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Senior Apple Engineers Say Hackers Are Main iPhone Security Threat, Not Government
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You know, this argument is like, "which is worse, to be burned or drowned?" i guess it depends on whether you are in a forest, or near the ocean, as to what you'll worry about.
First of all, they were interment camps, not concentration camps.
The US Military had good reason for internment as there were several acts of sabotage by a very well established Japanese supported Fifth Column on the west coast before American entry into WWII. These acts of sabotage and arguable assassination of individuals let the FBI and other Federal agencies to "round them all up" as there was no profile to discover actual perpetrators other than those of Japanese decent.
On the east coast, a lot of "German-American Friendship Club" members were rounded up in liberal universities as similar Fifth Column operations were already underway. Love or hate J. Edgar Hoover, he was in charge of this to keep stateside espionage to a minimum.
Rounding up an ethnicity for sake of national security can happen again if something occurs to the domestic USA. What you think all those FEMA camps in the middle of nowhere are for? Conservative gun owners -- I think not!
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Also don't forgot only us citizens kill thrmselves by the thousands each year by your freedoms
[doublepost=1460948518][/doublepost]The IT engineers may be correct, but it's best to protect against all forms of intrusion. Trust, but verify.
Apple may be embroiled in an ongoing battle with the U.S. government over privacy rights and the boundaries of encryption, but in a meeting with reporters (via TechCrunch), Apple security engineers said the government is not the threat they aim to counter when implementing new security features for iOS devices.Hackers, not the government, are what Apple aims to counter by beefing up security, and Apple engineers don't want to be "viewed as government adversaries." With every iOS update, hackers, some malicious and some not, make an effort to discover previously unknown security flaws able to be exploited to gain access to iOS devices. Apple has to continually work to eliminate vulnerabilities and improve security in never-ending race.
In the call, TechCrunch says Apple engineers explained features in its Security White Paper [PDF] to reporters in an effort to emphasize the work that goes into protecting data, highlighting features like the Secure Enclave, Touch ID, two-factor authentication, and end-to-end encryption in iMessage.
Built into devices utilizing an A7 or later, the Secure Enclave, which maintains encryption keys directly on the chip, is a separate chip with its own secure boot and personalized software that's updated separately from the application processor. With iOS 8, Apple improved encryption for devices, making it impossible for the company to access data on a locked iPhone.
According to Apple engineers, who reportedly "disputed the theory" the iPhone's security allows criminals to evade law enforcement, implementing strong security measures is necessary to protect personal privacy for all people. In past arguments, Apple executives have also pointed out that even if the iPhone did have weaker encryption, criminals would be savvy enough to seek out other encryption methods like messaging apps with end-to-end encryption while the average consumer would be left more vulnerable.
Amid its dispute with the FBI, reports suggested Apple had already begun work on implementing stronger security measures to protect iOS devices, and in today's call with reporters, Apple said it has revamped its internal security teams.
Update: The Verge has shared additional details on the press briefing.
Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.
Article Link: Senior Apple Engineers Say Hackers Are Main iPhone Security Threat, Not Government
Cowboys aways have the upper hand in espionage and security issues. It is only the movies that the "academy" types have the upper hand.
And in WW2 when Alan Turing and his team broke the Enigma. He was certainly no cowboy.
Interesting report from 60 mins, not that it's really new.
http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/276626-60-minutes-hacks-congressmans-phone-for-security-report
http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/276626-60-minutes-hacks-congressmans-phone-for-security-report
There is one problem with this article: Confusing "threat" with "threat model".
Security engineers create a "threat model" (how do we believe the iPhone security will be attacked) and then do things to stop the threats that the threat model predicts.
Government action doesn't fit into a "threat model". The engineers don't worry about whether it's the government trying to get into your phone or some evil hackers. There is no difference in the attack against the phone. (As we have seen, the government attack turned into an attack by hackers). So they may see government action as a threat against users. (Although in this case, the government's desire to look into that iPhone was completely legitimate). In some countries it might be a huge threat. But the fact that it is a government attacking doesn't change anything about the attack, so the engineers don't look specifically at government attacks.
They might have a threat model "someone with $100 million spare cash could use enormous computing power to crack our encryption" and do something about it, but not a threat model "the government could use its money to crack our encryption".
Security engineers create a "threat model" (how do we believe the iPhone security will be attacked) and then do things to stop the threats that the threat model predicts.
Government action doesn't fit into a "threat model". The engineers don't worry about whether it's the government trying to get into your phone or some evil hackers. There is no difference in the attack against the phone. (As we have seen, the government attack turned into an attack by hackers). So they may see government action as a threat against users. (Although in this case, the government's desire to look into that iPhone was completely legitimate). In some countries it might be a huge threat. But the fact that it is a government attacking doesn't change anything about the attack, so the engineers don't look specifically at government attacks.
They might have a threat model "someone with $100 million spare cash could use enormous computing power to crack our encryption" and do something about it, but not a threat model "the government could use its money to crack our encryption".
If you really want to get down to brass tacks, for every big name taking credit, there are dozens of cowboys that made it happen. Alan Turing was no different. Many Bletchley Park code-breakers considered Turning an opportunist and over-promoted himself at the right tea rooms during the war making him look better than his own talent could create. Many of the best that got into "the park" deciphering the "puzzle in puzzle" of the London Times crosswords and other broadsheets during the war. These meta-puzzles were the inspriation for the Cicada 3301 effort to recruit more cowboys working cross discipline.
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In Soviet Russia, government is the primary "threat model."
Oh really? What grave threat is out there taking over nation states (not failed states) and taking away freedoms? How does a kid being killed by a drone in Yemen protect my freedomz in any way?
If you really want the hard data, all of this middle east intervention is part of a proxy war with China. While the press tries to make Russia look like the boogie man, it is China that is really stirring the pot.
I've never bought into the Russian boogeyman narrative (what do you expect a country to do that has been cast as the mortal enemy for 50+ years, and slowly but surely surrounded by the US military and it's assets (NATO)?)
With that said, China being imperialist (other than a few islands right now, but that seems to be in response to our pivot to asia where we demand to be the guardians of the shipping lanes) is a bit of a stretch currently. So with all that in mind, who's taking our freedoms away again? <- That's in response to the user I quoted originally.
Wait, don't we always say we don't need a government to make a nanny state to protect us? So we're going to let big businesses become nannies because they do it better than government and for less...
Where's the popcorn at because this is an intellectual's wet dream...