AbsoluteFuture gained U.S. regulator approval to market its encrypted email
program to worldwide companies, it was announced Thursday.
The company received the blessings of the U.S. Bureau of Export
Administration Oct. 28, and expects to gain federal approval to sell its
SafeMessage software solution to foreign government agencies within 60 days.
The Bureau reviews all software using encrypted technology for export, but
generally rubber stamps approval for distribution to European Union and
other major countries. Only embargoed countries like Iraq, Iran, Cuba and
Libya are banned from encrypted software.
SafeMessage gives end users “peer-to-peer” encrypted file sharing, similar
to the technology used by music-swapping maverick Napster. The sender
also sets a timer on the message, giving it a self-destruct cue when the
time expires (think “Mission Impossible”)
Scott Whitmore, AbsoluteFuture vice president of sales and marketing, said
the software goes far beyond the 128-bit encryption maximum found in
Internet standard Secure Sockets Layer. The layered encryption found in
SafeMessage starts with 1,024-bit encryption then layers it, making it next
to impossible to crack in the time before the message is erased, he said.
“As paranoid as we are here in the U.S., it’s worse overseas, which will
make them very receptive to our product,” Whitmore said. “Overseas, there
aren’t the laws Americans enjoy to protect a person’s privacy.”
The security of an individual’s email has come under worldwide scrutiny
this year, as government’s around the world try to find a legal, and
ethical, method of monitoring illegal activities.
Earlier this year, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigations tried to shove
Carnivore down the throats of American Internet service providers, sending
privacy advocates into an apoplexy of outrage over what it saw as a breach
to the Fourth Amendment.
Even the government itself couldn’t properly assure the public it could
guarantee the rights of innocent citizens.
Representative John Conyers (D-MI), in a special meeting of the Judiciary
Committee July 24, expressed little trust in the FBI’s new snooping tool.
“Should we now be comfortable with a ‘trust us, we’re the government’
approach?” he said. “I don’t think anybody on this committee shares that
view.”
Across the ocean to England, ISPs and e-commerce companies are dealing with
a political landscape that saw the passage of the Regulation of
Investigatory Powers Bill, which gives English authorities, notably MI5,
the right to place “black boxes” at POPs around the country. Many
businesses, including powerhouse investment company Goldman Sachs, are
looking at options to move operations out of the country to avoid the
government’s prying.
Federal law enforcement agencies on both sides of the Atlantic insist the
snooping measures are needed to keep up with criminals using email to send
information about illegal activities.
Whitmore said his encrypted email program wasn’t designed to let criminals
avoid the law, but for legitimate security needs.
“There’s the capability of any technology to be misused, but our software
was designed for the legitimate privacy needs of professionals,” Whitmore
said. “We’re geared towards lawyers who want to protect their clients
privacy, or the doctor and his patient. As a matter of fact, we’re in
talks with several U.S. federal agencies to provide our email solution to
high-level employees.
“Look at the corporations out there,” Whitmore continued. “Forget the FBI,
it’s all the other people out there that you have to watch out for. Packet
sniffing tools are available for download anywhere. Companies that need to
keep their financials private are especially vulnerable to corporate
espionage.”
Or, in the case of Microsoft Corp., keeping inappropriate ema
il messages
private. The software giant landed itself in hot water, and sabotaged its
own antitrust defense, when federal officials found damaging email messages
still residing in the hard drives of top executives.
