Apple, Yahoo, Google and Edward Snowden Fight UK Government - http://clapway.com/2015/12/23/apple-yahoo-google-and-edward-snowden-fight-uk-government-123/

Apple has rejected the UK’s new draft surveillance bill. This new bill will force a handful of companies currently operating there to either tone down encryption or get rid of it completely.

DRIPA Bill Puts UK Government Against Encryption

The draft Investigatory Powers Bill was first released last month. It has been rewritten to clarify laws that would allow the UK government to monitor surveillance over phone hacking and malware installment on target devices. They’ve been doing this for the past decade, and the bill would justify and extend this policy.

This Bill Puts the UK Government as the Supreme Authority No Matter What

The bill also forces technological companies to take out any encryption upon the request of any authority. This week, Apple released a letter in response to the bill. The letter details that this bill could cause some damage to lawful users to find a couple of bad eggs ruining technology for everyone else. As such, they will not abide by the rules of this bill.

Apple: Anti-Encryption Laws Will Cause International Conflict

The letter also hinted at the fact that regardless of how open the web is, the bad guys would find a way to hide their exploits like they have so far. Having backdoor access to encrypted databases would be of little help. Not to mention the fact that rulings like this could bring some serious international conflict.

If this bill becomes law, they can ask Apple or any other tech company to hack into their own devices. This could kickstart an international trend allowing other countries to be able to command this as well.

Apple is Joined By Google, Twitter and Yahoo in the Opposition

Google, Twitter, and Yahoo submitted evidence against the passing of this bill. Even Microsoft had something to say, urging that legislation has to prevent international conflict. Nations should work together to keep their people safe.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has spoken against this bill before. He warns that if legislators pass the bill and it becomes law, it is a terrible mistake that will bring dire consequences. Apple is no less faced with trouble in US soil, as they are also taking into consideration anti-encryption laws.

Encryption Has Caused A Lot of Heavy Discussion

Since before the Paris attacks of November 13, encryption has been an international hot topic. Because of the tragic terrorist attack, it has come under a special kind of fire. Governments all over the world are turning to anti-encryption laws to keep their citizens safe, and they have been met with mixed responses.

On the one hand, anti-encryption laws give governments access to all databases. This is mostly unnecessary and may encourage generalization and bring innocent people under suspicion. Not only that, but it will strip citizens from their privacy in preference for a superficial sense of security. This is akin to a Big Brother is Always Watching approach, and most of us have seen how that usually turns out.

It Usually Goes a Little bit Like How Edward Snowden Ended up in Russia

Edward Snowden is living proof that this kind of system just does not work. It’s not a good idea to keep people in the dark about these exploits. Edward Snowden showed the world the other side of encryption, what the governments hide from citizens. It wouldn’t be fair for the government to be able to do it and not the people.

On the other hand, encryption can really help spot jihadist activity and immediately shut it down. There’s no hate behind implementing anti-encryption laws. In fact, it would help locate people who cater to ISIS thinking and world leaders might even bring better education to those areas. People don’t need to turn to extremes to solve these problems. Anti-encryption laws could be helpful so long as they are moderate. No control is as bad as all control because it shows a lack of faith in citizens. People should feel safe enough to have private conversations.

This is a funny turn of events coming from the UK, who control the highest citizen surveillance system in the entire world. Hopefully, if this bill becomes law, it will not be as drastic as it looks.

Read: Snowden’s Signal Could Be Another App Used by ISIS
Read: National Security Agency’s Loss Made Snowden Smile

 

Apple, Yahoo, Google and Edward Snowden Fight UK Government

Snowden"s Signal Could Be Another App Used by ISIS - http://clapway.com/2015/12/04/snowden-signal-another-app-used-by-isis-123/

Signal has launched a desktop version of their platform. The program, currently in beta, will run through Google Chrome and enable encrypted messaging from the web. The app, developed by Open Whisper systems, was famously used by Edward Snowden, but it could also aid communication between terrorist groups like ISIS.

Encrypted Calling and Messages Can Now Be Done Through the Web

Signal Desktop can now sync messages from Android devices, but they’re working on iOS compatibility. Voice calling has also not been fully integrated. Signal is free, and uses end-to-end encryption for sending messages, making calls and sending photos, providing the utmost security to users.

