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BOSTON, Dec. 8 (AP) As part of an ongoing privacy push, Apple Inc said Wednesday it will now offer full end-to-end encryption to nearly all data its users store in its global cloud storage systems . This will make it harder for hackers, spies and law enforcement agencies to access sensitive user information.
The world’s most valuable company has long made the safety and privacy of its customers a top priority. Its iMessage and Facetime communications services are fully encrypted end-to-end, and it has sometimes gotten into trouble with law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, for refusing to unlock devices.
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But nearly everything customers back up remotely using Apple’s iCloud service — including photos, videos and chats — isn’t protected by encryption. That makes it easier for crooks, spies — and criminal investigators with court orders — to find it.
no longer. The loophole for law enforcement to obtain iPhone data will now be greatly reduced.
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Cupertino, California-based Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the timing of the release and other issues. The FBI did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
Cybersecurity experts have long argued that it would be ill-advised for law enforcement to attempt to weaken encryption through backdoors because they inherently make the internet less reliable and dangerous.
Last year, Apple announced a plan to scan iPhones for photos of child sexual abuse, but then withdrew it after massive backlash.
Matthew Green, professor of cryptography at Johns Hopkins University, noted on Twitter: “Last year Apple was hesitant to deploy encryption… Now it feels like they’ve decided to put the gas pedal down.”
Apple’s encryption announcement offers what the company calls advanced data protection, which users of its devices must opt-in to. It adds iCloud backups, notes, and photos to the category of data already protected in the cloud by end-to-end encryption, including health data and passwords. Apple said the iCloud encryption scheme does not include email, contacts and calendar items because they must interoperate with products from other vendors.
iCloud Advanced Data Protection will be available to users in the U.S. by the end of this year and roll out to the rest of the world beginning in early 2023, the company said.
In a blog post, Apple said the “need to enhance the security of user data in the cloud is more urgent than ever,” citing research that said data breaches have more than tripled in the past eight years.
Other tech products that already offer end-to-end encryption include WhatsApp, the world’s most popular messaging app, and Signal, a communications app prized by journalists, dissidents, human rights activists and other traders of sensitive data .
Apple announced some other advanced security features on Wednesday, including one targeting journalists, human rights activists and government officials who “face extraordinary digital threats,” such as those from no-click spyware.
Called iMessage Contact Key Verification, it automatically alerts users to an eavesdropper who successfully plugged a new device into their iCloud through a bug.
In July, Apple announced a new optional feature called Lockdown Mode, designed to protect iPhones and other products from state-sponsored hackers and commercial spyware.
Apple said at the time that it believed the extra layer of protection would be valuable to hackers targeted by well-funded groups.
Users can activate and deactivate Lockdown Mode at will. (Associated Press)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
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