• Data Encryption Level may be Raised to 256 Bits

    Data Encryption Level may be Raised to 256 Bits

    Techtree News Staff, Jun 19, 2008 1000 hrs IST

    The makers of Blackberry, Research in Motion (RIM), had previously expressed their inability to provide a solution as regards decoding encrypted data.

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Blackberry has surfaced yet again with the Indian government now believed to have referred the matter to the National Security Advisor (NSA), which is examining the possibility of raising the level of data encryption from the existing 40 bits to the prescribed 256 bits to enable decoding of email and data sent via Blackberry.

The makers of Blackberry, Research in Motion (RIM), had previously expressed their inability to provide a solution as regards decoding encrypted data, saying they themselves couldn't decode data sent via Blackberry. However, the company had also promised to come up with a solution by end of this month, failing which the government was free to involve third-party agents to crack the Blackberry encryption code.

But in trying to do so, even third-parties are unlikely to bring down the data encryption level to the 40 bits permitted by the government. Hence, the government seems to have finally taken the call to raise the data encryption level to the 256 bits as prescribed by Blackberry. To avoid any technical ambiguity, the matter has been referred to the NSA for comment.

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Discussion Board
(4) Comments
Whiz
,Pune, on Jun 26, 2008 12:25 PM
Suppose the jerks do manage to decode the stuff...let suppose. Now what if the wanted use stegenography! Suppose the GOI will ban that too
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Jeremy King
,Bangalore, on Jun 22, 2008 04:06 PM
Its quite ridiculous of the government to try and go the US way of sifting through everything in the name of security! What's next? Real-time interception? Its an endless pit of hundreds of thousands of crores of tax-payers' money! No matter how many checks you put in, human ingenuinity will always find newer, better ways to get around the checks! The terrorists are most certainly not retards!
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my black
,berry, on Jun 20, 2008 11:59 AM
how stupid
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FLAMBOYZ
,HYDERABAD, INDIA, on Jun 19, 2008 07:39 PM
As what I expected, the Indian Government to do...Raise their Encryption Standards on par with the world. Thanks to BlackBerry!!
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