Italian Phone Taps Spur Encryption Use

manekineko2 writes "This article in the NYTimes discusses how a recent rash of high-profile mobile phone taps in Italy is spurring a rush toward software-encrypted phone conversations. Private conversations have been tapped and subsequently leaked to the media and have resulted in disclosures of sensitive takeover discussions, revelations regarding game-fixing in soccer, and the arrest of a prince on charges of providing prostitutes and illegal slot machines. An Italian investigative reporter stated that no one would ever discuss sensitive information on the phone now. As a result, encryption software for mobile phones has moved from the government and military worlds into the mainstream. Are GSM phones in the US ripe for a similar explosion in the use of freely available wiretapping technology, and could this finally be the impetus to for widespread use of software-encrypted communications?"

Comments

Not Gonna Happen in US

[gambit3]

Quite simply, one of two things would prevent encrypted cell phones from becoming successful in the US:

1. The government would simply make it illegal (don't want to give the terrorists any new tools).

2. The government would require a backdoor be built in by manufacturers, defeating the purpose.