The Obama administration will stay out of debate on proposed unlocking bill, a news report says Credit: Susie Ochs President Barack Obama’s administration won’t support legislation to force device makers to help law enforcement agencies defeat encryption, according to a news report.Two senior members of the Senate Intelligence Committee have been floating draft legislation to require device makers and other tech companies to provide workarounds for encryption and other security features, but the White House won’t offer public support for the proposal, according to a report from Reuters.FBI Director James Comey has long pushed for encryption workarounds, and just last month, Obama called for tech companies and the government to work together to allow police access to suspects’ smartphones protected by encryption.[ MORE APPLE-FBI: FBI says hack tool only works on iPhone 5c ] But members of the Obama administration are divided on the encryption issue, and the White House has decided to largely stay on the sidelines when Senators Richard Burr, the Republican chairman, and Dianne Feinstein, the senior Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, introduce their bill, according to the report.The White House has reviewed the draft legislation and offered suggestions, but it plans to stay out of a public debate over the proposal, the report said. The draft proposal from Burr and Feinstein would reportedly allow federal judges to order tech companies to assist law enforcement agencies with unlocking encrypted devices.The encryption debate has been simmering since late 2014, when Comey began complaining that the FBI was “going dark” in terrorism and criminal investigation because of the growing use of encryption on smartphones.The issue came to a head early this year when the FBI asked a California judge to order Apple to help the agency unlock an iPhone used by a mass shooter in San Bernardino, California, in December. Last month, the FBI withdrew the request when the agency said it found another way to unlock the phone.Representatives of the White House and Department of Justice weren’t immediately available for comment. Related content news Gitlab fixes bug that exploited internal policies to trigger hostile pipelines It was possible for an attacker to run pipelines as an arbitrary user via scheduled security scan policies. By Shweta Sharma Sep 21, 2023 3 mins Vulnerabilities Security feature Key findings from the CISA 2022 Top Routinely Exploited Vulnerabilities report CISA’s recommendations for vendors, developers, and end-users promote a more secure software ecosystem. By Chris Hughes Sep 21, 2023 8 mins Zero Trust Threat and Vulnerability Management Security Practices news Insider risks are getting increasingly costly The cost of cybersecurity threats caused by organization insiders rose over the course of 2023, according to a new report from the Ponemon Institute and DTEX Systems. By Jon Gold Sep 20, 2023 3 mins Budget Data and Information Security news US cyber insurance claims spike amid ransomware, funds transfer fraud, BEC attacks Cyber insurance claims frequency increased by 12% in the first half of 2023 while claims severity increased by 42% with an average loss amount of more than $115,000. By Michael Hill Sep 20, 2023 3 mins Insurance Industry Risk Management Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe