User data encryption in Android using Ecryptfs-Tools
More information about ecryptfs-tools project on https://github.com/catalinionita/Ecryptfs-Tools-for-Android.
By: Catalin Ionita
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User data encryption in Android using Ecryptfs-Tools - Video
End-to-end encryption is widely considered the best defense against a surveillance dragnet, but the tech companies that many of us interact with on a daily basisFacebook, Google, Twitterhave been slow to offer protections for users. The Verge reported Wednesday that Twitter, which had reportedly planned to encrypt direct messages, has dropped the project to focus on more pressing matters.
Twitter's been working on improvements to direct messages, but encryption fell by the wayside.
It isnt that Twitter doesnt believe in encryption, according to The Verge. Its just that the 7-year-old micro-blogging site has a lot more to accomplish in the near-term: like satisfying shareholders, who are slightly concerned that Twitters growth has stagnated. As The Verge notes, Twitter has a reputation for bucking the establishment. It was one of the few tech companies that declined to participate in the National Security Agencys PRISM surveillance program, and regularly fights government requests for user data. Twitter may still roll out encryption for DMs when it's done simplifying its own product to entice new users.
But the news will come as a disappointment to security watchdogs pushing companies like Twitter, Facebook, and Google to step up their privacy protection efforts.
End-to-end encryption is one of those tech buzz phrases that the average Internet user hasnt pondered too deeply until recently, when it became clear that the NSA is digging into your email, chats, and social networking activities. Edward Snowden appeared at South by Southwest Interactive to encourage tech companies to employ end-to-end encryption for their users, but dont expect major security overhauls anytime soon.
Facebook, Yahoo, Google, and the like use SSL encryption, which is simpler to use than end-to-end but doesnt go as far to protect your information. When you send an email using Yahoo, for instance, the message is encrypted on your end but then decrypted on Yahoos server before being sent along to your intended recipient. End-to-end encryption means the message would remain encrypted on Yahoos server, too.
But end-to-end encryption software isnt easy to use, as the Washington Post broke down in the wake of Snowdens early revelations, and little headway has been made to simplify the process. Until the day comes when you dont have to exchange public keys, a secure means of identity verification, to chat with people, dont expect social networks to offer full message encryption.
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Twitter reportedly drops plan to encrypt direct messages
News
By Zach Miners
March 19, 2014 05:58 AM ET
IDG News Service - If you're a Facebook user and you want the best form of encryption to keep hackers and spies out of your posts and chats, you don't have a ton of options now.
Facebook has gradually amped up its security protocols and encryption methods over the years. This includes its "bug bounty" program that pays outsiders to uncover security holes, as well as HTTPS encryption, which encrypts people's communications in transit but still decrypts it at data centers before re-encrypting it.
However, end-to-end encryption, which holds promise as the best way to secure users' posts, is not in any of Facebook's major products by default. The technology is meant to encrypt people's communications at their client devices so that governments and others must target the person and not Facebook's data centers.
Facebook has been able to deploy end-to-end encryption for a long time, Chief Security Officer Joe Sullivan said on Tuesday. It hasn't rolled the technology out across its services partly due to its complexity. The company has also held back because, when end-to-end encryption is done right, it's hard for the average person to communicate, he said.
"If you use end-to-end encryption on email, you realize how hard it can be," Sullivan said during a talk with the press at Facebook's headquarters in Menlo Park, California. End-to-end encryption can be hard for people to use and understand because it typically requires a manual process of exchanging public keys between the sender and receiver whenever they send an email or any other type of message.
If Facebook users want that type of security, there are some third-party apps they can use to add end-to-end encryption to Facebook's services, Sullivan said.
Continued here:
Facebook holds back on end-to-end encryption
If you're a Facebook user and you want the best form of encryption to keep hackers and spies out of your posts and chats, you don't have a ton of options now.
Facebook has gradually amped up its security protocols and encryption methods over the years. This includes its "bug bounty" program that pays outsiders to uncover security holes, as well as HTTPS encryption, which encrypts people's communications in transit but still decrypts it at data centers before re-encrypting it.
However, end-to-end encryption, which holds promise as the best way to secure users' posts, is not in any of Facebook's major products by default. The technology is meant to encrypt people's communications at their client devices so that governments and others must target the person and not Facebook's data centers.
IDG News Service - If you're a Facebook user and you want the best form of encryption to keep hackers and spies out of your posts and chats, you don't have a ton of options now.
Facebook has gradually amped up its security protocols and encryption methods over the years. This includes its "bug bounty" program that pays outsiders to uncover security holes, as well as HTTPS encryption, which encrypts people's communications in transit but still decrypts it at data centers before re-encrypting it.
However, end-to-end encryption, which holds promise as the best way to secure users' posts, is not in any of Facebook's major products by default. The technology is meant to encrypt people's communications at their client devices so that governments and others must target the person and not Facebook's data centers.
Facebook has been able to deploy end-to-end encryption for a long time, Chief Security Officer Joe Sullivan said on Tuesday. It hasn't rolled the technology out across its services partly due to its complexity. The company has also held back because, when end-to-end encryption is done right, it's hard for the average person to communicate, he said.
"If you use end-to-end encryption on email, you realize how hard it can be," Sullivan said during a talk with the press at Facebook's headquarters in Menlo Park, California. End-to-end encryption can be hard for people to use and understand because it typically requires a manual process of exchanging public keys between the sender and receiver whenever they send an email or any other type of message.
If Facebook users want that type of security, there are some third-party apps they can use to add end-to-end encryption to Facebook's services, Sullivan said.
Facebook has tried to support end-to-end encryption as a concept, Sullivan said. "At a minimum, we want to support third-party initiatives," he said.
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For Facebook, delivering the strongest security would be a challenge
Category: Science & Technology Posted: March 18, 2014 03:02PM Author: Guest_Jim_*
Information is an ever growing asset with ever growing value, but just as it becomes more powerful our means of securing information must also grow stronger. Security systems that take advantage of quantum mechanics could be the technologies of choice in the future. Now researchers at the Center for Quantum Technology at the National University of Singapore have devised a new way to secure information that could one day be deployed in our devices.
It is not uncommon for someone to provide information, such as a pin number to a system for verification. Ideally you can trust the system, but sometimes you cannot and this is where the new system can help. It works by creating pairs of photons at one point, called Alice, and having Alice measure half of each pair. Alice then sends the other photons to the other point, called Bob, which then measures the photons. Bob then chooses which photons he wants more information about without revealing his picks to Alice. At this point both Alice and Bob wait a sufficient period of time that any quantum information they may have stored will have decayed. Now Alice can send Bob the information he wants and they can both process the data they have to arrive at information they want. This protocol is known as a 1-2 Random Oblivious Transfer (ROT) as neither party knows about the data the other has.
For their experiments, the researchers performed a random oblivious transfer of 1366 bits and it all finished in about three minutes. While that was done with optics covering a large area, it could potentially be integrated into microchips and allow us to walk around with quantum security devices in our pockets.
Source: Center for Quantum Technologies at the National University of Singapore
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New Quantum Cryptography System for Securely Sharing Information
Julian Assange: Sysadmins of the world, unite!
Sysadmins of the world, unite! a call to resistance Finally, the world is aware of the threat of mass surveillance and control, but we still have a fight on ...
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Julian Assange: Sysadmins of the world, unite! - Video
WikiLeaks Party gets Number 1 Spot - Channel Ten segment
At the Western Australia Senate Election today we chanced the prized number 1 "poll position" on the Group Voting Tickets Ballot forms. This gives us the bes...
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WikiLeaks Party gets Number 1 Spot - Channel Ten segment - Video
Narendra Modi Exposed
Wikileaks had exposed Narendra Modi about his fake story of "Incorruptable" According to Wikileaks :- No WikiLeaks document say #Modi is #39;incorruptable #39;
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Narendra Modi Exposed - Video