House Committee Puts NSA on Notice Over Encryption Standards

An amendment adopted by a House committee would, if enacted, take a step toward removing the National Security Agency from the business of meddling with encryption standards that protect security on the Internet.

The amendment adopted by the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology would remove an existing requirement in the law that National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) consult with the NSA on encryption standards.

The amendment’s sponsor, Rep Alan Grayson (D-FL), quoted our story on the NSA from 2013. “NIST, which falls solely under the jurisdiction of the Science, Space, and Technology Committee, has been given ‘the mission of developing standards, guidelines, and associated methods and techniques for information systems,’” Rep Grayson wrote. “To violate that charge in a manner that would deliberately lessen standards, and willfully diminish American citizens’ and businesses’ cyber-security, is appalling and warrants a stern response by this Committee.”

Rep Grayson’s amendment, which is part of a bill that funds NIST, was approved by a voice vote.