FBI Would Hurtle Us Back to Encryption Jurassic, Apple Warns

The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation's efforts to compel Apple to unlock an iPhone used by one of the slain San Bernardino terrorists could threaten national security, charged Craig Federighi, Apple's SVP of engineering, in an op-ed piece published Monday in The Washington Post.

Terrorists and criminals could launch attacks on vital infrastructure through access "to just one person's smartphone" and cryptographic protections on smartphones are "a critical line of defense," he maintained.

Law enforcement officials have suggested that Apple return to the safeguards of iOS 7, which "have since been breached by hackers," Federighi wrote. Further, hacker kits to attack iOS 7 weaknesses are available to less-skilled attackers.

The FBI's desire for Apple to create a backdoor also poses a threat, he argued, noting that security is "an endless race" and that "yesterday's best defenses cannot fend off the attacks of today or tomorrow."

A Focus for Discord

More than 800 responses ro the Postarticle showed support for both sides of the controversy.

"Arguing that only bad actors need worry about government intrusions is specious since the data analytics that sifts through metadata and associated content to establish networks of associations ... is hardly foolproof," wrote Code Ferret.

The FBI could abuse the power obtained under a favorable court ruling, suggested Joan Ashley.

Rbobbin disagreed, noting that encryption is too sweeping.

Craig Lawson responded by posting a link to a letter from Salihin Kondoker, husband of one of the slain victims, who expressed support for encryption despite his personal tragedy.

A Community Split

Members of the security committee also are divided in their views on the issue.

"Compelling Apple to build a backdoor for its own product actually undermines the security and personal safety of millions of Americans and others around the world, especially those living under authoritarian regimes," said Sophia Cope, a staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

It does so "by creating the legal precedent, by weakening the trust users have in software updates supposedly authorized by companies, and by building the technology itself," she told TechNewsWorld.

"Walking backwards into the future is never a clever way," remarked Ebba Blitz, CEO of Alertsec.

"It's not only weakening encryption for individuals and companies -- it's also weakening encryption for the American government," she told TechNewsWorld. "By creating the possibility of brute force [attacks], we are paving the way for anyone, including terrorists, to hack into our data easily."

If Apple should lose this court battle, "we may need to take a look at, and revise the purpose of, the law," Blitz continued, warning that in the long run, it would drive the U.S. tech industry overseas.

"Everything from health data to financial data to conversations with and about our kids is protected because of encryption," contended Jake Ward, president and CEO of the Application Developers Alliance. "Why would we want to go back to iOS 7?"

Deliberately weakening encryption "just for the good guys" is not possible, he told TechNewsWorld. "You can't secure your home while leaving a window open for the police, hoping bad guys don't find it and use it."

With a court order, law enforcement agents should be able to unlock any cellphone or device, countered Philip Lieberman, president of Lieberman Software.

This doesn't put security or privacy at risk, because "there's a one-to-one capability that would allow for limited access to single devices only via cryptographic techniques," he argued.

"There is no win or loss in the court battle -- only clarity in the government's overall position toward law enforcement's immediate right to access systems," Lieberman told TechNewsWorld.

Apple "is trying hard to answer some important questions about the role technology plays in our lives and its relationship with the law and our rights guaranteed under it," suggested ADA's Ward.

"These are existential questions in the digital age that aren't new to law enforcement, lawmakers or technology companies," he pointed out. "That they are being talked about in a broader form may ultimately bring about a solution."

FACEBOOK AND WHATSAPP BACK APPLE IN FIGHT FOR ENCRYPTION

The battle for the right to strong encryption rages on. First we saw Apple have to defend their users’ right to privacy regarding the iPhone involved in the San Bernardino shooting. With one of the shooter’s iPhone 5C units in FBI custody, the government requested that Apple create a tool that weakens iPhone security—to which they said no. Repeatedly. Now the CEO of Facebook-owned app WhatsApp Jan Koum and the social network king himself, Mark Zuckerberg, are backing Apple’s decision.

