On December 26, after more than four years of deliberation, the U.S. government issued a final ruling modernizing and unifying the role of end-to-end encryption in securing sensitive data and enabling cloud modernization. The International Traffic in Arms Regulations’ new encryption rule promises to dramatically improve data security while lowering costs and enhancing the productivity of our defense industrial base.
Unless you are familiar with the complexities of the ITAR and export policies in general, this news may not be on your radar. Know this: The impact of this new ruling extends far beyond manufacturers of defense-related items (including satellites, drones, internet-of-things sensors and much more) and is a significant step toward the U.S. recognizing the powerful roles that encryption and control play in data security and privacy.
The two of us come from backgrounds that stand at the intersection of technology and policy—John as White House technology policy adviser and the director of policy and planning at the Commerce Department, and Robert as a former foreign affairs officer at the State Department squarely focused on ITAR export controls—which have allowed us to see firsthand the perils and inefficiencies of legacy approaches to data protection. With this ruling, the U.S. government deserves praise for creating a new data protection paradigm, one which we expect both will drive cloud adoption and enhance data security for organizations handling extremely sensitive data.
Freeing an Industry Captive to a Legacy Approach
More than four years after discussions first began, the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) and State Department have released encryption paradigm security centric future
