How resistance to encryption jeopardizes journalism
Earlier today, the Brookings Institution hosted a discussion with FBI Director James B. Comey, who made the case that steps taken by Apple and Google to protect user privacy were damaging the FBI’s efforts to fight crime and safeguard U.S. national security. The discussion was due to take place hours before Apple launched its latest…
Simple steps to protect journalists and sources from eavesdroppers
Journalists are among those most likely to face technical attempts at attack and interception. Reporting is based on discussions with sources who may want to remain out of the limelight, and news sites attract extensive readership, making them a desirable target for potential attackers. But there are simple steps to protect against the most common…
How automatic encryption ensures safety by default
The year is 1991, the month April. EMF is playing on the radio. The term “cyberspace” has existed for only half a decade. The world wide web won’t exist for another four months. The software engineer Linus Torvalds has only just started work on the Linux operating system. The fastest computer you can own has…
Yahoo HTTPS mail not a moment too soon, nor too late
I remember sitting with a Yahoo employee in 2009, talking about the lack of protective encryption on Yahoo’s Web mail accounts. Like many, the employee had been caught up in the news of how Iranians were using the Internet to document and protest the presidential elections in that country, and had grown worried about the…
High-tech censorship on the rise in East Africa
Ethiopia has always been a country at the cutting edge of Internet censorship in Africa. In the wake of violence after the 2005 elections, when other states were only beginning to recognize the potential for online reporters to bypass traditional pressures, Meles Zenawi’s regime was already blocking major news sites and blog hosts such as…