UK schoolboy breaks encryption laws

A seventeen year old schoolboy has defied a global government ban on exporting encryption by writing a 2048bit code and distributing it over the Internet.

Peter Parkinson - a sixth form student from Maidstone, Kent - said he was trying to demonstrate how easy it is to write and distribute high-strength encryption over the Web.

Chris Phillips, a spokesman for security software company, JCP, said it is unremarkable how easily the codes could be distributed. "It shows that these governmental bans have failed because they don't understand just how easy it is," he added.

Governments across the world are trying to ban the distribution of codes without keys that can crack them, because of fears that they might be used for criminal activity over the Internet. Secure documents are encrypted like code and only people holding keys can read the information held in them.

Phillips said the policy should be reviewed and a more practicable approach taken. "The point is that these governments are not only failing to achieve the security objectives they set, but in the process, they are also inhibiting ecommerce because the guidelines are so tight," he said.