Ex-MI5 Chief Warns Against Crackdown on Encrypted Messaging Apps
Tags: 2010s Law Enforcement Mobile UK News UK Security and Counter-Terrorism
Authors: Grierson, Jamie
Published: August 2017
Abstract: On August 11, 2017, The Guardian published an article regarding comments made by a former head of MI5, Lord Evans, who does “not support a clampdown on use of encryption”. Instead, Lord Evans pointed to other, greater threats than encryption, including the state of cybersecurity as a whole, cybersecurity for the internet of things, and attacks on British democracy from foreign actors like Russia. While he noted that concerns about terrorism are valid, he said it is “very important that we should be seen and be a country in which people can operate securely – that’s important for our commercial interests as well as our security interests, so encryption in that context is very positive”.