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Apple announces plans to hand over iCloud encryption key management to users Apple has announced its plans to transfer iCloud encryption key management to account holders, a move which could stand in the way of or even prevent the FBI and other law enforcement agencies from requesting users' information.The tech giant currently manages the encryption key management for all iCloud account holders.eWeek reports that because of this level of control, Apple provided federal authorities with several iCloud backups of Syed Rizwan Farook, an individual who participated in a mass shooting and attempted bombing in San Bernardino, California back in December....

Actual Title: Snoopers Charter 2: Apple teams up with Facebook, Google, Twitter and more to ask Government to change Investigatory Powers Bill Link only due to copyright infringement issues:

The government’s issue over access to personal data will likely come up again. Earlier this week, the FBI stalled its impending court date with Apple after it revealed that it might have found a way to unlock the San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone without Apple’s help. Just 24 hours before the hearing, the FBI’s filing stated that it would use alternate means to access the data on Syed Rizwan Farook’s iPhone. Since the filing, it has been reported that Cellebright, a provider of mobile forensic software, will be the third-party aiding the FBI. But without any specification as to what specifically...

"all you have to do is go in the lab, apply more technology, and you should be able to make a bigger quantum computer" So the only thing preventing a more general purpose quantum computer is money and enough engineers... Hmm... (POLL-AT-LINK) Via: PC World: Much of the encryption world today depends on the challenge of factoring large numbers, but scientists now say they've created the first five-atom quantum computer with the potential to crack the security of traditional encryption schemes. In traditional computing, numbers are represented by either 0s or 1s, but quantum computing relies on atomic-scale units, or...

On Monday, less than 24 hours before the hearing was scheduled to start, the US government asked to cancel its big court date in the Apple vs FBI fight. The judge convened a quick conference with the Department of Justice and Apple attorneys. A transcript shows the judge repeatedly emphasizing that the order to compel Apple to create a backdoor for the government is “unenforceable” and has been so since the court battle began weeks ago.The March 22 hearing was set to be an all-out battle. Both sides planned to call witnesses, with one to two hours of live...

An Obama Administration regulation may require the FBI to hand over the hack developed by what ever company that may succeed in hacking into the San Bernardino terrorist's iPhone 5c, so that Apple can plug that vulnerability. What irony. . . Link only due to copyright considerations: Thank You for Hacking iPhone, Now Tell Apple How You Did It (link only due to copyright issues)

Just because Apple and the FBI avoided an historic showdown in court this week over a previously issued court order for Apple to create a so-called “government OS” that bypasses normal iPhone security measures, that doesn’t mean the whole thing was tidily wrapped up.For one thing, no legislative precedent was set here – at the eleventh hour, the FBI said it thinks a mysterious outside party (which may have now been identified) will be able to help it get inside an iPhone used by one of the San Bernadino shooters – leaving the law enforcement agency free to pursue a...

FBI acknowledged today that there “appears” to be an alternative way into Farook’s iPhone 5c – something that experts have been shouting for weeks now; in fact, we’ve been saying there are several viable methods. Before I get into which method I think is being used here, here are some possibilities of other viable methods and why I don’t think they’re part of the solution being utilized: A destructive method, such as de-capping or deconstruction of the microprocessor would preclude FBI from being able to come back in two weeks to continue proceedings against Apple. Once the phone is destroyed, there’s very little Apple can do...

Possible modes the FBI may use to break into the iPhone 5C proposed by USA Today. Link only due to copyright only due to copyright restrictions: FBI could be using these hacks to break into killer's iPhone

The FBI just filed a motion to delay Tuesday's hearing in the San Bernardino iPhone case, claiming that an "outside party" may be able to help it break into the phone without Apple's help. The motion comes after weeks of escalation tension in the case with Apple, the FBI, and other stakeholders arguing the case in public before it reached courts. It's not clear who is helping the FBI or what the new method entails, but it may not coming from the NSA, despite speculation that the intelligence agency has the ability up its sleeve; today's filing suggests that the...

