The Encryption Debate E-Mail this to a friend Fight terrorism with your contribution to ADL A major ongoing debate related to terrorism and the Internet is the question of encryption.
Encryption is software technology that locks computerized information to keep it private.
On the one hand, encryption protects individual and corporate privacy and is a fundamental building block of electronic commerce. On the other hand, police and intelligence agencies oppose denying the government access to electronic information because terrorists and other criminals can use encryption technology to conduct illegal activities while avoiding government monitoring. World Trade Center bombing mastermind, Ramzi Ahmed Yousef, for example, utilized encryption technology in his foiled plot to blow up 11 U.S. airliners in the Far East. We have begun to encounter encryption in criminal cases. Terrorists in New York City were plotting to bomb the United Nations Building, the Lincoln and Holland Tunnels, and the main federal building.