Apple to Start Encrypting iCloud Backups
On Wednesday, Apple introduced its plans to enable users to encrypt additional types of iCloud info on its servers, such as full backups, photos, and notes.
The Advanced Data Protection feature will inhibit Apple from viewing the material of a portion of the most confidential or sensitive data stored on its web server and will prevent Apple from providing the information of an encoded backup to law enforcement.
According to Apple, encoded backups would be opt-in and available in the United States even before the end of this year.
Although Apple initially encrypted much of the data it contains on servers, the whole device backups containing text messages, contacts, as well as other necessary details were not end-to-end encoded, and Apple originally had access to the information of the backups.
The move will impress security advocates, who have originally defined unencrypted iCloud backups as a weak link in Apple’s privacy policy. It also implies that if Apple’s servers were ever hacked, user data would not be revealed.
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It could offend law enforcement, which has relied on Apple’s policy of not encrypting backups to get contents in investigations even though Apple’s iMessage and devices are encrypted.
The FBI criticized Apple’s new feature in a statement on Wednesday, saying that it would “hinder” the bureau’s ability to “protect the American people from criminal acts,” according to the Wall Street Journal.
Source: cnbc.com
Apple notably battled the FBI’s endeavor to persuade it to unlock an encrypted iPhone utilized by a terrorist in San Bernardino, California, through the courts. Apple stated at the time that an iCloud backup on its servers was an alternative for obtaining the same data.
Encryption is generally opposed by law enforcement officials around the world since it enables suspects to go dark and refuses to acknowledge law enforcement access to potential evidence that they might have earlier access to under lower levels of security.
In an interview in 2018, Apple CEO Tim Cook stated that one major consideration in Apple’s decision-making regarding end-to-end encrypted iCloud backups is the fact that customer expects Apple to be able to assist them to recover their data. If users forget their passwords and have Advanced Data Protection enabled, Apple will be unable to reinstate the account since it lacks the required encryption key.
On Wednesday, Apple further introduced two additional security features. Users will have the option to use a physical key as second-factor authentication for Apple ID logins soon. Another update enables users who are vulnerable to major security risks to verify that their text messages are not being intercepted.
Last year, Apple introduced a system to inspect for inappropriate content including child sexual abuse content that used a complex system that would still enable
Apple encrypts user photos on its servers during an evident attempt to appease law enforcement. Privacy advocates argued that the system would mainly enable Apple to scan people’s hard drives. According to The Wall Street Journal, the system’s development has been halted.
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