The recurring theme of tech companies’ battle with the government over encryption seems to be more data, more problems. Facebook, with its 1.5 billion users, is no stranger to that. And nowadays WhatsApp is a huge part of that, having accrued over a billion users itself. With an app as widely used as WhatsApp, many courts have sought out the data trapped in the app. Brazil may be the most extreme case, where—due to WhatsApp’s choice not to comply with a court order in a criminal case—the government shut down the app for a day and arrested Facebook’s VP in Latin America. In light of Apple’s situation with the FBI, WhatsApp’s Koum spoke up on the issue, via Facebook status:

The purpose of security is to safeguard privacy. Billions of people share their most personal, intimate information using services like ours, and they expect all of us to keep it safe from criminals and other bad guys. Asking a single company to undermine the security of its product for an investigation threatens the security of all of us in the long run.

Today, WhatsApp and other companies are asking a U.S. court to overturn an order that would require Apple to weaken the security of its product. We are proud to stand together to demonstrate how these efforts go beyond what the law allows and how they compromise the values upon which our country is built."

Asking a single company to undermine the security of its product for an investigation threatens the security of all of us in the long run

He wasn’t alone. Mark Zuckerberg, head of Facebook and undisputed star of MWC 2016 added his thoughts on the matter as well yesterday, saying "Facebook stands with many technology companies to protect you and your information."

During a hearing earlier this week between Congress and the director of the FBI, may were quick to point out that weakening encryption on our personal devices could hurt us in the long run rather than help us. At the very least, it would weaken protection on the average citizen while those with malicious intent will continue to find ways around the government’s capabilities. While some are worried about creating “evidence-free zones,” others are troubled by weakened security for everyone because of the few looking to harm us. As California’s own state representative Judy Chu mentioned on Tuesday, “Safe manufacturers are not required to keep keys to safes or locks. It's clear technology is outpacing the FBI's capabilities.”

Facebook and WhatsApp support of Apple in their fight for encryption against the FBI adds them to a growing list of technology companies. Google, Amazon, Microsoft and more have come out in support of strong encryption for their users—though skeptics wonder how much of it is true belief and how much is purely PR. At least in the case of Amazon's devices, their dropping of encryption in their latest firmware is definitely not for the PR.

We’ve seen instances where Apple and other companies have complied inhanding over cloud data when lawfully requested. But Apple’s stand at least shows that a line must be drawn. This may not be the last time a government agency begs a tech company to lower the bridge over the moat protecting local user data. But at the very least, it begins to set the cultural norm of privacy users can expect in their digital lives.

MWC 2016: Ubuntu shows off a hybrid handset

25 February 2016 Last updated at 00:19 GMT

The makers of Ubuntu have demonstrated the operating system turning a smartphone into a desktop PC.

The parent company Canonical is one of many hoping to replace phones, tablets, laptops and computers with just one device.

But there is not yet a phone/PC hybrid running Ubuntu with the necessary monitor port available for consumers to buy.

The demonstration at Mobile World Congress featured the Linux-based OS loaded onto an old handset.

BBC's Chris Foxx asked Ubuntu's founder Mark Shuttleworth whether the firm would be playing catch-up with HP which announced a hybrid handset running Windows 10 at the Barcelona tech show.

Facebook data row reaches top Euro court

Lawyer and activist Max Schrems said revelations by whistleblower Edward Snowden showed agreed privacy practices were being ignored by Facebook and others.
He called for the current Safe Harbour deal, which allows the transfer of data to US firms, to be scrapped.
Facebook has not commented on the case.
At a hearing in Luxembourg on Tuesday the European Court of Justice's (ECJ) Advocate General said he would give his final opinion on 24 June - the ECJ will make its final decision thereafter.

Privacy principles

The result of the proceedings could have wide implications for all US firms dealing with Europeans' data, including the likes of Twitter, Google, Microsoft and Yahoo.
It centres around the Safe Harbour agreement, in place since 2000, which allows US firms to collect data on their European users as long as certain principles around storage and security are upheld.
It means user data gathered in Europe can easily be stored legally in data centres within the US.
Those principles include giving adequate notice to users that their data is being collected, and suitable transparency over how it can be accessed and by whom.

Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook said it only complies with requests for data when forced to by law

The ECJ is considering whether the Safe Harbour agreement is effective in the wake of the Snowden leaks.
Mr Snowden alleged that Facebook and others were complicit in Prism, a surveillance system launched in 2007 by the US National Security Agency (NSA).

