensive before 1999. The U.S.
was concerned that it couldn't eas
ily spy on foreign countries that
used encryption for military and
government communications.
Smart Phone Apps Keep the Faith
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Technologies merge with beliefs
(AP) — The most ancient tradi
tions o f Islam are going high-tech,
with a slew o f modem offerings for
those observing the holy month o f
Ramadan, which
began this week.
Cell phone ap
plications such as
"iP ra y "
or
"iQuran" offer a
beeping reminder
o f requisite prayer
times, while the
"F ind M ecca"
and
"m o sq u e
finder" programs help the Muslim
traveler in an unfamiliar city find the
nearest place to pray.
The applications aren't just for
Ramadan; there are Islamic-themed
programs that help users find the
nearest Costco offering foods pre
pared according to Islamic dietary
rules, learn the correct Arabic pro
nunciations in a daily prayer, or
count how many pages o f the Quran
they've read that day — all on a
mobile phone.
There also are applications, or
apps, for the holy books o f several
other religions, from the Catholic
Holy Bible to the Bhagavad Gita, a
sacred Hindu scripture.
T h e f ir s t tim e S u m e y y e
K alyoncu heard the Adhan — or
call to p ray er— through surround-
sound speakers on her iPhone
dock, she was overcom e with nos
talgia for her native Turkey. Such
applications are especially popu
lar in the U.S., Kalyoncu said, as
U.S. m osques do not broadcast
daily calls to prayer from external
loudspeakers, as they do in M us
lim countries.