NSA chief takes sides in encryption battle

The head of the National Security Agency is echoing the Obama Administration’s call for some kind of legal mechanism to force companies like Apple and Google to leave holes in people’s digital protections. NSA Director Admiral Michael Rogers -- a cryptology expert who led the Navy’s cyber efforts -- said that he shares concerns about automatic encryption tools that prevent the government from gaining access to phones and other devices, despite fears about technical “backdoors” that could be used by foreign hackers as well as police.

“’Backdoor’ is not the context I would use,” he said. “When I hear the phrase “backdoor” I think ‘This is kind of shady, why wouldn’t you want to go in the front door?’” “My view is we can create a legal framework for how we do this,” he added, that respects companies’ desires to protect their users while allowing his agency and others to access data that might help to solve crimes or stop terrorist attacks. “I hope we can get past this [mentality that] either it's all encryption or nothing.”