Researchers, EFF Sue US Government Over DMCA Restrictions
A top hardware hacker and a well-known academic security researcher are suing the United States federal government over section 1201 of the controversial Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which he claims “chills protected and noninfringing speech”. The suit, filed by hardware researcher Andrew Huang, cryptographer Matthew Green, and the EFF, challenges the legality of a specific position […]
Facebook Messenger Gets End-to-End Encryption
Facebook is planning to begin a test of end-to-end encryption for its Messenger service, which could eventually bring encrypted conversations to the company’s more than 1.5 billion users. The test is due to begin today, according to reports, and will involve a small fraction of the Facebook user base at the beginning. Facebook Messenger is the […]
House Committee Report Slams Proposed Encryption Legislation
A new report from House Homeland Security Committee on the encryption debate says that despite both parties being motivated to find common ground, law enforcement and the private sector haven’t yet started a meaningful conversation on encryption, and none of the legislative proposals forwarded so far are realistic. The report, released Wednesday, discusses the encryption […]
BlackBerry Messenger Decryption Tactic Could Be Revealed
A decision in a years-old Canadian murder case that involved the police intercepting and decrypting more than a million encrypted BBM messages could reveal the technique that law enforcement used to get those encrypted messages. The case centers on a murder in Montreal several years ago of an alleged Mafia member. During the investigation, the […]
Google Allo Brings Encryption, Auto-Deleted Messages
Google’s new Allo messaging app is less than a day old, but it already has attracted a lot of attention from the security and privacy communities, thanks to its inclusion of end-to-end encryption and disappearing messages. Not all of the attention has been positive, however. Allo is a combination app that includes typical chat capabilities […]
Dutch Police Shut Down Encrypted Mobile Phone Network
Dutch police have seized servers and other equipment operated by Ennetcom, a communications provider in the Netherlands that operates an encrypted mobile phone service. The Dutch National Police Corps allege that the company was providing encrypted communications for criminal groups. The police said they have copied the contents of several servers belonging to the company, both in the […]
Tech Coalitions Urge Reconsideration of Burr-Feinstein Bill
Several large groups of technology vendors and communications companies have written a letter urging Sens. Diane Feinstein and Richard Burr to reconsider the anti-encryption bill they have drafted, saying it would lead to “unintended, negative consequences for the safety of our networks and our customers.” The letter was signed by members of Reform Government Surveillance, […]
Draft Bill Would Force Vendors to Give Plaintext Data to Law Enforcement
The tension between the FBI and Apple may have subsided, but that doesn’t mean Washington is no longer focusing on encrypted communications. A pair of senators is circulating a draft bill that would require communications providers to maintain a method of giving law enforcement agencies cleartext communications, a requirement that could effectively prevent the use of […]
Wyden: ‘Plans to Weaken Strong Encryption Are a Double Loser’
Sen. Ron Wyden, who has been perhaps the most outspoken legislator on the topic of encryption, privacy, and government intervention in technology, said he will “use every power I have as senator” to prevent lawmakers from passing laws that weaken encryption. Wyden (D-Ore.) spoke Tuesday at RightsCon, a conference on digital rights and privacy, and […]