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U.S. Approves Export of New Encyrption Technology

But privacy issues may hold up products.

By Courtney Schlisserman, PCWorld   

WASHINGTON -- Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft and Intel on Monday became the first companies to receive government approval for the export of encryption technology. The Hewlett-Packard International Cryptographic Framework (ICF), which will use Intel encryption hardware as the basis for its system, will be available in early 1997, the company said. It is designed to ensure privacy for everything from international commerce to personal e-mail.

%dquotWith this new framework people can feel as safe exchanging financial information on-line as they do putting it in a safe deposit box,%dquot said HP Chairman and CEO Lew Platt.

The system is compatible with Microsoft%squots Crypto API, software introduced last summer that allows software developers to add cryptography to applications.

ICF is activated by a %dquotpolicy activation token,%dquot a downloadable system that will allow tailoring of encryption to individual product needs. A person leaving the country can turn off the system to meet international standards. Federal regulations allow transportation of a system abroad only if the encryption device is deactivated.

Britain and France have agreed to support the ICF encryption framework. But with Congress and the White House still unsure about privacy policy, don%squott expect to be able to use the system any time soon.

While an White House executive order written in late September lowered the threshold for exporting encrypted technology, there are no official guidelines as to what can be sold and what exceptions will be allowed. This will be the main obstacle for HP, Intel, Microsoft and other companies that develop encryption products. %dquotHere you have industry coming up with very elegant architecture but you won%squott be able to turn it on,%dquot one analyst said. %dquotSo, from a privacy standpoint nothing has changed.%dquot