Feds aren't "knowingly" weakening encryption... sure, we believe that...

A U.S. official Tuesday defended the government's encryption efforts in response to disclosures that the National Security Agency (NSA) has the ability to crack encryption protections.

There were a number of published accounts last week, based on documents leaked by former government contractor Edward Snowden, that suggest encryption algorithms used by the commercial sector aren't stopping the agency from snooping.

These encryption technologies were developed with the help of National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which serves as a quasi-national laboratory for the private sector on encryption.

In commenting on the Snowden leaks, Patrick Gallagher, undersecretary of commerce for standards and technology and director of NIST, said that the leaks "would appear to attack our integrity."

Gallagher, speaking at an Amazon Web Services Public Sector Summit here, said that NIST's role "is to support a technical understanding of the strongest, most secure computer security, including encryption that we can.

"We are not deliberately, knowingly, working to undermine or weaken encryption technologies," said Gallagher.

But Bruce Schneier, a security expert and author, said he gives little weight to Gallagher's denial. "What is it about him that makes him different from other government and corporate officials who have been lying about what the NSA does?" said Schneier.