87% of IT leaders disagree with the government’s plan to reduce the strength of data encryption, while 66% claim that they would like to see the strength of encryption increased. That’s according to new research by Swiss data bank Artmotion, which surveyed 500 IT decision makers across the UK. The news comes following the publication of the government’s controversial draft Investigatory Powers Bill, which looks to crack down on data encryption and increase government surveillance online. While the government claims that the bill will benefit national security, 1 in 5 IT decision makers would not support any reduction in encryption technology – even for the sake of national security.
Of those surveyed by Artmotion, only 13% described the government’s efforts as “sensible”. Furthermore, 60% claimed that they would not trust the government with the security of their private information. Nearly 1 in 5 felt that these concerns were serious enough to remove their data from UK jurisdiction.
Commenting on these findings, Mateo Meier, CEO of Artmotion said, “Our research highlights a growing unease amongst the IT community that the UK government is placing unspecified threats to national security ahead of the genuine risk of cyber attacks.
“While it’s good to see that the government has dropped its ill-conceived plans to ban encryption entirely, this updated “Snoopers’ Charter” does little to reassure the tech community.
“We live in an age where teenagers are capable of bringing down established brand names with nothing more than a laptop, and yet the government continues to release ham-fisted legislation that will do little more than drive businesses away from the UK while simultaneously opening the nation to further potential cyber attacks.”
