encryption

The UK government has gotten a rejection of its request earlier this year asking WhatsApp to build a backdoor that will allow it to access data on criminals using the chat service to communicate. 

The UK government, after a series of terrorist attacks on it soil has called for the backdoor from tech companies like Telegram and WhatsApp, a well known service by terrorist to communicate because of the encryption service both services provide.

                    

The UK government is looking to reach a compromise with tech companies that will allow it to accept the warrant during investigations, but the tech companies believe such security compromise with government will undermine the security services they had promised their users.

The issue between government accessing users' messages and tech companies started with the UK government after they could not read the messages sent and received by Khalid Masood, a perpetrator of the Westminster attack.

The UK government is not the only one seeking to have access to the information, the US government Vs Apple too happened after the  San Bernardino attack. The back and forth court case generated a lot of reactions from citizens that believes that Apple should not protect people that are attacking US citizens, including the then candidate Trump, saying he would ditch his Apple Phone for Samsung if Apple won't help FBI access the messages of the San Bernadino attackers.

Tim Cook while responding to the allegations, said that weakening encryption for the government will only affect the public while terrorists will find other ways to communicate as they always do.

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A new leaked document obtained by the  Open Rights Group has detailed how the UK government is planning to force technology companies to build a backdoor on their products/devices that will allow intelligence agencies gain access, and read people's messages.

The surveillance proposal will allow intelligence agencies spy on one in 10,000 citizens, allowing more than 6,500 to be vulnerable at one time.

                   

The proposal also will let telecommuncations company to provide real-time communication of a customer to the government within one working day.

This will also ban encryption, a security measure that companies like Facebook, and the banks use to provide an extra layer of security from hackers, or eavesdropping. The ban of encryption will give room to not just the government, but a third party person might explore the new loopholes to attack the devices or read messages.

The document though stated that intelligence agencies will only be granted access to get detail about a person or read their messages, after the approval of a judge appointed by the prime minister.

The proposal will also need to be passed through the house of parliament before it can be added to our the law.

 

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The latest development by WhatsApp messenger could be a major move in the right direction for users, and also could be a major block for the app in countries like India, UK and France. The latest end-to-end encryption means that users messages cannot be intercepted by hackers, oppressive governments or other law enforcement agencies.

                 

The popular messenger is currently facing ban in the UK as new laws is being proposed to stop people from sending any form of encrypted messages.

Speaking earlier this year, the UK prime minister, David Cameron said;

 In our country, do we want to allow a means of communication between people which we cannot read?My answer to that question is no we must not. If I am Prime Minister, I will make sure it is a comprehensive piece of legislation that makes sure we do not allow terrorist safe spaces to communicate with each other.

Another country that the popular ap might face ban is India. The country has a strict law on encrypted messages, and WhatsApp latest updates breaks this tough rule, and if the update is not reversed, WhatsApp might loose 100million fans of the app using it in India.

WhatsApp is a popular app in India, and banning the app might cause outrage among the users, but it might be blocked if the government sees it will caue security threats in the country.

France government is also looking into blocking out such services after the Paris attack incident, and also the FBI vs Apple case, and had said it will punish any security outlet in the country that refuses to cooperate with the government agencies to track down terrorists in the country.

Brazil also blocked WhatsApp app in the country after the company refuses to release a message of a suspect to the police in a court case. 

WhatsApp might face different bans in different countries, but we all await to see how this one comes out

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You should never, ever just email credit card numbers, passwords, or other private information. You don't know how many servers the message will pass through between your computer and the recipient's, or who has access to those servers. Email is only slightly more private than a billboard. (A slight exaggeration, but you get the point.)

A truly private message must be encrypted before it leaves your computer, and remain encrypted until the recipient receives it. I will show you how i send Emails and other highly confidential information without a special password. Its a cloud-based service called Sendinc.

To use this service, both you and the recipient must have Sendinc accounts. Joining is easy, and unless your messages are larger than 10MB each, or you're sending more than 20 of them a day, a free membership will do. If you send a message to someone who doesn't have a membership, they'll be invited to sign up.

                

 

Sendinc uploads and downloads encrypted information via SSL (the same technology used by banks and shopping sites). Your messages remain encrypted on the Sendinc server, with a unique password per message, until they are destroyed after seven days. During that time, they will only be decrypted for delivery (via SSL) to the recipient.

Remember that your security is only as good as your password. Come up with a strong one that no one is likely to guess....

You can also use Sendinc for your email application, i.e Microsoft Outlook..

To learn more about how Sendinc works please here

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