This is obviously a double-edged sword. Open Whisper Systems can’t even get access to the content shared between users since the platform never stores encryption keys. This makes it easy to use by people, but also extremists groups. There’s a big risk of this platform being used for potentially dangerous things, especially after news broke out that ISIS had been using Russian engineered Telegram to communicate.

Signal is Open Source But Dangerous

The Signal app is open-source, which means anyone can view their code. This means that any kind of tampering with the platform can be easily identified. This means that the users have direct access to everything the platform does or does not do with their information.

 

 

Snowden"s Signal Could Be Another App Used by ISIS

Snowden Never Told Us About Ransom Encryption - http://clapway.com/2015/11/09/snowden-never-told-us-about-ransom-encryption123/

While Edward Snowden is the source behind the largest scandal on the internet, he sure didn’t warn us that hackers would put ransoms onto their spyware. A special ransomware virus was discovered which targets Linux-based systems specifically, and it’s telling us hackers are expanding to web browsers for their vicious attacks

This specific malware, labeled Lunix.Encoder.1, it breakes all files and goes through specific directories, encrypting home directories, the MySQL server directory, logs, and Web directories of Apache and the Ngnix web servers. It leaves a ransom note in every directory that contains encrypted files, and they are next to impossible to recover without appropriate backups or if users don’t pay the ransom.

This specific virus encrypts archives that contain the very word ‘backup’, so getting out of the pinch without paying the ransom is extremely difficult. The team behind the discovery urge users to keep active backups and make sure their information is as secure as possible. The team also revealed that it’s likely that the malware uses brute force guessing of remote access credentials or Web application exports combined with local privilege escalations, and it probably gives Snowden himself a warm feeling in the heart.

It’s an interesting development in how we are willing to pay to keep our information secure, as anti-virus software continues to grow, perhaps ransoms will start getting more aggressive and more lethal. Could this have been something Snowden missed or failed to inform the world about?

Snowden Never Told Us About Ransom Encryption

Quantum Encryption is Now Possible - http://clapway.com/2015/10/21/breakthrough-makes-quantum-encryption-possible123/

Unbreakable encryption got a step closer today with the announcement of a major breakthrough in physics. Scientists have proven that quantum mechanics really is as spooky as they thought with the aid of a landmark experiment which opens the door for truly secure communications.

Ultra Secure Communications

Quantum mechanics is the theory of the universe at very small scales and, until now, physicists have never quite been sure whether the odd behavior of subatomic particles predicted by their equations is real or whether the theory is somehow flawed. By ensnaring two electrons separated by a distance of around a mile in a state of what is known as quantum entanglement, researchers have proven that quantum mechanics really is as strange as they thought. The experiment, conducted at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, has also solved one of the major obstacles to the development of quantum encryption: the use of quantum behavior to send ultra-secure communications.

The great physicist Albert Einstein was never happy with the idea of ‘spooky action at a distance’ predicted by quantum theory. This allows two particles bound in quantum entanglement to interact instantaneously even if they are on opposite sides of the universe and in total contravention of Einstein’s own theory of relativity. But the Delft experiment has proven that this really can happen and in doing so has demonstrated ‘a proof of principle for secure communications’, according to lead researcher Ronald Hanson.

Closing the Loopholes

The trouble with quantum encryption, according to Hanson, is that it is theoretically possible for an eavesdropper to fool you into thinking that your message is secure when, in reality, it is not and they can see it.

The solution to this problem emerged as a direct result of the experimental design. In order to show that quantum mechanics is weird, the researchers had to close down two loopholes that had tripped up previous experiments. Scientists had been able to close one or the other in the past but not both at the same time. Until now.

Solving the Puzzle

Plugging these loopholes required Hanson and colleagues to show that they had two particles in separate locations that were in quantum entanglement and also that they were able to detect all the particles involved in the experiment. People wishing to use secure quantum communications also need to be sure of the same thing. ‘Security relies on entanglement, and that means closing the loopholes,’ Hanson explained.

If Hanson is right and quantum encryption is possible then Edward Snowden may turn out to be the least of the US National Security Agency’s problems.

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Quantum Encryption is Now Possible

You"ll want to know this if your #mobile service provider happens to be #AT&T. - http://clapway.com/2015/08/16/att-has-been-helping-the-nsa-spy-on-internet-traffic-333/

Some newly disclosed documents, dating from 2003 to 2013, cite that the telecom company, AT&T, has been helping the U.S. NSA to spy on the Internet traffic passing across the United States. The topic was first brought to light by the former NSA contractor, Edward Snowden and started a huge debate about individuals’ privacy.

