German police won't crack Skype's encrypting tools

28th November 2007

According to Reuters, referring to the statements by Jorg Zirke, the head of the Germany federal criminal police department, Skype`s encryption tools cause a great challenge for investigators. The police is unable to monitor negotiations of persons suspected of committing crimes, and is forced to seek other ways of obtaining information.
At saying this, Zirke pointed out that German law machinery have not yet applied to the company of Skype to provide keys to decrypt data in the system or create a back door in the system. According to Zirke, it is very unlikely that any company would agree to do that, as such cooperation with the police may have a negative impact on the competitiveness of the company.
Zirke also noted that German law machinery have an urgent need for the legalization of using spyware modules for finding information on computer suspects. He stressed that many people, believing that they may be watched, try not to transmit vital information through the network. In such a situation, trojans intruded to a suspect`s PC, would greatly facilitate the work of investigators. However, German human rights organizations would hardly approve imposition of such methods of obtaining information.