US Officials Urge Americans to Use Encrypted Apps Amid Unprecedented Cyberattack (nbcnews.com)
- Reference: 0175590245
- News link: https://news.slashdot.org/story/24/12/04/0550254/us-officials-urge-americans-to-use-encrypted-apps-amid-unprecedented-cyberattack
- Source link: https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/us-officials-urge-americans-use-encrypted-apps-cyberattack-rcna182694
> Amid an unprecedented cyberattack on telecommunications companies such as AT&T and Verizon, U.S. officials have recommended that Americans use encrypted messaging apps to ensure their communications stay hidden from foreign hackers...
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> In the call Tuesday, two officials — a senior FBI official who asked not to be named and Jeff Greene, executive assistant director for cybersecurity at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency — both recommended using encrypted messaging apps to Americans who want to minimize the chances of China's intercepting their communications. "Our suggestion, what we have told folks internally, is not new here: Encryption is your friend, whether it's on text messaging or if you have the capacity to use encrypted voice communication. Even if the adversary is able to intercept the data, if it is encrypted, it will make it impossible," Greene said. The FBI official said, "People looking to further protect their mobile device communications would benefit from considering using a cellphone that automatically receives timely operating system updates, responsibly managed encryption and phishing resistant" multi-factor authentication for email, social media and collaboration tool accounts...
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> The FBI and other federal law enforcement agencies have a complicated relationship with encryption technology, historically advocating against full end-to-end encryption that does not allow law enforcement access to digital material even with warrants. But the FBI [2]has also supported forms of encryption that do allow some law enforcement access in certain circumstances.
Officials said the breach seems to include some live calls of [3]specfic targets and also call records (showing numbers called and when). "The hackers focused on records around the Washington, D.C., area, and the FBI does not plan to alert people whose phone metadata was accessed."
"The scope of the telecom compromise is so significant, Greene said, that it was 'impossible" for the agencies "to predict a time frame on when we'll have full eviction.'"
[1] https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/us-officials-urge-americans-use-encrypted-apps-cyberattack-rcna182694
[2] https://www.fbi.gov/about/mission/lawful-access
[3] https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/china-phone-target-hack-trump-vance-harris-rcna177383
Are there any "encrypted" apps? (Score:2)
Please provide some examples so that all may benefit...
Don't trust Whatsapp (Score:4, Interesting)
> Please provide some examples so that all may benefit...
[1]By hacking Whatsapp [cnn.com], Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammad Bone Saw (MBS) was able to chop Jamal Koshoggi into little tiny pieces.
[1] https://edition.cnn.com/2018/12/02/middleeast/jamal-khashoggi-whatsapp-messages-intl/index.html
Re: Don't trust Whatsapp (Score:3)
I think the word you were looking for was hack, not chop.
Re: (Score:2)
Nice link, and one that shows WhatsApp wasn't hacked. The end device in question was. The encrypted status of the messaging service has nothing to do with what is going on in your story, other than they may not have needed to compromise the device if he used a plain text chat instead.
Re: (Score:2)
Perhaps they mean Signal? Does the Swiss govt cooperate with the USA &/China on illegal telecoms interception?
Re: (Score:2)
> Please provide some examples so that all may benefit...
[1]With Threats to Encryption Looming, Signal's Meredith Whittaker Says 'We're Not Changing' [wired.com]
[2]Signal Is More Than Encrypted Messaging. Under Meredith Whittaker, It's Out to Prove Surveillance Capitalism Wrong [wired.com]
[1] https://www.wired.com/story/big-interview-meredith-whittaker-signal-2024/
[2] https://www.wired.com/story/meredith-whittaker-signal/
The world is ending (Score:2)
> ... recommended using encrypted messaging ...
In other news, the devil is enjoying Christmas by having his first snowball-fight.
Officials who pushed for the weakened security? (Score:2)
Are those the same officials who pushed hard to put in the back doors the hackers used, despite security experts (or anyone with a clue about security) telling them it would happen? They really ought to be fired for creating this mess in the first place, and definitely not trusted to even suggest any kind of security policy for the country. Maybe I missed something, did Biden administration do something good in this arena towards the end? Did they fire them all and replace them with people who actually unde
"Impossible" (Score:2)
The criminals in Europe along with the group behind Encrochat, SkyECC, and as of this week Matrix [1]https://www.dutchnews.nl/2024/... [dutchnews.nl] would take issue with that. ;-)
[1] https://www.dutchnews.nl/2024/12/dutch-french-police-take-down-matrix-encrypted-message-service/
Morons (Score:5, Insightful)
Experts have told you for frigging _decades_ that a backdoor or weakened encryption or any other form of "lawful" interception _will_ be used by criminal attackers and spies. Did you listen? No. This is 100% on you that you wanted those backdoors and you have no excuses.
Re: (Score:1)
mod parent way up
Re: (Score:3)
It's worse than that. They listened and they knowingly chose their priorities. They directly lied about this and tried to undermine and damage the credibility of those experts. They took [1]Phil Zimmerman to court over this type of thing [wikipedia.org]. This is something that NIST, which is a government agency, explicitly warned against and attempted to avoid and then was forced into accepting in their security standards. This is something that legislators have brought up every time that people have attempted to force throug
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Zimmermann