UK and US demands to access encrypted data are 'unprincipled and unworkable'

Influential group of international cryptographers and computer scientists says proposals will open door to criminals and malicious nation states

Demands by US and British security agencies for access to encrypted communication data have been dealt a serious blow in a report by an influential group of cryptographers and computer scientists who dismiss the move as unprincipled and unworkable.

They warn that such access "will open doors through which criminals and malicious nation states can attack the very individuals law enforcement seeks to defend".