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

Blackberry Kicked Out of Pakistan - http://clapway.com/2015/11/30/blackberry-kicked-out-of-pakistan123/

After rejecting demands from the Pakistan government to have access to the company’s encrypted services, Blackberry has completely shut down in Pakistan. The Pakistan Telecommunications Authority has been in talks to get into Blackberry’s backdoor since the beginning of the year, to the point where local carriers were ordered to shut down Blackberry Enterprise Service by November.

Pakistan Telecommunications Authorities Want Access to Emails and BBMs

On being forced out, Blackberry has simply stated that giving in to the Pakistani government’s demands would mean compromising user privacy, and that is just a sacrifice that they are not willing to make. The Pakistan government is looking to be granted all access to encrypted traffic going through Blackberry’s Enterprise Service, including emails and BBM messages. Blackberry, who has a significant market in Pakistan, will simply not comply.

The Pakistan Government Will Not Revise their Demands

It doesn’t look like the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority is backing down, either, given the fact that encryption is under such a watchful eye after Edward Snowden’s WikiLeaks scandal, and even more after the Paris attacks of November 13. This is a natural response, albeit a forceful one. It’s safe to say that Blackberry is choosing to protect their customers as opposed to fueling fire for the government to get into business that is private.

Pakistan is Not Alone in Wanting to Redefine Encryption

Pakistan is also not alone in the effort to cut down encryption, as the US recently shut down laws that make companies able to include backdoors in their software, and the UK is making some changes to their surveillance legislation that may encourage or discourage the use of encrypted services. The turmoil will hopefully soon settle, as the topic of encryption is better defined by companies, better used and better monitored by the people.

Blackberry Kicked Out of Pakistan

Obama Administration Goes Nutts About Encryption - http://clapway.com/2015/11/23/obama-administration-goes-nutts-about-encryption/

The Obama Administration has revived the security debate, claiming encryption was a tool to aid to the terrorists behind the Nov. 13 Paris attacks. Investigators from France as well as the US have acknowledged that there has been no proof supporting their conclusion that the terrorists behind the attacks used the latest, high-level encryption techniques being offered to consumers by Google and Apple.

Decrypting the Encryption Debate

The Great Encryption debate kicked to full swing last year when current and former principals of the U.S. Department of Justice started calling on Apple as well as Google to produce backdoors in iOS 8 and Android Lollipop. The file encryption developed for both mobile OS is so challenging, that the world’s ideal forensic scientists in all of computing would not be able to break gadgets running the software program in time for a seven-year statute of restrictions.

While it’s feasible to split the security in less time, each bad move would press back the subsequent cool-down duration before the software program would permit an additional go. A couple of weeks before to the Nov. 13 attacks on Paris, the DOJ used a new approach to push Apple right into handing over the secrets to iOS– and also it’s a great one. The technology World is still waiting for Apple’s response.

Encryption Keeps the Internet Safe, For Everyone

Roughly a year ago, after that U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder frame the argument on file encryption and stated the DOJ’s stance while speaking at the Global Alliance Against Child Sexual Abuse Online. Recent technological breakthroughs have the perspective to considerably inspire on the internet crooks, offering brand-new methods for abusers to stay clear of detection, Holder claimed, and there are those that benefit from encryption in order to hide their identities and also conceal contraband products and camouflage their locations.

The Information Technology Industry Council, which talks on behalf of the sophisticated market, sees all the above issues as reasons everyone requires encryption. Encryption is a safety and security tool we depend on every day to stop criminals from draining our savings accounts, to shield our vehicles and planes from being taken control of by destructive hacks, and to otherwise preserve our safety and also safety and security, head of state and also CEO of ITI Dean Garfield declared in a statement.

No Proof that Decrypting Social Media Helps

While specifying the ITI’s deep gratefulness for the job done by regulation enforcement as well as the nationwide protection neighborhood, Garfield said there is no sense in deteriorating the safety and security simply to boost it. In the wake of the recent Paris Attack, U.S. authorities have actually once again gone after Apple, Google and Facebook to give them keys to the backdoor of their platforms to verify there aren’t any terrorists using them.

While there is still no proof that these methods gave authorities on the ground in Paris a game-changing heads up of the assaults, the US has decided to take that step to keep the country safe.

 

Obama Administration Goes Nutts About Encryption

Apple and Facebook Go Against The White House - http://clapway.com/2015/11/23/apple-and-facebook-go-against-the-white-house123/

Apple and Facebook have collaborated to make an ‘official back door’ to encrypted devices. Both these tech giants are crucial participants of leading body Information Technology Industry Council. The ITIC lately released a declaration saying lower encoding will only help the bad guys. The call for putting a back doorway to all gadgets has actually been reignited after the dangerous Paris terrorist attacks. Yet Dean Garfield of ITIC argues such personal privacy is crucial to keep users safe from hackers.

Apple and Facebook Under a Watchful Eye

The Paris attacks have matched firms like Apple Inc. and Facebook against efforts by government agencies to locate possible terrorists. Records from Paris say attackers planned and coordinated the strikes making use of Facebook’s WhatsApp. Thhis has strengthened those calling for companies like Apple to produce back door secrets to their systems.

The White House Intervenes

Last month, the White House had to withdraw from the suggestion after facing tight opposition from technology majors. The country is still smarting from Edward Snowden‘s revelations concerning the breadth of state security. The current administration couldn’t risk more public uproar.

