Encryption

Apple's Advanced Data Protection for iCloud feature uses end-to-end encryption to provide the highest level of cloud data security that Apple offers. Here's everything you need to know about enabling it on your devices. The encrypted security feature gives you the choice to further protect your important iCloud data, including iCloud Backup, Photos, Notes, and more. Apple's use of...

Signal Encrypted Messenger has become increasingly popular among smartphone users, thanks above all else to its emphasis on privacy and security. Signal chats are end-to-end encrypted, meaning no one – not even the Signal service – can see the messages that you send and receive to other users. In addition, Signal supports the creation of group chats, and like regular conversations in the...

In macOS Mojave, you can choose to encrypt and decrypt disks on the fly right from the desktop. Using this convenient Finder option, we're going to show you how to encrypt a USB flash drive (or "thumb drive"), which is useful if you're traveling light and want to take sensitive data with you for use on another Mac. Finder uses XTS-AES encryption, the same encryption that FileVault 2 uses to...

Encrypted email provider ProtonMail has launched its own onion address, allowing users to access the service over the Tor anonymizing network (via TechCrunch). The Swiss-based email account provider, which has more than 2 million users, said the measure was aimed at defending against state-sponsored censorship, and pointed to recent moves around the world to block encrypted communications and...

Israeli mobile software developer Cellebrite gained media attention earlier this year when rumors suggested the FBI recruited the company to unlock San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook's iPhone. While the FBI did not enlist Cellebrite's help, the company does have technology licensed by governments that can extract iPhone data. ZDNet has obtained documents that reveal the scope of this technology. ...

Facebook has announced that the rollout of cryptographic features for its massively popular Messenger chat service has completed, bringing end-to-end encryption to the largest messaging network in existence. Back in July, the social network company said it was testing the privacy feature on a limited basis which would eventually be rolled out to all 900 million users of the app. On Tuesday,...

Apple CEO Tim Cook drew cheers from a Salt Lake City audience on Friday as he reiterated the company's unwavering commitment to encryption and privacy protections for its customers, according to local media reports. The comments were made during a Q&A session at the yearly meeting of the Utah Technology Council (UTC), a trade and advocacy group representing more than 5,000 technology and...

Apple has implemented a series of short- and long-term defenses to its iMessage protocol after several issues were discovered by a team of researchers at Johns Hopkins University, according to a report published today (via PatentlyApple). This attack is different to the one Johns Hopkins researchers discovered in March, which allowed an attacker to decrypt photos and videos sent over iMessage. ...

Facebook has announced that it will begin rolling out optional end-to-end encryption within its Messenger app for iOS and Android on a limited test basis, ahead of the option becoming more widely available through early September. Messenger users will be able to create one-to-one "Secret Conversations" in Messenger that will be end-to-end encrypted and which can only be read on one device of ...

The United Kingdom's House of Commons this week passed the controversial "Investigatory Powers" bill, which gives spy and government agencies the ability to "engage in bulk surveillance and computer hacking," and has met stern opposition from various technology companies, including Apple. In the House of Commons, the bill passed by a vote of 444 to 69 (via Bloomberg). The original wording of...

Facebook is planning to introduce an optional end-to-end encryption mode for its Facebook Messenger chat platform, currently used by more than 900 million people, reports The Guardian. Citing sources "close to the project," The Guardian says the encryption will be an opt-in feature because turning it on will impact some of the new machine learning features being built into the Messenger app...

Following its very public encryption battle with the FBI, Apple has rehired software engineer and and security expert Jon Callas, reports Reuters. Callas, who has previously worked at Apple, is known for co-founding encrypted communications services Silent Circle, Blackphone, and PGP Corporation. Apple's decision to rehire Callas comes amid rumors the company is working on improving the...

Swiss-made encrypted email app ProtonMail received a significant update yesterday, bringing Touch ID integration and other security enhancements to iOS users. Logging into the app previously required users to remember their login and mailbox password to access their inbox, but as of version 1.2.3 they can turn on the Touch ID feature to unlock encrypted email with their finger on opening the...

WhatsApp has enabled full end-to-end encryption for all users of the mobile instant messenger app. The Facebook-owned service started implementing end-to-end encryption to standard chat messages in 2014, but has now completed rollout to all forms of communication within the app, such as photos, videos and calls. WhatsApp co-founders Jan Koum and Brian Acton officially announced the rollout ...

The FBI has agreed to help an Arkansas prosecutor unlock an iPhone and iPod that belong to two teenagers accused of killing a couple, reports the Associated Press. The move comes days after the FBI announced that it had unlocked the San Bernardino shooter's iPhone. Faulkner County Prosecuting Attorney Cody Hiland said the FBI agreed to the request from his office and the Conway Police...

A flaw in Apple's encryption systems has been found that enables an attacker to decrypt photos and videos sent over its iMessage instant messenger service. According to The Washington Post, the security hole in Apple's code was exploited by a group of Johns Hopkins University researchers, led by computer science professor Matthew D. Green. Green reportedly alerted Apple to the problem last ...

Swiss software developer and civil liberties outfit Proton Technologies saw its encrypted email app ProtonMail hit the App Store today. The iOS app is a front end for the company's popular free worldwide end-to-end encrypted email service, built on the back of over half a million dollars raised in a 2014 crowdfunding campaign. ProtonMail invisibly integrates PGP encryption into a modern...

Technology firms operating in the UK will be forced to install backdoors in their products and services for state surveillance purposes under proposed new laws, reports The Sunday Times. The new powers come under the controversial Investigatory Powers Bill (IPB), referred to by critics as the "Snooper's Charter", which was published by Home Secretary Theresa May on March 1 and is due to get...

Privacy campaigners held organized rallies across the US yesterday to protest the FBI's demands that Apple unlock the iPhone at the center of its San Bernardino shooter investigation. Following on from limited protests in California last week, rallies extended from Albuquerque to Washington DC to support Apple's insistence that complying with the bureau's demands risked compromising the...

The U.S. Department of Justice is pursuing additional court orders that would force Apple to help federal investigators extract data from twelve other encrypted iPhones that may contain crime-related evidence, according to The Wall Street Journal. The revelation comes nearly one week after a U.S. federal judge ordered Apple to assist the FBI with unlocking an iPhone belonging to suspected San...

Shortly after Apple was ordered to help the FBI recover data from the San Bernardino shooter's iPhone, Apple quickly said they would oppose the order, garnering the support of other major tech companies like Facebook, Twitter, Google and Microsoft. In a new interview with the Financial Times, former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates has instead backed the FBI, denying that they are asking for a back door. ...

Apple has shared a new Q&A page that explains why the company is opposing a court order to create a unique version of iOS that would bypass security protections and allow the FBI to unlock an iPhone via brute-force attack. Apple says the objection is "absolutely not" based on the company's concern for its "marketing strategy," as the U.S. Department of Justice opined last week, but rather...

FBI Director James Comey has written an editorial to respond to concerns that the agency's demands of Apple in the ongoing San Bernardino shooter case undermine privacy rights and threaten future security efforts. "The San Bernardino litigation isn't about trying to set a precedent or send any kind of message," Comey said in an op-ed piece that appeared on the Lawfare blog late Sunday. "It is...