encryption - page 3

Apple could face new encryption fight in Australia

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encryption
A bill in Australia could force tech companies to give law enforcement a "backdoor" to encrypted data that is part of a suspected crime.
Photo: orangesparrow/Flickr CC

Apple executives could face jail time and multi-million dollar fines if they refuse to hand over private encrypted data linked to suspected crime under a law proposed today in Australia.

The proposed change in telecommunication intercept law will be presented to parliament by Australia’s Ministry for Law Enforcement and Cybersecurity. The law would require all technology companies, from Apple and Google to Microsoft and Facebook, to essentially create a so-called “backdoor” to access encrypted data.

Telegram now securely stores your most important documents

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Telegram Passport secure document storage
Telegram Passport wants to be the go-to authorization service.
Photo: Telegram

Secure messaging app Telegram now lets you save copies of your most important documents so that you always have them with you.

Telegram Passport can hold your driving license, passport, other forms of ID, and more — and promises to protect them with end-to-end encryption. You can then use those documents to prove who you are when logging into other services.

Chinese users reportedly being bombarded with iMessage spam

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iMessage
Apparently carriers can do nothing to stop it.
Photo: Weibo

iPhone users in China are reportedly being bombarded with iMessage spam, many of them promoting illegal gambling.

Much of the iMessage spam in question links to WeChat account or gambling websites. Gambling is illegal in China, with the exception of two state-sanctioned lotteries.

Apple is blocking Telegram updates worldwide

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Telegram logo
Telegram has rolled out updates, you’re just not getting them.
Photo: Telegram

Telegram’s efforts to protect user privacy have seen its secure messaging service banned in Russia, where Apple has been ordered to remove the app from its App Store within 30 days. But it seems the impact of those demands is being felt worldwide.

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has revealed that Apple hasn’t approved a Telegram update in any country since Russian authorities started piling the pressure on.

Russia gives Apple 30 days to remove Telegram

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Telegram flames
Telegram is in trouble in Russia.
Photo: Telegram/Cult of Mac

Apple has been told by Russian regulators that the company has 30 days to remove Telegram from the App Store. Or else!

The Russian government hasn’t said what will happen if Apple fails to respond to the legally binding letter it sent to the company. Telegram — an app used to send peer-to-peer encrypted messages — has supposedly been wreaking havoc on Russia’s internet services. Now Russia is asking Apple to step in and help.

Twitter tests ‘Secret’ encrypted messaging feature

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Twitter has changed its mind on deleting inactive user accounts (for now)
Twitter is crushing dreams in 2020.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Twitter is testing a “Secret” messaging feature that will protect users’ private messages with end-to-end encryption. The feature has already been baked into the Twitter app for Android, but it hasn’t yet been activated inside a public release.

Apple resists government’s proposed iPhone ‘backdoor’

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GrayKey can bypass iPhone security
A computing pioneer suggested a way to make the iPhone safely unlockable by law enforcement. Apple isn't buying it.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Apple and other tech companies are fighting back against a newly proposed method for giving law enforcement access to encrypted smartphones, bypassing users’ passcodes.

The iPhone backdoor proposal comes from Ray Ozzie, who was once chief technical officer at Microsoft, and its chief software architect.

Popular messaging app Telegram has been banned in Russia

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Telegram flames
Telegram wouldn't have over encryption keys to authorities.
Photo: Telegram/Cult of Mac

A Russian court has ordered that the Telegram messaging app should be blocked in the country. This is due to the company’s refusal to give Russian state security services the encryption keys to access messages sent using the service.

Russia’s FSB Federal Security service argued that it needs to be able to access the messages to safeguard against terrorist attacks. However, Telegram refused to comply with the demands for reasons of user privacy.

Facebook spies on your messages to make sure you’re being good

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And you thought all those Facebook messages were secret. Sucker!
And you thought all those messages were private. Sucker!
Photo: kropekk_pl/Pixabay CC

Just when you thought Facebook couldn’t be more intrusive, the company has confirmed that it keeps an eye on our Messenger conversations to make sure we’re being good.

Messages you send are scanned to ensure they abide by Facebook’s rules — and if they don’t, they won’t be delivered.

Australia wants Apple to create an iPhone backdoor

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iPhone hack
Apple is unlikely to be totally on-board.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Australia’s Attorney-General George Brandis is set to meet with a representative from Apple this week to discuss the subject of strong encryption, and how this relates to police and intelligence agency investigations.

Brandis is reportedly pushing for Apple to create a backdoor that would allow security agencies to circumvent Apple’s current end-to-end encryption.

E.U. may ban FBI-style iPhone hacking demands

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iPhone hack
Law would undermine attempts to break security.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Attempts to force tech companies in the U.K. to hand over encrypted messages could be scuttled by EU proposals.

