Apple has announced Advanced Data Protection, an optional switch that enables end-to-end encryption for more types of iCloud data, including iCloud Backups, iCloud Drive, Photos, Notes, Reminders, and more.
The FBI has cracked the iPhone at the center of the Pensacola naval base shooting case, but the agency still slammed Apple’s stance on encryption. This time, Apple didn’t pull any punches in its rebuttal.
Reuters is reporting that Apple dropped plans to offer a stronger encryption option for iCloud backups under pressure from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Years after the FBI backed down from trying to force Apple to put a backdoor in the iPhone, it looks like the agency may be trying again by requesting that Apple decrypt iPhones related to the December 2019 shooting in Pensacola.
Security expert Jon Callas has written a four-part series for the ACLU on problems with the latest government proposal—this time from the UK’s GCHQ—to allow the government to listen in on encrypted communications. Spoiler: it won’t work.
iOS 11.4 betas include a USB Restricted Mode that would make it harder for law enforcement and government agencies to extract information from a locked iPhone.