WHAT’S NEW?

The New York Times reported on Saturday that AT&T gave technical support to the National Security Agency, after carrying out an undercover court order, which gave permission to the government of the United States to intercept all web communications of the company’s customers in the United Nations.

HOW DID THAT HELP THE NSA?

Also, the telecom giant helped the spy agency with a series of classified activities, and the documents describe the connection between the NSA and AT&T as “a partnership and not a contractual relationship.” The telecom company helped the NSA to organize and carry out surveillance of international web communications that weathered through junction networks in the United States, and according to the NSA document, AT&T has been providing access to other telecoms and Internet Service Providers as well.

The reason why this access provided is extremely important is because a huge amount of the world’s web communication is transmitted through U.S. cables. The surveillance equipment that AT&T installed in, at least, 17 of its Internet hubs in America is located far away from Verizon’s equipment, and the first who tried the new technology were the company’s engineers.

AT&T’S COMMENTS

The Times report that in 2011 AT&T started giving the agency access to more than 1.1 billion private cellphone calls on a daily basis, in order to prepare for the 9/11 10th anniversary, as the document cites.

AT&T spokesman, Brad Burns, was asked to comment on the New York Times report and he chose to respond by an email to Reuters, saying that the company provides selected information to investigating authorities, only when a person’s life is in danger and time is valuable: “For example, in a kidnapping situation we could provide help tracking down called numbers to assist law enforcement,” he continued.

Burns added that the company has nothing more to report.

AT&T Has Been Helping the NSA Spy on Internet Traffic

Privacy Reforms among NSA XKeyscore Spy Chronicles - http://clapway.com/2015/07/02/privacy-reforms-among-nsa-xkeyscore-spy-chronicles-234/

As the intelligence agency transitions to a new system of collecting data without compromising security, in an investigation published Wednesday, The Intercept explains in great details the NSA XKeyscore spying program.

The latest published report drawn from documents leaked by whistleblower Edward Snowden, confirm the swelling accusations that the National Security Agency (NSA) can reach into the web and find any kind of communication, be it emails, photographs or documents.

The Intercept publishing 48 top-secret and other classified documents about XKeyscore dated up to 2013. It was one of the largest releases yet of documents provided by former NSA contractor Snowden.

The Guardian was the first to unveil this covert program in 2013, which involves “a searchable database for intelligence analysts to scan intercepted data.”

Now, emerging details indicate how far-reaching and intrusive the system is.

A few highlights from the report

– Analysts can query NSA XKeyscore database for information on people based on location, nationality, and previous web traffic. As of 2008, the surveillance system had hundreds of field sites spread across the globe.

– Social media sites are becoming key sources of surveillance data.

– With XKeyscore, tracking people is as easy as Googling their name.

– XKeyscore is also used for counterintelligence operations.

– NSA stated that its surveillance system is absolutely necessary to fight against terrorism and protect American citizens.

– XKEYSCORE has been used to spy on Shaykh Atiyatallah, an al Qaeda senior leader and Osama bin Laden confidant. Non-terrorist targets such as U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, however, have also been followed.

– NSA partners such as Canada, New Zealand and the U.K., have access to the XKeyscore’s database.

NSA around the world

If the reports released by The Intercept weren’t enough, a new batch of documents published by Wikileaks on Wednesday shows NSA espionage extending to Germany as well as other European key institutions on ‘hot’ issues such as the handling of the Greek debt crisis.

According to a Pew survey published in May, since Snowden leaked details of the NSA two years ago and the documentary Citizenfour was released, a majority of Americans is against the government collecting bulk of data on its citizens and believes that the limits on the types of data collected are not adequate. Most, however, support monitoring the communications activity of suspected terrorists.

The NSA’s program that allowed the agency to collect Americans’ phone records lapsed earlier this month as sections of the Patriot Act briefly expired.

A subsequently passed law, the USA Freedom Act, however, allows the bulk collection to continue, but only for the next six months – a short timeframe to help the intelligence agency transition to a new system of collecting data without compromising security.

Read more about the USA Freedom Act here.

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Privacy Reforms among NSA XKeyscore Spy Chronicles