In a move that has sent shock waves through the cybersecurity and software community, Australia passes new law that could potentially devastate its software industry, by compelling tech companies to help law enforcement break into user’s encrypted data.
Both countries now claim the right to secretly compel tech companies and individual technologists, including network administrators, sysadmins, and open source developers – to re-engineer software and hardware under their control, so that it can be used to spy on their users. Engineers can be penalized for refusing to comply with fines and prison; in Australia, even counseling a technologist to oppose these orders is a crime.
Source: In the New Fight for Online Privacy and Security, Australia Falls: