5 March 1998

    Date: Thu, 5 Mar 1998 13:35:01 -0800 (PST)
    From: Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>
    To: cypherpunks@cyberpass.net
    Subject: Freeh tells Congress crypto will "devastate" crimefighting

    Note: I don't forward all politech stuff to cypherpunks. It's a roughly
    four-message-a-day moderated list. http://www.well.com/~declan/politech/
    to sign up.

    ---------- Forwarded message ----------
    Date: Thu, 5 Mar 1998 13:34:17 -0800 (PST)
    From: Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>
    To: politech@vorlon.mit.edu
    Subject: Freeh tells Congress crypto will "devastate" crimefighting

    An excerpt:

    [JYA Note: Original text of Freeh's remarks in capitals; retyped here]

    >Both you and Senator Rollings should take pride in the
    >leadership shown in the areas of ensuring counterterrorism
    >preparedness and protecting our children from sexual
    >predators and pedophiles.

    ***

    STATEMENT OF LOUIS J. FREEH
    DIRECTOR, FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
    BEFORE THE SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE
    SUBCOMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, JUSTICE, STATE AND JUDICIARY
    MARCH 3, 1998

    [...][Snip by McCullagh]

    ENCRYPTION

    One of the most difficult challenges facing all of law
    enforcement is how rapidly terrorists and criminals adopt
    advanced technologies to thwart law enforcement's ability
    to ingestigate those who wish to do harm to our nation and
    its citizens. That is why encryption is one of the most
    important issues confronting law enforcement. Law
    enforcement remains in unanimous agreement that the
    widespread use of robust non-recoverable encryption will
    ultimately devastate our ability to fight crime and
    terrorism. Uncrackable encryption allows, and will continue
    to allow with increasing regularity, drug lords,
    terrorists, and even violent gangs to communicate about
    their criminal intentions with impunity and to maintain
    electronically stored evidence of their crimes impervious
    to lawful search and seizure.

    Convicted spy Aldrich Ames was told by his Soviet handlers
    to encrypt computer file information that was to be passed
    to them. Ramzi Yousef, convicted with others for plotting
    to blow up 11 United States owned commercial airliners in
    the Far East, used encryption to protect files on his
    laptop computer. A major international drug trafficker
    recently used a telephone encryption device to frustrate
    court-authorized electronic surveillance. The EEL [as written] is
    encountering a growing number of cases where 56 bit Data
    Encryption Standard (DES) and 128 bit "Pretty Good Privacy"
    encryption are being used for protection by criminals. As
    Congress continues its work this session towards a balanced
    approach to the important issue of encryption, I urge you
    to consider public safety and national security concerns
    regarding encryption products and services manufactured for
    use in the United States or imported into the United
    States.

    [...] [Snip by McCullagh]

    COUNTERTERRORISM AND CYBERCRIME

    The criminal exploitation and illegal electronic intrusion
    into public and private sector computer networks is rapidly
    escalating into a major crime problem. The national and
    economic security of the United States relies extensively
    on a National Information Infrastructure (NII) that is
    vulnerable to disruptive forces. These forces include
    natural events, mistakes, technical failures, and malicious
    acts by hackers, disgruntled employees, criminals,
    industrial spies, foreign agents, and terrorists. The
    advent of complex computer and communications networks has
    produced a tandem capability for the potential of illegal
    information retrieval, disruption and/or destruction from
    various sources. White-collar criminals, economic espionage
    agents, organized crime members, foregin intelligence
    services, and terrorist groups have all beem identified as
    "electronic intruders" with the potential to have
    immediate and severe consequences for every facet of
    government and industry.

