Encryption

The fight between Apple and the Justice Department over the San Bernardino shooter's iPhone has once again put the spotlight on security, privacy, and encryption. The last time that was a hot topic was nearly 3 years ago at the height of the "Snowden Files". Born out of that very same controversy, Swiss encrypted email provider ProtonMail has seen it fit to finally open up its service to the general public, removing the invite-only barricade for individuals and groups to sign up for an end-to-end encrypted secure e-mail service.

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Apple has just filed a legal response to the Justice Department's response to Apple's response to the court order on behalf of the Justice Department. That simplified yet still confusing chronology of legal filings only shows the circus surrounding the tussle between Apple and government agencies, specifically the FBI, over unlocking the San Bernardino shooter's iPhone. After being on the receiving end of some colorful remarks from the DOJ, Apple's latest legal statement fires back by saying how the Founding Fathers would be appalled by the DOJ's order.

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This week Google has opened up a new section in their ever-changing, ever-updating Transparency Report for the public. In this new section, google delivers encryption for the masses. Not that they hadn't been moving toward encryption and data security in all things public before - now it's just that they're making more of an effort to show you, the user, how they're doing in their move to HTTPS. This new Transparency Report section is called - appropriately enough - HTTPS at Google.

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In light of Apple’s ongoing legal battle with the FBI, other tech companies are looking to boost their own encryption, according to sources. Among them is WhatsApp, which is said to be prepping an encrypted voice calls rollout, adding to its other encrypted features. As well, Snapchat is said to be working on a secure messaging platform, and Google is looking into putting its encrypted email technology to use elsewhere.

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If you weren't already convinced one way or the other about the Apple FBI encryption case, today "Last Week Tonight" will do that job for you. John Oliver tackles encryption, showing how the situation has played out so far and how absurd everything has been. In this Last Week Tonight, like all Last Week Tonight episodes, Oliver not only takes the case and makes it all simple enough for any person to understand, he drops the mic at the end as well.

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The FBI and the Justice Department might still be at an impasse with Apple, but technology could give it the break it needs in a distant future. In a paper published in the Journal Science, researchers from MIT and Austria's University of Innsbruck have revealed that they were able to not only design but also build a quantum computer that only needs five atoms to factor the number 15. But equally important is the claim that the design is completely scalable, allowing for the addition of more atoms to factor numbers of much larger magnitudes.

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Amazon has backtracked on Fire tablet encryption, having triggered an outpouring of criticism after removing support in the latest Fire OS 5 release. The retail giant blamed minimal customer interest for the decision, which saw Android's data encryption option stripped from the Fire tablet platform, though communications with Amazon's own servers were still secured.

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Amazon has pushed back at suggestions it's selling out Fire tablet users on data encryption, arguing that it was a Spring clean not a security lapse. The online behemoth faced vocal criticism this week over its Fire OS 5 software for its affordable Android-based tablets, which quietly removed support for encrypting data.

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Apple’s legal battle over encryption with governments around the world has received support from a bunch of companies, including Microsoft and Google. Meanwhile, Amazon has quietly removed support for encryption from Fire OS 5, forcing Fire tablet owners to either update and lose the encryption support or continue running an outdated version of the operating system.

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Despite its victory in court yesterday, Apple is still facing an uphill battle when it comes to iPhones, encryption, and the company’s staunch refusal to obey every unlock order that comes its way. France has proposed a million Euro fine for every iPhone the company refuses to unlock. The same penalty could apply to Google under similar conditions, and is being considered as a way to strong arm companies into giving governments access to suspected terrorists’ smartphone data.

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In a case unrelated but entirely relevant to the San Bernardino legal battle, a New York judge has just ruled that Apple cannot be forced to unlock an iPhone for the FBI under the All Writs Act, something George Washington himself had signed into law back in 1789. In this case, the matter revolves around an iPhone belonging to Jun Feng of Queens, New York. The DEA seized his phone while executing a search warrant on Feng’s home back in 2014. When it came time to search the phone, though, law enforcement was stopped by an increasingly contentious issue: the phone was, and still is, encrypted.

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The heat hasn't cooled off in the fight between Apple and the FBI over the encrypted iPhone of the San Bernardino shooter, a case that, due to the circumstances of the crime, has bled into mainstream media and divided not just companies but also citizens. Soon, however, the case might be taken to yet another step higher. Apple has just submitted it legal response to the federal court's order and, in turn, is asking the courts to vacate the order on the grounds that the government is overstepping its legal boundaries and is setting a chilling precedent.

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