Encryption

Almost all smartphones these days, even some budget-friendly ones, have a fingerprint scanner, though some are even moving beyond it now. Laptops are just getting started on that trend but those could only protect what's stored in the computer. Your data in external hard drives and USB flash drives? Ripe for the picking (unless they've been heavily encrypted). Enter Lexar's newest USB flash drive designed to protect your files in the same way that smartphones do: with your fingerprint.

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In January, Microsoft launched a new feature called Private Conversations that offers end-to-end encryption for helping keep data secure. That feature was only available to Insiders at the time, but Microsoft has now released an update that brings the encrypted chats to all users. The update is now live for desktop, Android, and iOS.

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The Department of Justice wants Facebook to give it access to encrypted voice chats as part of a criminal probe, according to a new report. The issue revolves around Messenger and its encrypted chats feature, which users can manually enable for specific conversations. The DOJ is reportedly seeking access to voice conservations made with the app.

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Microsoft is enhancing security for non-business Office 365 users, adding advanced Outlook.com email encryption tools and ransomware detection for Office 365 Home and Personal subscriptions, among other things. With these changes, user data is better protected while keeping intruders from accessing the information. A couple features are rolling out today with the rest arriving in the next few weeks.

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The Department of Justice wants a mandate that would force tech companies to provide phone unlocking tools. The FBI is involved in discussions of potential legislation forcing the matter, according to a new report. Research currently underway by both entities allegedly indicates that a backdoor could be provided without leaving the devices more vulnerable to hackers. This is the latest development in the US government's long-running effort to get easy access to encrypted smartphones.

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Apple has always prided itself and its products for being on the side of protecting customers’ privacy, even when that goes against the demands of the government. As such, it has become a huge target, not just for government scrutiny and criticism but also for hackers who love a good challenge. Especially one that could make them rich. The latter seems to be the case for a never before heard Grayshift startup which claims they can unlock encrypted iPhones, thanks to having US intelligence contractors and an former Apple security engineer in their employ. And, of course, it doesn’t come cheap.

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The Web can be a pretty scary place. The power and information it gives users is also available to those with less benign intentions. Browser makers have long been trying to make the Web safer, only to be foiled by user browsing habits on end and websites’ poor security practices on the other. Google, for its part, has given developers and administrators enough time to get their act together. But enough is enough and starting July this year, the Chrome web browser will mark all websites still using HTTP instead of HTTPS as “Not Secure”.

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ProtonMail, the encrypted email service for individuals who are concerned about data privacy and security, has just announced a new encrypted contacts manager that secures your potentially sensitive contact details. The feature is most useful for those with contacts they must keep secure, such as journalists who don't want their sources exposed to potentially prying eyes.

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Apple has gotten into hot water because of its stance on privacy and encryption and while Google is, on paper, on the same boat, Android hasn’t exactly been widely regarded as a very privacy-focused OS. Especially with Google behind it. A new feature coming to a future version of Android could give users a new tool to keep some prying eyes away, specifically those of ISPs. Called “DNS over TLS”, it’s really a very simple layer of encryption that masks what websites you go to.

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Smurfs 2 might not be a memorable film, but it would probably go down in history in a notorious way. And not through any fault of its own, mind you. Almost comically, the film will be remembered in the piracy scene as the first title to have an Ultra HD, some would (incorrectly) call it 4K, copy ripped from a supposedly tightly protected UHD Blu-Ray Disc. In other words, the age of UHD BR piracy might be at hand.

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Open Whisper Systems has announced that its previously launched encrypted video calling feature in Signal has been taken out of beta and is now available for all users to enjoy. The feature first arrived as a beta that users had to opt-in to use; now it is available to anyone using the most recent version of the iOS or Android app, making it easy to make end-to-end encrypted video calls.

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We've seen a lot of chat services rolling out end-to-end encryption lately (or, in Facebook Messenger's backwards world, optional end-to-end encryption), but now Viber wants to take that one step further. Viber already launched end-to-end encryption for all conversations held over its service a few months back, but starting today, you can host "secret chats" for a little extra security.

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