Three weeks ago, Apple had to face a state summon to draw out information from an apple iPhone located in a drug bust. Apple kept in mind in the declaring that it wouldn’t have the ability to cater to such demands. The company went on to state that 90% of its phones use more recent OS updates have made it nearly impossible for someone to get access to a phone without knowing a passcode or having a fingerprint.

Can Apple Fend Off Authorities?

The newest wave of terror attacks has actually altered the mechanics of the scenario. Apple and Facebook are fully aware that world authorities will try to make them change their privacy policies.  Apple has declined comment on whether it will alter its plans upload the Paris assaults. Facebook also hasn’t revealed its position.

 

Apple and Facebook Go Against The White House

Hillary Clinton Has No Idea What Encryption Is - http://clapway.com/2015/11/20/hillary-clinton-has-no-idea-what-encryption-is123/

Hilary Clinton Gave A Funny Answer to the Issue of Encryption

The dispute of information encryption rages on in the United States. With the terrorist attacks in Paris only adding fuel to the fire for those against encryption, Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton talks about the need for collaboration.

Encryption is For Protection, Not Terrorism

Clinton stated in a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York that Silicon Valley should see the government as a friend and helper, not an enemy, especially through these times. She calls for the nation’s best minds in the technology industry to collaborate with the finest minds in the public market to create solutions that will keep the nation safe. While the dispute has gone back and forth for a while now, records that the Paris aggressors used encrypted message services to plan these attacks and communicate has brought the practicality of encryption to question.

The thing is, encryption is doing a whole more good than bad. What, then, should the government do? Monitor everyone’s activity? Implant chips onto our brains and track all movement?

ISIS Is Using All Tools Available, And While That Isn’t Great, It’s Inevitable

An ISIS handbook likewise advised followers on ways to avoid being sensed online, including making use of encrypted apps like Apple’s FaceTime and also iMessage instead of normal content messaging. Both messaging applications are totally secured down and Apple cannot access the information, even if legislation enforcement problems a warrant. ISIS additionally supposedly has a 24-hour aid work desk to aid with issues of secure communication. Law enforcement and government officials maintain that such strict file encryption is a public safety and security problem, asserting that authorities ought to have accessibility to stop terrorists from going undiscovered.

Hillary Clinton Has No Idea What Encryption Is

Did ISIS Use the PS4 To Communicate? - http://clapway.com/2015/11/20/did-isis-use-the-ps4-to-communicate123/

The Daily Mail, The Mirror, and The Telegraph have claimed that Sony’s PlayStation 4 is being made use of by ISIS/ISIL/Daesh to prepare its attacks, with The Express even saying that a PS4 was used to outline the current horrifying strikes on Paris.

There’s No Solid Evidence of These Claims

While it is to be expected of the Daily Mail to make this kind of preposterous statement,  the sourcing and reporting for these tales are very scarce. The majority of it is based on remarks from Belgium’s replacement head of state, Jan Jambon, which came from an argument on ISIS’s usage of the PS4 as a communication platform. PlayStation 4 are harder to track than WhatsApp, according to Jambon, which led him to believe terrorists could be using the PS4 to enforce jihad.

PS4 Party Chat Has Been Under Suspicion

Jambon is most likely referring to the PS4’s Party Chat function, which permits players to trade voice as well as content messages one-to-one or in a team, and is indeed encrypted. Nonetheless, there’s no evidence that the feature is, in fact, being made for terrorists, not to mention that it played an indispensable component in the Paris strikes.

The Point is, Encryption is Everywhere

The truth is, the actual articles to support these claims are quite lackluster. In light of the recent terrorist attacks around the world, media outlets are surely looking for ways to increase traffic to their websites and instill fear and panic among the people, which can always result in profit.

Terrorist groups have been utilizing file encryption for decades, even before Edward Snowden became the world’s biggest whistleblower, and whether or not they used the PS4 to communicate isn’t what’s important – what’s important is focusing on reducing the panic and terror that they instill in the people, and attack these groups at the source.

 

Did ISIS Use the PS4 To Communicate?

Encryption Backfires: Safety or Terrorism? - http://clapway.com/2015/11/18/encryption-backfires-safety-or-terrorism123/

With the recent attacks in Paris, it’s possible that encrypted messaging apps aren’t seen in as great a light as they were seen by Edward Snowden. Apps such as Signal and Whatsapp are now under the watchful eye of world authorities, and encryption, which was once thought of as safe messaging is now a terrorism threat.

Encryption Backfires: Safety or Terrorism?

Snowden Probably Warned Us About This Too

There is certainly no such thing as too safe. There must always be a balance, and what looked like the best way for people to message each other safety has gotten into the wrong hands – which is natural.

Encryption has often been seen in a positive light. It means security and privacy, which the Internet guarantees very little of. With apps like Signal and Whatsapp and Telegram, which has recently gone under fire for supposedly being used by ISIS to communicate prior to the Paris attacks, people felt secure about their messages. But with the recent outbreaks of terrorism, encryption is starting to look shadier, like it involves business that can’t be spoken of even in hushed environments.

Terrorism Strikes And Encryption is Under Fire

The world’s war on terror has gotten increasingly difficult, but there will definitely come a time when encryption is once again associated with safety and not with terror. Hopefully, as nations come together to fight the fight against terror (not against race, resources or religions), even apps like Signal and Whatsapp can be used to fight back. Technology is a powerful tool that can be used for good as well as for bad, and it, too, can fight back.

Encryption Backfires: Safety or Terrorism?

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