White House seeks Silicon Valley help on strong yet breakable encryption

PRESSING ISSUE: After the White House sets principles, factoring in national and economic security, and privacy, Daniel said he would want to engage with technology companies, heavy encryption users in the financial sector, other industries and other countries.

SAN FRANCISCO: The Obama administration hopes Silicon Valley technologists can think of a system with strong encryption that could be pierced legally by one party without opening the door to others, a White House official said. 

White House cybersecurity policy coordinator Michael Daniel said at the annual RSA Conference on security that he is trying to set starting principles for a broad public discussion on the issue, which has been a major source of tension with technology companies and other cyber experts.