The British Office of the Home Secretary has reportedly asked Apple to provide a back door to any material every user has uploaded to iCloud worldwide, the Washington Post reported on February 7. Anonymous sources gave the Washington Post the information and expressed concern that tech companies were geared for government monitoring.
Apple has not commented on; In March, however, the company made a statement to parliament on the occasion of receiving a potential request and said “There is no reason why the United Kingdom [government] Should have authority to decide for the citizens of the world whether they can use the proven security benefits flowing from end to end encryption. “
UK -Government request falls in accordance with the law enforcement law
The Office of the Home Secretary acted in accordance with the 2016 British Investigation Act, enabling law enforcement to force companies to meet access to access if this access is part of a search for evidence. Specifically, the Office served Apple with a notice of technical capacity.
A consultant who advises the US government on issues related to encryption called Britain’s request “shocking”, according to the Washington Post.
“If implemented, the Directive creates a dangerous cybersecurity vulnerability in the nervous system in our global economy,” Meredith Whittaker, president of the encrypted messenger nonprofit organizational signal, told the Washington Post.
See: Security professionals in the UK can see Cyber ​​Monitoring Center’s new cyber attack assessment system, but its information may be too wide and too late for practical use.
Advanced data protection comes under fire
The possible back door means that the British government could access information uploaded by personal and business users implementing Apple products, although Apple itself cannot see this information because of the encryption applied to some of its Sky storage. Specifically, the order would give the UK an opening of information covered by Apple’s advanced data protection, an optional security layer introduced by 2022.
If the United Kingdom gets his back door, Apple could close the advanced data protection service.
FBI under President Donald Trump’s first administration protested advanced data protection for similar inaccessible reasons that the United Kingdom is now seeking to circumvent. On the other hand, tech companies like Apple will argue that a back door would be used by criminals or by authoritarian governments against their citizens.
Advanced Data Protection for iCloud is available to Apple users at no extra cost. It can be set using a recovery switch or key on top of a standard, updated Apple Account’s two-factor approval.
“Most” Apple users do not activate advanced data protection, the Washington Post said.