Tag Archives: Encryption

Kingston has a number of portable storage devices geared towards privacy and security. Today, the company is launching its latest, the new IronKey Vault Privacy 80 External SSD, Kingston's first OS-independent external SSD with touch-screen and hardware-encryption.  Using the IronKey VP80ES aims to be as simple as using a smartphone, …

Apple's encryption method for the iPhone has been the subject of much debate for the US government, with agencies begrudging the fact that they can no longer break into iOS devices with ease during investigations. So far, Apple has been doing a good job of defending its customers' right to …

Ever since standing against the US government and refusing to crack open an iPhone locked by Touch ID, Apple has been pushing its stance on privacy and security quite heavily. Unfortunately, Apple has had a couple of security missteps along the way that fly in the face of that. Most …

In April, Russia imposed an official ban on the messaging app, Telegram. Russia ordered Apple to remove the app from the App Store, and since the order, Telegram updates on iOS were banned worldwide. Now finally, two months later, that ban has been lifted. Pavel Durov, CEO of Telegram, revealed …

Two years ago, one of the biggest stories around was Apple's battle with the FBI over encryption and user privacy. At the time, the FBI wanted to force Apple into cracking an iPhone 5c at the center of a criminal investigation. Apple refused and the FBI spent $900,000 hiring Cellebrite …

We all know Cherry for their switches, but how does this wireless set at £45 perform?

Last year, the FBI and Apple were embroiled in a legal battle over encryption after Apple refused to unlock an iPhone 5C at the center of an investigation. After it became clear that Apple wasn't going to budge, the FBI hired a firm known as Cellebrite to develop a tool …

Despite being inclined to have firms collect endless amounts of data on their customers, the British government does at least want them to protect it. Accepting a new EU law, known as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), means that when introduced in 2018, British firms will be mandated to …

Over the past couple of years, the age old dominance of adware, spyware and trojans has begun to die off in favour of something new and far more malicious: ransomware. The evolution continues to this day, with the latest version of the CryptXXX ransomware bringing in over £34,000 in the …

Kim Dotcom's second file locker project (now disowned), Mega, has been hit with a court order in the U.S. demanding that the site hand over the user information for certain accounts. This comes after sensitive, foreign government documents were found on the site after a hack. This court action could be …

WhatsApp, the encrypted chat service owned by Facebook, has expanded its potential user base by a huge number, by introducing desktop clients for both Mac and Windows operating systems. The platform is now available to most technological users, also offering a web-app and the (now) traditional smartphone applications. The idea with …

Over the last few months, quite a bit of awareness has been risen over cheap USB Type-C cables that don't adhere to the proper specification. These cables have been proven to cause damage to electronic devices, with one Google engineer frying a laptop with one but now, the USB Group …

Over the last few weeks, Apple and the FBI have been butting heads over the unlocking of an iPhone 5c owned by a criminal. So far, Apple has refused to create a back door into its software for the authorities and while the FBI did eventually find another way into …

The Obama administration will not be backing legislation that would allow judges to force companies like Apple to weaken the security of their hardware and software in order to facilitate snooping. While President Obama's personal opinion seems to still be in favour of this sort of bill, clearly there is …

The big argument from the FBI and its proponents in its case vs. Apple in recent months, was that it was ‘just one iPhone,' and that weakening its security wouldn't affect any others. Just days after it cracked the phone without Apple's help, it's now set to aid the Arkansas …

Often it seems that politicians are either wilfully ignorant, or unconsciously so, about encryption, with the legislative changes they propose almost always railing against the obfuscating technology. Not so with all of them though, as U.S. senator Ron Wyden has promised to protect it by fighting against a push to …

Despite making claims for months that it required Apple's help to crack open the iPhone of one of the San Bernardino attackers, the FBI has now managed to get into it using a third party's help. Although it hasn't come forward to say how it was done, it has now …

Earlier this week, we got news that the FBI had filed a motion to delay its court hearing with Apple . The FBI was hoping to force Apple into assisting with the unlocking of an iPhone owned by a criminal but now, it looks like the Bureau won't need Apple …

Apple and the FBI were set to start hashing things out in court today after the company refused to comply with an order to help the FBI access an iPhone owned by a criminal. This sparked quite a debate over encryption but it looks like the FBI may no longer …

As the case of the FBI against Apple continues to draw eyeballs and backing for both camps from various parties, Facebook and its WhatsApp service may have their own clash with the U.S. legal system. The Department of Justice is struggling with a case where a wiretap cannot be performed …

Apple's Vice President of Software engineering, Craig Federighi has spoken out in support of Tim Cook's decision to fight the FBI over a request to break the security protection of an iPhone. Over the last few weeks, quite a few major names have spoken out in support of Apple's decision and …

Once upon-a-time encrypted email service, Lavabit, has thrown its lot in to support Apple in its ongoing legal dispute with the FBI and American government over weakening iPhone security. Although not called on by the court to do so, it submitted an amicus brief, explaining just why it believes the authorities should …

Over the last 24 hours or so, plenty of reports have been floating around stating that Microsoft founder, Bill Gates, has sided with the FBI when it comes to asking Apple to help them crack into a criminal's iPhone. This topic has sparked much debate over the last week but …

Last week, Apple decided that it was going to take on the FBI and oppose a court order to decrypt a criminal's iPhone. This has sparked up the encryption debate once again, a debate that Apple would like to see settled by a government commission of experts. Tim Cook has also …

Google and WhatsApp have crossed party lines and stood by Apple and CEO Tim Cook's resistance to the FBI's demand for the tech firm to weaken its own security in order to make it easier for the law enforcement agency to hack a smartphone. Although that phone belonged to the …

Earlier this morning, news spread that the FBI has given Apple a court order to help them break the security on the iPhone previously owned by the deceased gunman behind the San Bernardino attacks last year. Now, Apple is formally contesting the order and has said that it will fight the …

For someone who has been quite vocal about wanting the U.S. to have the ability to break encryption, democratic presidential hopeful, Hillary Clinton, made quite an effort to hide her work-related emails on a private server. That server has now been opened up though, and as the State department wades …

Earlier this week we learned that cracking group 3DM would be taking a year off to see if there would be any effect on game sales. However, many took this to mean that the group just couldn't break Denuvo protection, which is found on many new games including Just Cause …

Despite David Cameron and Theresa May calling for a better insight into the websites we visit with the potentially fast tracked Investigatory Powers Bill, a committee of politicians has warned that it lacks clarity, not defining key points. It warned that if the tech-firms that must be complicit in the …

Independent public data rights authority, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), has attacked plans by the government to push through the Investigatory Powers Bill, often called the Snooper's Charter. It claims that there is little justification for some of the measures it wishes to push through and claims that it weakens …