European members of parliament for the European Parliament’s Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee have tabled laws banning countries from seeking to break encrypted messages. It would also force tech companies which don’t use strong encryption for communications to do so.

Everything you need to know about the new Apple File System

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APFS
APFS arrives in 2017.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

(Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in June 30, 2016, but has been updated with new info since the release of iOS 10.3)

It’s hard to believe that Apple’s speedy Macs are still using a file system that was developed more than 30 years ago, when floppy disks and spinning hard drives were considered cutting-edge technology.

But that’s going to change in 2017 with the new Apple File System — or APFS — that debuts in iOS 10.3 and macOS 10.12.4. Here’s everything you need to know about APFS and how it’s going to make your life better, no matter what Apple device(s) you use.

WhatsApp faces new encryption challenge after London attack

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WhatsApp on iOS
WhatsApp users have been waiting for better notifications.
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

WhatsApp is under new pressure to provide a government backdoor following the recent terror attack in London.

U.K. home secretary Amber Rudd said it is “completely unacceptable” that law enforcement agencies are unable to read messages and conversations that are secured by end-to-end encryption.

Apple hires renowned iPhone jailbreaker to help protect privacy

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iPhone 7
If you can't beat 'em, hire 'em.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

One of the world’s top iPhone security experts and jailbreakers has decided to help Apple in its battle to keep iOS secure.

Jonathan Zdziarski, who was active in the iPhone jailbreaking community for years, revealed today that he has accepted an offer to join Apple’s Security Engineering and Architecture team.

Apple enlists security team to bolster CareKit encryption

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Screen Shot 2017-01-11 at 14.04.27
CareKit is Apple's most recent dive into mobile healthcare.
Photo: Apple

Apple has partnered with security firm Tresorit to offer CareKit developers extra privacy options. In doing so, it makes it more straightforward for hospitals to use Apple’s CareKit platform, by allowing it to more closely meet regulations about patient data.

Called ZeroKit, Tresorit’s security technology includes user authentication for patients and healthcare workers, end-to-end encryption of health data, and “zero knowledge” sharing of health data, meaning that data isn’t shared with any service as it transfers.

From tiny innovations to big brawls, this is how Apple rolled in 2016

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Thank Jobs, 2016 is finally over!
Thank Jobs, 2016 is finally over!
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

2016 Year in Review Cult of Mac 2016 sent Apple for a wild ride full of fantastic new products, crazy controversies and tons of extra drama with its rivals.

Tim Cook and his colleagues probably can’t wait to jump into 2017. But before we start looking toward Apple’s future, let’s take a quick look back at all the stories that made 2016 a year Apple fans will never forget.

Russia wants Apple to unlock Turkish assassin’s iPhone

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Siri made its debut on the iPhone 4s almost four years ago.
The iPhone belonged to the off-duty policeman who shot the Russian ambassador to Turkey.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple has another iPhone-unlocking conundrum on its hands! This time the request reportedly comes from Russian and Turkish authorities, who want Apple to help bypass the PIN code on an iPhone 4s recovered at the scene of the recent murder of Andrei Karlov, Russia’s ambassador to Turkey.

Europe rules U.K. ‘snooper’s charter’ is illegal

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iPhone hack
It seems that European courts agree with Apple about government spying.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

The European Union’s highest court has ruled that the U.K.’s Investigatory Powers Act, aka the “snooper’s charter,” is illegal.

The EU objects to the government’s “general and indiscriminate” retention of emails and other electronic communications. While the EU acknowledges that this information can be helpful, they argue that it should only be gathered in specific targeted instances to stop terrorism or serious crime.

New York district attorney calls for federal law to unlock seized iPhones

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iPhone 7 back
Law enforcement officials still want Apple to hack the iPhone.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

New York County District Attorney Cyrus Vance wants the Trump administration to help create federal legislation requiring Apple and Google to remove default encryption from their smartphones.

The recommendation comes from the DA office’s second report on Smartphone Encryption and Public Safety, presented by Vance at the opening of the Manhattan DA’s new cyberlab. New York County is currently sitting on 423 iPhones it can’t break into, even with a warrant, so the DA’s office is pushing for change.

U.K. prime minister takes possible shot at Apple for refusing to help fight terrorists

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Ukraine_Forum_on_Asset_Recovery_(14038928986)
Theresa May hasn't always been Apple's biggest fan.
Photo: Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Apple’s pro-encryption privacy standoff with the FBI may not have been in the news too much as of late, but Apple’s strong stance in favor of encryption continues to ruffle feathers among authorities.

Today. U.K. prime minister Theresa May gave a speech at the Tory party conference, in which she took what many are calling a veiled dig against Apple by referring to a “household name” that is refusing to work with officials to fight terrorism.