U.S. national security chief wants 'front doors' in encrypted devices

U.S. companies like Apple and Google should give the government built-in access to the encrypted data of their customers via "front doors" intentionally implanted in digital products, a senior security official said Monday.

Michael Rogers, director of the National Security Agency (NSA), told a Washington cybersecurity forum that he shared concerns with FBI chief James Comey about last year's announcements from Apple and Google to offer new encryption tools on the operating systems of their smartphones, which cannot be broken even by the companies themselves as long as users store data on their own devices and not in the cloud.

Rogers declined to comment on reports last week that the NSA had implanted spyware on computer hard drives for surveillance purposes and that it, along with Britain's Government Communications Headquarters, hacked into a major SIM card manufacturer's systems to steal encryption keys.

According to Kaspersky Lab, a Moscow-based security software maker, the NSA has made a breakthrough in spying technique by embedding surveillance software in hard drives made by top manufactures.

The latest findings could further hurt Washington's credibility in terms of guarding cybersecurity, already affected by leaks by fugitive U.S. whistleblower Edward Snowden.