There are very valid personal and business reasons not to want people to have too much access to all of the stuff you store on your phone. You don’t have to be a criminal or a terrorist to want some things to be kept secret.
]]>From Sep. 19th:
Good News: Mobile Devices Now Competing To Be Much More Secure Against Prying Eyes
While the more cynical folks out there have insisted that the tech industry is a happy partner with the intelligence community, the reality has been quite different. If anything, in the past many companies were simply… complacent about the situation, not realizing how important these issues were. That’s problematic, but the Snowden revelations have woken up those firms and enabled the privacy and security gurus who work there to finally get the message across that they absolutely need to do more to protect the privacy and security of their users. That’s why you see things like Apple’s new local encryption by default on iOS8, meaning that even if law enforcement or the intelligence community comes knocking, Apple can’t get much of your data off of your device.
From Sep. 23rd:
Law Enforcement Freaks Out Over Apple & Google’s Decision To Encrypt Phone Info By Default
Last week, we noted that it was good news to see both Apple and Google highlight plans to encrypt certain phone information by default on new versions of their mobile operating systems, making that information no longer obtainable by those companies and, by extension, governments and law enforcement showing up with warrants and court orders. Having giant tech companies competing on how well they protect your privacy? That’s new… and awesome. Except, of course, if you’re law enforcement. In those cases, these announcements are apparently cause for a general freakout about how we’re all going to die.
From Sep. 26th:
Nine Epic Failures Of Regulating Cryptography
]]>Here we go again. Apple has done (and Google has long announced they will do) basic encryption on mobile devices. And predictably, law enforcement has responded with howls of alarm.
We’ve seen this movie before. Below is a slightly adapted blog post from one we posted in 2010, the last time the FBI was seriously hinting that it was going to try to mandate that all communications systems be easily wiretappable by mandating “back doors” into any encryption systems. We marshaled eight “epic failures” of regulating crypto at that time, all of which are still salient today. And in honor of the current debate, we’ve added a ninth:
. . .
If the government howls of protest at the idea that people will be using encryption sound familiar, it’s because regulating and controlling consumer use of encryption was a monstrous proposal officially declared dead in 2001 after threatening Americans’ privacy, free speech rights, and innovation for nearly a decade. But like a zombie, it’s now rising from the grave, bringing the same disastrous flaws with it.For those who weren’t following digital civil liberties issues in 1995, or for those who have forgotten, here’s a refresher list of why forcing companies to break their own privacy and security measures by installing a back door was a bad idea 15 years ago:
Now the ‘authorities’ are complaining that the new encryption being used by Apple and Google is making it very difficult to intercept cell phone traffic. Excuse me, but that is the whole point of the encryption – Duh!
They aren’t using these new ‘tools’ for the War on Terror™, they are being used against dissenters. This is all security theater to deflect attention from the political uses to which the tools have been turned.
Even the Israeli spooks are starting to complain about the crap that is going on in the intel community. Almost nothing is being done to watch known threats, while they go looking for supposedly unknown threats. No one is willing to say that the new ‘threats’ are unknown because they don’t exist. Meanwhile everyone acts surprised by the success of ISIS. Standards no longer exist.
]]>Hell, most sheeple are only just starting to wonder if maybe the NSA might be going a bit far. Maybe. And then there is this:
I find these bits highly amusing! And you would understand why. 😉 😀
EPIC has obtained another load of documents from an FOIA request dealing with the “Rap Back” portion of the NGI system, one that provides constant monitoring of certain people — like suspected criminals, people on parole, employees with security clearances and “trusted positions.” Notably, the Rap Back program does not track employees of the criminal justice system, and nothing in what’s been obtained even suggests it can be used that way.
…
Further details indicate that “trusted positions” are actually just a variety of caretakers, rather than those in positions that contain a healthy mixture of power and access (i.e., law enforcement members).
…
While it is definitely preferable to have someone with a clean record providing caretaking services, you have to wonder why the FBI is so focused on monitoring this specific group of employees. There’s been a push to include this group in its Rap Back program pretty much since the beginning. Further down in the document, presentation slides suggest making inroads with legislators to turn the FBI’s monitoring preference into an integral part of federal law.…
And, finally, sitting by itself, unduplicated anywhere else in the 202 duplicate-ridden pages, is a single slide dedicated to mandatory privacy considerations — neither of which have been fulfilled even though the program is now fully operational.
[bold mine]
What a surprise! [NOT!] I really am PMSL! Sorry… but I simply cannot help it!
]]>You point out the reality of life today and the damage caused by our current politicians who are running ‘government like a business’ and still people insist on voting for the clowns who caused the problems. I don’t see any way of breaking people out of their madness and make them realize that this is a simple case of cause and effect. The only way of changing things is to change the policies that caused them.
]]>F*ck ’em all! If they can’t be bothered, neither can I!
]]>Privatization is bad, but giving core national security contracts to foreign corporations, even if they have a local subsidiary, is insane. It’s like having core weapons systems, something like your submarines for example, built by foreign corporations – you have jeopardized your national security. To the maximum extent possible, a nation needs to have total control over its core systems. Out-sourcing may be cheaper in dollar terms, but it is an obvious espionage risk.
]]>And nobody can see a problem. My Italian/Maltese Grandfather (and a some Uncles) would be salivating and rubbing his, erm… *entrepreneurial*, hands with glee! 😀
LOL
]]>And speaking of NSA and Contractors… It’s worse than you think. 😉
NSA Official Handing Off Contracts To Government Contractor Spouse
]]>The NSA official, Teresa H. Shea, is director of the Signals Intelligence Directorate, which means she oversees electronic eavesdropping for intelligence purposes. She’s held that crucial position since 2010. SIGINT, as it is called, is the bread and butter of NSA espionage operations, and it includes intercepting and decoding phone calls, whether cellular or landline; radio communications; and internet traffic. Shea’s directorate was involved in the controversial domestic surveillance program, much of which was revealed by Edward Snowden.
As for Shea’s husband, James, he is currently a vice president at DRS Signal Solutions, part of DRS Technologies, a major American defense contracting company owned by the Italian defense giant Finmeccanica. On his LinkedIn page, he boasts of his “core focus” in “SIGINT systems,” and cites his employer, DRS, for its work in “signals intelligence, cyber, and commercial test and measurement applications.”
Shea’s husband is also a resident agent for Telic Networks (Roston calls the company’s website “rudimentary,” which is a compliment) — another SIGINT-focused business located in the Sheas’ hometown of Ellicott City, Maryland. James Shea declined to comment on this story, somewhat inadvertently.