The FBI has made it no secret that it hates Apple and Google's efforts to encrypt files in your smartphones and tablets. Now court documents have emerged showing just how far the Feds are willing to go to decrypt citizens' data.. The paperwork has shown two cases where federal prosecutors have cited the All Writs Act The link for this article located at The Register UK is no longer available. . Legal filings expose the methods by which federal authorities are leveraging the All Writs Act to require Apple and Google to unlock encrypted gadgets.. smartphone Encryption, Federal Surveillance, Privacy Concerns, Encryption Demands. . Alex
Internal document from the Drug Enforcement Administration complains that messages sent with Apple's encrypted chat service are "impossible to intercept," even with a warrant.. Encryption used in Apple's iMessage chat service has stymied attempts by federal drug enforcement agents to eavesdrop on suspects' conversations, an internal government document reveals. The link for this article located at CNET is no longer available. . The encryption employed by WhatsApp poses significant challenges for law enforcement agencies, hindering their ability to monitor criminal activities effectively.. iMessage Encryption, Federal Surveillance, Privacy Protection. . LinuxSecurity.com Team
Here is a very technical discussion of some issues involved with intercepting communications in an SSL tunnel without breaking the encryption, and how it could be used by a federal government to wiretap on citizens.. Says Matt Blaze: A decade ago, I observed that commercial certificate authorities protect you from anyone from whom they are unwilling to take money. That turns out to be wrong; they don't even do that much. . Scary research by Christopher Soghoian and Sid Stamm: Abstract: This paper introduces a new attack, the compelled certificate creation attack, in which government agencies compel a certificate authority to issue false SSL certificates that are then used by intelligence agencies to covertly intercept and hijack individuals' secure Web-based communications. We reveal alarming evidence that suggests that this attack is in active use. Finally, we introduce a lightweight browser add-on that detects and thwarts such attacks. Even more scary, Soghoian and Stamm found that hardware to perform this attack is being produced and sold: At a recent wiretapping convention, however, security researcher Chris Soghoian discovered that a small company was marketing internet spying boxes to the feds. The boxes were designed to intercept those communications -- without breaking the encryption -- by using forged security certificates, instead of the real ones that websites use to verify secure connections. To use the appliance, the government would need to acquire a forged certificate from any one of more than 100 trusted Certificate Authorities. The link for this article located at Bruce Schneier is no longer available. . Disturbing research shows how governments misuse fake SSL certificates to secretly infiltrate encrypted communications, jeopardizing online security and privacy. SSL, Man-In-The-Middle, Certificate Authority, Encryption Attacks, Internet Security. . LinuxSecurity.com Team
The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday will examine proposed Justice Department guidelines that would give federal investigators new license to mine publicly available databases and monitor Web use. The changes, which come after a major FBI shakeup last week, have sparked . . . . The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday will examine proposed Justice Department guidelines that would give federal investigators new license to mine publicly available databases and monitor Web use. The changes, which come after a major FBI shakeup last week, have sparked intense debate over the merits of expanding government surveillance powers as the country faces ongoing threats of terrorist attacks. Backers paint the reforms as a long overdue end to restrictions that have hobbled investigators and denied them access to research tools that are available to anyone with an Internet connection. Intelligence failures in the FBI and CIA have come under the spotlight amid new questions about who knew what in advance of the Sept. 11 suicide hijackings, which left more than 3,000 people dead. The link for this article located at ZDNet is no longer available. . House Intelligence Committee to evaluate updated Federal Bureau of Investigation protocols regarding national security monitoring methods.. Federal Surveillance, Privacy Concerns, Government Guidelines, Data Mining. . LinuxSecurity.com Team
Get the latest Linux and open source security news straight to your inbox.