ComputerForensicsDigest.com

An Australian child rights activist and a Queensland cyber-law professor allege that encryption tools contained in Windows 7 could prove a boon to child pornographers and other criminals by making it easier to hide electronic evidence.

In separate interviews with the Courier-Mail in Brisbane, Professor Adrian McCullagh of the Queensland University of Technology and Hetty Johnson, child safety advocate, warned that stronger encryption will make law enforcement efforts more difficult. Johnson, who currently sits as a member of the Australian government's working party on cyber safety, suggested that Microsoft should take measures to address the problem.

The feature in question is known as BitLocker, a tool for encrypting entire drives (particularly on laptops) to prevent unauthorized access. It's not a new technology; it was first offered to the general consumer market in Windows Vista. Like so much of that benighted OS, however, the concept was laudable but the execution was flawed.

The new iteration is attracting far more positive reviews, in part because the ease of use has been improved, and in part because Windows 7 offers a new feature, called "BitLocker to Go," which enables users to encrypt removable media such as thumb drives.

Johnson did not specify what measures Microsoft should take to prevent misuse of its BitLocker technology, but McCullagh suggested that Australia should follow Britain's example and make it a crime to refuse to decrypt electronic media at the request of police.

In the United States, Homeland Security and border agents can demand that laptop owners provide the password for encrypted drives when entering the United States. Otherwise, law enforcement agents are required to obtain a warrant to compel the disclosure of a password. There is still some question, however, as to whether or not compelling the disclosure of a password might violate an individual's Fifth Amendment right to be free from self-incrimination.