Security Expert: Apple Wins Battle Of CIA

This week, The Intercept with a message about attempts by the CIA to crack the security of iPhones and iPads, but according to security expert Robert Graham Apple wins the battle of the American intelligence service. Intercept relies in its own article on documents from whistleblower Edward Snowden, but according to Graham's website saves the completely wrong in its interpretation.

During various conferences CIA would have looked at how information from iPhones can be decrypted. In 2011, when the conference took place, was decrypting encrypted iPhone data time-intensive and did not always work, says Graham. "The context of the presentation was not that she secretly wanted to spy on anyone. The context was that they wanted to decrypt the phones they received."

Contrary to what is in the article The Intercept is claimed Apple would actually win the battle of the CIA, Graham notes."Apple has made it priceless with the iPhone 4 to find out secrets, except in the most important situations, such as phones from the house of Bin Laden." The expert suggests that the iPhone 6 is likely to become impossible. "If the CIA comes to me, I doubt if they managed to get some information from my iPhone."

Xcode
Graham also discusses the trojaning Xcode, the Apple development tool for compiling iOS apps. This intelligence in all apps loopholes could build. "The CIA is not working to the Xcode that everyone used to trojaning. That would be impossible. They trojaning not the version that Apple provides to developers." Who has need Xcode installed according Graham whatsoever to worry.

Even iPhone users would not have to be afraid that Angry Birds contains a backdoor. "The purpose of the CIA are the hundred users of hawala-like app to make money, which is used only by legitimate targets. " In this case, the CIA would the developer of this app to break his or her Xcode a backdoor provided so that eventually all users of the app can be identified.

Gemalto Denies Scale Theft Encryption Keys

SIM card manufacturer Gemalto denies that the American and British secret services widely encryption keys of SIM cards have been stolen. That leaves the Netherlands-based company after research know.Last week The Intercept came with the message that the US NSA and the British GCHQ in 2010 had obtained access to the network of Gemalto there and had the encryption keys sim captured.

According to the SIM card manufacturer is discovered in 2010 and 2011, two sophisticated attacks against the company that seem to correspond to the attack methods that are defined in the document of The Intercept. In 2010, the company discovered suspicious activity on one of the French sites where a "third party" the office trying to spy.

In July 2010 a second incident was discovered, which were sent phishing e-mails to a telecommunications company seemed from Gemalto and contained an infected attachment. Also, this time it happen several times tried to gain access to the computers of Gemalto staff. The company calls it "likely" that an operation has been carried by the NSA and GCHQ. This would, however, only the office have been compromised.

There has therefore been no large-scale theft of encryption keys. In addition, Gemalto says it had already rolled out a secure exchange system in 2010 for the exchange of these keys with telecom providers, which is the risk of theft would create exceptional. However if keys are captured, they would only intelligence second generation 2G networks can eavesdrop. 3G and 4G networks would not be vulnerable to such attacks.

Researcher: "Gemalto was specifically targeted by GCHQ"

The chip maker based in the Netherlands Gemalto was indeed a specific target of the British secret service GCHQ, although Gemalto denies this in a press release. Yesterday The Intercept dropped on the basis of documents that the NSA and GCHQ in 2010 had broken at Gemalto .

In addition, the encryption keys were to secure mobile communications captured. In a press release states that Gemalto would appear from the publication that it was not necessarily the target. "It was an attempt to maximize net eject and as many mobile phones as possible to reach, with the aim to monitor the mobile communications without the consent of telecom providers and users."

Andrew Fishman, researcher and journalist at The Intercept let on Twitter know that Gemalto was indeed the target of the secret services. Codenamed "Dapino GAMMA" which appears in the documents of the GCHQ are namely GCHQ code name for Gemalto. In an operation of the British secret service, named HIGHLAND FLING, Gemalto is even named. This operation was intended to access the email accounts of Gemalto employees in France and Poland. Because of the revelations is the share of Gemalto on the AEX stock market currently more than 6% in the minus.

NSA And GCHQ Would Have Hacked Sim Manufacturer Gemalto

The American and British secret services were established in the Netherlands SIM card manufacturer Gemalto five years ago there have been hacked and stolen the encryption keys used to secure mobile communications. Thus, the NSA and the British GCHQ would mobile communications eavesdropping without permission of telecom operators and foreign governments.

That claims The Intercept using documents whistleblower Edward Snowden. Gemalto product annually honors 2 billion SIM cards and is one of the largest manufacturers in the world SIM card. According to a presentation in 2010 of the GCHQ, different computers are infected with malware Gemalto that the British secret service at the time thought full access to the network.

Gemalto CEO Paul Beverly called the news disturbing. "The important thing for me is to understand how this could happen just so we can take steps to prevent it does not happen again," he tells The Intercept opposite. After being informed Gemalto's security team has conducted an investigation, but could find no trace of any hack. However, the slides of Snowden dating five years ago.

D66 MP Gerard Schouw call it incredible. He and other policymakers will ask for clarification from the government and want to know whether the AIVD knew Gemalto was a target. "We have a law in the Netherlands on the activities of secret services and hacking is not allowed," said the MP. He also does not think Plasterk such operations would approve by foreign secret services.

Canadian Secret Service Would Monitor Millions Of Downloads

Canadian secret service would monitor millions of daily downloads of Internet users, such as videos, photos, music and other files, according to documents Edward Snowden. According to the documents, the Levitation program of the Canadian Communications Security Establishment (CSE) downloads in several European countries, the Middle East, North Africa and North America monitors.

Ron Deibert, director of the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto, the program compares with a "giant X-ray machine on our digital lives." Any files that users download and upload to popular websites and are collected and analyzed, says Deibert. The download and upload details are kept in a total of 102 different file sharing sites. Only three sites are mentioned by name, ie Rapidshare, SendSpace and the now defunct Megaupload.

The data would be collected directly by tapping the internet cables. Then the IP address of each computer that files downloaded from the websites collected in question. Analysts of the CFE use the IP addresses then in other surveillance databases where they have access to. In this way can be determined on the basis of the collected IP addresses which sites these people even more visits and in some cases what their Google or Facebook accounts.

The documents show that the CSE kept a list of 2,200 special downloads that was suspicious or interesting. Internet users who have downloaded these files could possibly get extra attention from the secret service, says The Intercept that the news about the spying program with CBC News brought out. The documents do not specify whether the Levitation program has ever helped prevent a terrorist attack.