Microsoft founder Bill Gates has broken with other Silicon Valley giants by backing the FBI in its battle with Apple over hacking into a locked iPhone as part of the investigation into last December's San Bernardino terror attack. In an interview with the Financial Times published Tuesday, Gates said a court order requiring Apple to help the FBI access a work phone belonging to gunman Syed Farook was " a specific case where the government is asking for access to information. They are not asking for some general thing, they are asking for a particular case."

.....Gawker Media is forced to talk out of both sides of its mouth, on the one hand callowly apologizing to readers (and, let’s be honest, advertisers) for one of its writers launching a disgusting pro-bullying attack on a marginalized group while simultaneously apologizing for the apology and denouncing anti-Gawker campaigns as little better than “fascism” in order to maintain their street cred with their bros. It’s a genius move, in a way, one that allows Gawker to tell the companies it relies on for revenue that it’s really and truly sorry while also doing nothing to alienate its core readership...

On Tuesday, Apple will face the first major hearing in the San Bernardino iPhone case, and new details suggest the company will be speaking directly to the security issues involved. The FBI has requested an evidentiary hearing, which means the court will hear testimony from witnesses on both sides.Those witnesses will include Eric Neuenschwander, Apple's head of product security and privacy, who can speak to the company's security measures and the feasibility of the government's proposed system. Neuenschwander filed a declaration to the court on Tuesday, which argued the government's order would potentially endanger the Trusted Platform Module system used...

SAN FRANCISCO — If the F.B.I. wins its court fight to force Apple’s help in unlocking an iPhone, the agency may run into yet another roadblock: Apple’s engineers. Apple employees are already discussing what they will do if ordered to help law enforcement authorities. Some say they may balk at the work, while others may even quit their high-paying jobs rather than undermine the security of the software they have already created, according to more than a half-dozen current and former Apple employees. Among those interviewed were Apple engineers who are involved in the development of mobile products and security,...

Debelle Dixon-Thayer is Chief Legal and Business Officer at Mozilla 'Companies should be able to build the best security for their users that they can provide' Since the news broke of the FBI request for Apple to unlock the iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino attackers, we’ve seen reactions from many horizons: tech companies, the FBI, victims’ families and, last weekend, President Barack Obama. This case is attracting a lot of attention, and it should. Much is at stake. This is not about Apple, or the FBI or helping the bad guys. It is about how to achieve...

In an exclusive interview with TIME, Cook discusses your privacy, America’s security, and what’s at stake in the battle over encryption The day after the massacre in San Bernardino, Calif., where Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik shot to death 14 people and wounded 22 others at a holiday luncheon for the county department of public health, an FBI Evidence Response Team descended on the couple’s townhouse in nearby Redlands. They recovered, among other things, 12 pipe bombs, thousands of rounds of ammunition of several different calibers, and three cell phones: two from a dumpster behind the townhouse and one...

Earlier this month, infamous hacker collective Anonymous declared "war" on Donald Trump who they accuse of being a fascist and seeking to institute a dictatorship in America. We're not sure how many people took them seriously and we're almost positive Trump himself got a good, hearty laugh at the threat (after all, the group also declared "war" on Bakr al-Baghdadi) but on Thursday, the group claims it has released Trump's phone number and social security number.

The Justice Dept. was poised to launch a public relations campaign to pull at the public heartstrings of those who suffered as a result of the San Bernardino shootings. It took just a few hours for the Justice Dept. to gauge how its legal action against Apple would be perceived by the public. Not long after a California court released an order compelling Apple to help the FBI unlock an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino shooters, there was an outpouring of support in Apple's favor, and little compassion for the government's case. FBI could demand Apple source...

Three years ago, reeling from Edward J. Snowden's disclosure of the government's vast surveillance programs and uncertain how to respond, President Obama said he welcomed a vigorous public debate about the wrenching trade-offs between safeguarding personal privacy and tracking down potential terrorists. "It's healthy for our democracy," he told reporters at the time. "I think it's a sign of maturity." But the national debate touched off this winter by the confrontation between the Justice Department and Apple over smartphone security is not exactly the one Mr. Obama had in mind. Mr. Snowden's revelations produced modest changes and a heightened suspicion...

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