And that’s why a backdoor is needed, Director Wray says

Jan 10, 2018 10:29 GMT  ·  By

The FBI has been one of the biggest supporters of backdoors in devices like smartphones and tablets, and Director Christopher Wray used his speech at the International Conference on Cyber Security in New York to emphasize how hard it is for the agency to break into encrypted electronics.

Wray revealed that the FBI is in possession of no less than 7,775 encrypted devices that it wants to but can’t hack simply because it doesn’t have the necessary know-how to do it.

In other words, these devices, which Wray says were involved in various investigations, might store information that could help FBI agents in their fight against criminals, but this info can’t be extracted because of the strong encryption.

“Being unable to access those devices is a major public safety issue and impacts our investigations across the board,” he told the audience. “This problem will require a thoughtful and sensible approach. We have people devoted to working with stakeholders to find a way forward. We need the private sector’s help.”

Calling for support from tech companies

Wray also mentioned a number of cases where investigation can’t advance because of the encrypted devices, including human trafficking, counter-terrorism, organized crime, and child exploration, as The Reg notes.

The FBI Director went on to talk about the digital transformation that the bureau itself is experiencing because devices are part of nearly every single case.

“The FBI has to recognize that that there’s a technology and digital component to almost every case we have,” he continued. “Transnational crime groups, sexual predators, fraudsters and terrorists are transforming the way they do business as technology evolves.”

Wray called for tech companies to help find a solution to deal with this strong encryption, essentially asking for a backdoor that would allow the feds, and the feds only, to access the data stored on these devices should they really need to. Obviously, there’s no guarantee that these backdoors won’t end up being used by cybercriminals, and this is one of the reasons the tech industry has until now opposed to such proposals.

The privacy of users would also be compromised, tech companies said, and despite the FBI developing an obsession for device backdoors, there’s little chance such a thing would become a reality anytime soon.