Should encryption software be banned?

Governments in the US, UK and Russia have all recently proposed legislation to ban encryption technology. Intelligence agencies and law enforcement claim they need the information from online communications to help them in their mission of defending the realm. But technology companies have fought hard against allowing them to introduce backdoors or intercept capabilities. They attest that encryption is vital to ensure the integrity and confidentiality of data, to safeguard privacy and to enable organisations and consumers to conduct business securely in a digital, networked economy. So can a balance be struck between these two apparently opposing viewpoints? © 2016 Elsevier Ltd