FBI chief: Apple, Google phone encryption perilous [Whine alert]

AP ^ | 9/25/2014 | KEN DILANIAN

[markomalley]

The FBI director on Thursday criticized the decision by Apple and Google to encrypt smartphones data so it can be inaccessible to law enforcement, even with a court order.

James Comey told reporters at FBI headquarters that U.S. officials are in talks with the two companies, which he accused of marketing products that would let people put themselves beyond the law's reach.

Comey cited child-kidnapping and terrorism cases as two examples of situations where quick access by authorities to information on cellphones can save lives. Comey did not cite specific past cases that would have been more difficult for the FBI to investigate under the new policies, which only involve physical access to a suspect's or victim's phone when the owner is unable or unwilling to unlock it for authorities.

"What concerns me about this is companies marketing something expressly to allow people to hold themselves beyond the law," Comey said. At another point, he said he feared a moment when "when people with tears in their eyes look at me and say, 'What do you mean you can't?'"

[varyouga]

Investigating is hard and requires thinkers on the force. It also requires brains to apprehend a suspect without using a military raid.

Brains are dangerous in a land of corrupt laws.

If everyone is monitored and tracked, you only need to send in the jackboots. Animals who are trained to break, plunder and kidnap whatever is in the way of their GPS arrow

[kevkrom]

We should absolutely ban encryption because some people will use it to conceal information about crimes.

Just like we should absolutely ban privately held firearms because someone might use one to commit a crime.

And right after that, we can ban all motor vehicles since people can use them to load up and haul off stolen goods.

And then we can ban telephones, radios, televisions, computers, newspapers, and books so that no one can disseminate hate speech.

(Do I NEED a /sarc here, really?)

[JimRed]

...which he accused of marketing products that would let people put themselves beyond the law's lawless regime's reach.

[Praxeologue]

Actually, Apple does, if you use FaceTime voice or visually. It is 128 bit encrypted and Apple does not archive anything, nor can they decrypt the messages being transferred between you and the recipient.

Apple made this claim of end-to-end voice encryption of FaceTime Audio in a June 16, 2013 press release. Google now makes the same claim about Hangouts. There is skepticism in the hacker community. Any Linux-based OS, such as iOS and Android, can be hacked. Not so with Blackberry OS 10, which was develooed by engineers from QNX, which Blackberry acquired in 2010. Also, Facetime Audio voice quality is dreadful.

You don't see the White House or Angela Merkel using these applications for voice mobile communications. The former uses Blackberry BES and the latter uses Blackberry Secusmart.

[Swordmaker]

Apple made this claim of end-to-end voice encryption of FaceTime Audio in a June 16, 2013 press release. Google now makes the same claim about Hangouts. There is skepticism in the hacker community. Any Linux-based OS, such as iOS and Android, can be hacked. Not so with Blackberry OS 10, which was develooed by engineers from QNX, which Blackberry acquired in 2010. Also, Facetime Audio voice quality is dreadful.

I love how people who don't use Apple technology make claims such as "Facetime Audio voice quality is dreadful," when it is the same voice quality used in video made with iPhones, which have been used to make first run commercial movies and television shows, television news work with perfect clarity, enterprise grade tele-conferencing, and training videos. . . as well as thousands of podcasts. Ergo, what you just wrote is just FUD. I use FaceTime regularly and the quality is superb.

Angela Merkel's just discontinued using an iPhone because of the Obama administration's NSA monitoring of carrier traffic and the erroneous claim from Snowden that all Apple iPhones were compromised by the NSA, which has been shown to not be possible, and was actually referring to Android phones, iPhones that had been physically intercepted to install specific hardware/software, and RIMM Blackberry phones that were also intercepted. Merkel's anger at the U.S. resulted in the German government going back to RIMM Blackberries.

[Praxeologue]

Merkel's anger at the U.S. resulted in the German government going back to RIMM Blackberries.

The German decision was motivated by a mobile security solution from a German company, Secusmart, which was subsequently acquired by Blackberry. Secusmart developed the product for Blackberry OS 10, but not for iOS or Android, because they are not secure. About 4,800 German civil servants now use BB OS 10 cellphones with Secusmart chips, not just Frau Merkel. The decision was well researched.

If the facts were as you state them, a decision made in anger based on erroneous information from Snowden about a secure Apple product, then Apple would have convinced the German government to restore the Apple relationship and Secusmart would have developed a solution for iOS phones. You paint the German government as gullible and Apple as inept marketers: Occam's razor

[Swordmaker]

If the facts were as you state them, a decision made in anger based on erroneous information from Snowden about a secure Apple product, then Apple would have convinced the German government to restore the Apple relationship and Secusmart would have developed a solution for iOS phones. You paint the German government as gullible and Apple as inept marketers: Occam's razor

No, Kennard. There's more to it than just marketing. Politics has a lot more to do with it than you give credit. Merkel needed to distance herself from Obama and the U.S. Apple was just one means. Other US tech companies were hit as well. . . and other European Union countries are doing the same in a economic slap at Obama. Part of it also has to do with the new Banking and financial regulations the Obama administration has put on foreign accounts and doing business with US corporation and IRS reporting requirements that just went into effect.. . .

[Swordmaker]

Oh, and Kennard, did you bother to read your link about skepticism? You might find it’s not as skeptical as you seem to think. Every poster who brings up a challenge comes across as not knowing what they are talking about and are pretty much summarily shot down by people who do know.

[jdege]

I’m not sure why you think that QNX can’t be hacked.

[Praxeologue]

QNX can probably be compromised, since BB OS 10 was stitched on top of it, using different code. Any bugs in ONX would be layered those in OS 10, compounding the exploit opportunities. Android and iOS are fraught with similar security issues, just reviewing what is in the public domain. Security consultants are bound by two-year NDAs, so we are all looking in a distance rear-view mirror. Telling customers that they are being issued one-time tokens of which Apple is not aware is a cruel joke if the company has been compromised, as it was, voluntarily, in the past.

I have a very small shop in the financial industry that relies on several personal relationships that could be terminated by a leak. I need the best security I can get on a limited budget. I cannot afford the security consultants that larger players hire. I have found that smaller consultants are usually wedded to one supplier or technology, which can lead to trouble. I have no computer background, so I rely largely on cowboy logic.

So, if G7 governments, including Germany and the U.S., use Blackberry BES and Secusmart(VOIP) voice security, I cannot believe that they do so for any other reason but that it is currently the best. No fit of pique or anger over other issues would cause a country to risk its safety by choosing anything but the best security.

That may change tomorrow. I noted that DoD recently permitted Android and iOS handsets. That us cause for concern. Obama is still issued a BB, however.

Part of my ongoing due diligence involves posting my current understanding on security-related websites and guaging the reaction. I cannot afford to trust anyone.