Euro data

A complaint against Facebook - which bases its European headquarters in Dublin, Ireland - was filed by Mr Schrems last year.
He said the network should be investigated over the alleged co-operation with US intelligence agencies in handing over user data from Europeans.
Mr Schrems said Facebook had acted against the Safe Harbour rules, and that local regulators should step in to protect Europeans' data.

The ECJ's decision could mean US firms are forced to open more data centres in Europe

The Irish Data Protection Commission (IDPC) said it would not investigate the claims, a decision that was challenged by Mr Schrems in the Irish High Court.
Judge Duncan Hogan then referred the wider matter of whether Safe Harbour was effective to the ECJ.

'Serious effects'

The ECJ's eventual decision could have a dramatic impact on the business practices of Facebook and other US firms.
Scrapping the Safe Harbour agreement would make it much more difficult to transfer data from Europe to the US to be stored in data centres.
While Facebook has not made a formal statement on the case, the BBC understands that the firm would be likely to welcome updating the Safe Harbour rules in light of the Snowden revelations.
Some companies, such as Twitter, have said they would need to build new data centres in Europe to handle information, needlessly duplicating resources they already have in the US.
According to the Wall Street Journal

All the news that’s fit to share? Facebook to host content

The social network is getting chummy with several big publishers — apparently an effort to grab a cut of the profits from markets and services beyond its bread-and-butter social content. The company has launched its own Groups, Home, and Messenger apps in recent months, and we reported that it wants to make your phone calls as well. Now it seems Facebook is interested in hosting other sites’ content as well.
The goal isn’t to keep users from leaving Facebook to read content on other sites, but rather to speed up load times, particularly on mobile devices. Facebook says that the average load time for a news article on an outside site is eight seconds. Hosting that same content on Facebook would remove or at least shorten load times. The New York Times, BuzzFeed, and National Geographic are among the expected initial partners, as reported by the New York Times (a timely report by The Times on The Times — weird, right?).
This could be a boon for Facebook users, but many publishers are concerned. Facebook says that in hosting content that comes from other sources, those publishers’ ads would have to be removed and possibly replaced with Facebook’s own ads. Giving up control in the hopes of reaching a wider user base isn’t an easy decision. Speaking to The New York Times, chief executive of analytics and distribution company SimpleReach Edward Kim said “it really comes down to how Facebook structures this, and how they can ensure this is a win on both sides.”
Related: Pay your friends to Like you using Facebook Messenger
While it may or may not benefit publishers financially — Facebook hasn’t explained much of how the deal would work in this regard — there is something in the deal for them: exposure on Facebook’s curated news feed. As part of the deal, it seems likely that those publishers would gain favor compared to other publishers.
The Times and Facebook are apparently getting closer to reaching a deal, but other companies are less than thrilled, with some individual employees suggesting that publications band together and negotiate for the industry as a whole.
If this deal does move forward, it remains to be seen how or if publishers will benefit. But there is one clear beneficiary here: Facebook.

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Just in time for Windows 8, Skype has now just released a major version update that adds improved integration with Microsoft and Facebook accounts, better messaging, and some minor changes to the user interface.

For those of you who've been living under a rock, Skype is one of the the most popular video chat and voice calling clients amongst our users as well as the world. It offers free calls to other Skype users over the Internet as well as very affordable rates for calling landlines and phones.
Version 6 brings a much simpler registration process, particularly with more integration with Facebook and Microsoft accounts. Now you can sign in with either Facebook or Hotmail and automatically use that as a Skype log-in. The previous version briefly incorporated Facebook features; its synchronization is much more apparent in the latest release. User contacts seemed to sync with profile pictures from more sources and the overall interface also looked cleaner. It wasn't a drastic overhaul, but subtle things like removing mini-banner ads from the bottom of the contact list and thin outlines over the tabs did contribute to a more modern look.
Call quality is still variable, depending on your connection and setup, but our experiences have been very positive. This version seemed more focused on casting a wider net and reducing the barrier to entry to an already excellent service and easing registration woes as new platforms emerge. If you've yet to try out Skype and you're looking for a worthy VoIP client, look no further and click on the green download button.

 

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