Homeland Security chairman rails against encryption backdoors

House Homeland Security Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) railed against encryption backdoors during a cybersecurity address on Thursday and discussed the growing threat of Russian involvement in the United States. 

Speaking at an Internet Security Alliance (ISA) meeting, McCaul primarily stumped for a bill, co-written with Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), that would create a commission to investigate how to handle the controversy over encryption, which renders data inaccessible from law enforcement. 

{mosads}That commission, he said, could avoid the “knee-jerk response” of mandating backdoors in encryption, something he said would be devastating. He added that around half of mobile encryption apps are designed outside the United States, making it jurisdictionally impossible to regulate. 

Twice in his talk, he mentioned the possibility that such legislation would “drive [tech companies] offshore.”

McCaul did not refer to comments he made Wednesday night on CNN that the Republican National Committee, like the Democratic National Committee, had been hacked by Russians looking to interfere with the election. He later walked back those comments. 

He did, however, use the ISA meeting to stress that Russia is making a “real attempt [to hack] both sides of the aisle” in comments that align with reports that Russia has targeted the RNC and Trump campaign. 

He described the growing adversarial hacking environment with Russia as a “mutually assured destruction” scenario waiting to happen. 

“We know they have that capability [to create chaos],” he said. “We do too.”