    The United States is increasingly reliant on complex,
    networked infrastructures for its national and economic
    security and the welfare of its citizens. The movement of
    the United States towards an information-based economy, and
    the rapid expansion of electronic commerce, has greatly
    increased dependence upon the NII. Any protracted loss of
    critical infrastructure would severely impact national
    security and the national welfare. In recent years, unknown
    intruders have penetrated telecommunications carriers,
    internet service providers, and other government, private
    and university systems. Lists of frequently asked questions
    (FAQs) outlining the specifics of system vulnearbilities
    are widespread. "The Unofficial Web Hack FAQ," "The Hacker
    FAQ," and "How to Hack A Website" are popular, accessible,
    and easily downloaded from the Internet. Knowledgeable
    observers and recent surveys predict that malicious acts
    directed against the NII will only increase in frequency
    and sophistication, and will continue to pose grave
    consequences and potential harm.

    The challenge facing ghe FBI today in the area of
    cybercrime is building the requisite capabilities to
    address this rapidly growing and evolving problme.
    Technology exploitation is an emerging problem which
    touches virtually every area of the FBI's mission,
    including white-collar crime, counterterrorism, foreign
    counterintelligence, violent crime, organized crime and
    drugs. The FBI must act now to identify, train, equip and
    deploy investigative resources to stay abreast of the
    growing caseload, as well as meet its responsibilities for
    infrastructure protection. We are building this capability
    at two levels: through specialized and highly trained field
    squads; and, the operation of a national-level center that
    supports field investigations and coordinates with other
    federal, state and local agencies and the private sector.

    [...][Snip by McCullagh]

    TELECOMMUNICATIONS CARRIER COMPLIANCE

    I am very appreciative of the efforts of the Committees on
    Appropriations to move along the Communications Assistance
    for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) initiative. Preserving the
    ability of federal, state, and local law enforcement to
    lawfully conduct electronic surveillance continues to be
    one of my top priorities. For 1999, $100,000,000 is
    requested in the department's telecommunications carrier
    compliance fund to reimburse telecommunications carriers
    and others for eligible costs incurred in modifying
    equipment and facilities to comply with the CALEA.

    NARROWBAND RADIO COMMUNICATIONS

    The FBI operates the largest civilian land-based mobile
    radio system in the United States which provides clean and
    encrypted radio communications for 56 field offices and
    nearly 400 resident agencies. The fixed infrastructure for
    this system includes base stations in each field office and
    larger resident agencies, more than 12,000 mobile or
    vehicular radios, over 12,000 portable or hand-held radios,
    and nearly 4,000 leased antenna microwave repeater and
    antenna sites and data communications links. The FBI also
    operates specialized radio communications systems that
    support national security operations, task forces, and
    other activities. By January 1, 2005, we are requred to
    change-over from the current 25 Megahertz radio bandwidth
    technology to more spectrally efficient 12.5 Megahertz
    bandwidth equipment. To comply with this mandate, it will
    be necessary to implement an entirely new radio system.
    None of the existing wideband equipment can be upgraded or
    retrofitted with narrowband technology.

    In order to comply with the narrowband radio communications
    mandate, the FBI is propsoing a five-year effort to plan,
    design, and implement a single nationwide communications
    system that will replace the existing nationwide and
    specialized systems. Within the department's narrowband
    communications fund, the FBI is requesting a total of
    $64,079,000, of which $60,220,000 is new funding, to begin
    these processes. Additionally, direct FBI funding totaling
    $780,000 is requested to hire 7 engineers and specialists
    to serve on the EEL project team for the narrowband radio
    communications project. Conclusion up,.[as written] Chairman, I would
    like again to express my gratitude for the Committee's
    strong support and confidence in the FBI.

    Both you and Senator Rollings should take pride in the
    leadership shown in the areas of ensuring counterterrorism
    preparedness and protecting our children from sexual
    predators and pedophiles. I believe your approach of
    balancing targeted increases in FBI investigative resources
    and capabilities in select areas with an emphasis on
    training fedral, state and local law enforcement, encourages
    partnerships and cooperation that are the keys to an
    effective response to crime. I know that with your
    continued support, the FBI can build upon its successes and
    serve the American people proudly and effectively as the
    nation moves into the 21st centurt. This concludes my
    prepared remarks. At this time, I would like to respond to
    any questions that you may have.

    END