Page 24 - aruba-today-20191005

A24 TECHNOLOGY
Saturday 5 OctOber 2019
U.S. authorities seek access to Facebook encrypted messaging

By ANICK JESDANUN and went to court to block
AP Technology Writer an FBI demand for Apple
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. At- to disable security mea-
torney General William sures that complicated ef-
Barr and other U.S., U.K. forts to guess the phone’s
and Australian officials are passcode. While the FBI
pressing Facebook to give cast its request as a limited
authorities a way to read emergency measure, CEO
encrypted messages sent Tim Cook argued that the
by ordinary users, re-ignit- technique could easily be
ing tensions between tech used again, making iPhone
companies and law en- users more vulnerable to
forcement. spies and thieves. The FBI
Facebook’s WhatsApp al- relented after it found an-
ready uses so-called end- other way of getting into
to-end encryption, which the San Bernardino phone.
locks up messages so that Barr will make the request
even Facebook can’t read to Facebook in a letter
their contents. Facebook with U.S. Homeland Secu-
plans to extend that pro- rity Secretary Kevin McA-
tection to Messenger and leenan, U.K. Home Secre-
Instagram Direct. tary Priti Patel and Australia
But the officials will ask Home Affairs Minister Peter
Facebook to hold off in an Dutton. BuzzFeed News re-
open letter to Facebook ported on the letter earlier.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg . A In this July 23, 2019 file photo U.S. Attorney General William Barr addresses the International The Justice Department
copy of the letter, dated Conference on Cyber Security at Fordham University in New York. calls the growing use of
Friday, was obtained by Associated Press end-to-end encrypted
The Associated Press. makes messaging insecure Facebook said Thursday effort to persuade technol- communications the “go-
“Companies should not for everyone. Redesign- that people have the right ogy companies to weaken ing dark” problem, refer-
deliberately design their ing encryption to create to have private conversa- or bypass encryption upon encing the way encryption
systems to preclude any “backdoors” for police also tions online and that com- requests from law enforce- shields information that law
form of access to content, creates vulnerabilities that panies are already able ment. enforcement could previ-
even for preventing or in- criminals or foreign spies to respond to government Former FBI Director James ously access easily.
vestigating the most serious can exploit, they say. agencies when they re- Comey championed the Barr gave lengthy com-
crimes,” the officials wrote. “Every couple of years, the ceive valid legal requests. need for law enforcement ments on what he de-
The letter repeatedly em- FBI rears its ugly head and “We strongly oppose gov- to find a workaround for scribed as a dangerous
phasizes the dangers of tells us they need to have ernment attempts to build encrypted devices and increase in device encryp-
child sexual exploitation to access to end-to-end en- backdoors because they communications. He led a tion at a cybersecurity con-
justify their stance. crypted messaging,” said would undermine the priva- highly publicized push to ference this summer in New
Law enforcement has long Eva Galperin, director of cy and security of people gain access to an iPhone York. During his comments,
sought a way to read en- cybersecurity at the Elec- everywhere,” Facebook belonging to one perpe- Barr specifically detailed
crypted messages that’s tronic Frontier Foundation, spokesman Joe Osborne trator of a terrorist attack the use of WhatsApp group
analogous to wiretaps for a digital-rights advocacy said in a statement. in San Bernardino, Califor- chat by a drug cartel to
phone calls. Security ex- group. “You cannot make The letter marks yet an- nia, that killed 14 people in coordinate the murders
perts, however, say giv- a backdoor that only good other salvo in the Justice 2015. of Mexico-based police
ing police such access guys can go through.” Department’s continuing Apple resisted such efforts officials.q

Google commits to White

House job training initiative

training opportunities for technology support in less to America’s Workers .”
Americans. than six months _ no col- “Through this pledge, as
CEO Sundar Pichai an- lege degree or prior ex- Ivanka mentioned, we are
nounced the commitment perience required, Pichai committed to creating
during an appearance said. 250,000 new training op-
with White House senior More than 85,000 stu- portunities for American
adviser Ivanka Trump at dents have enrolled in the workers over the next five
El Centro community col- course since its launch in years,” Pichai said at a
lege in Dallas. January 2018. roundtable discussion with

White House senior adviser Ivanka Trump, right, speaks with Ivanka Trump, President Expanding the course and school administrators and
Google CEO Sundar Pichai at El Centro College in Dallas, Donald Trump’s daughter, creating another pathway students who have com-
Thursday, Oct. 3, 2019. oversees the administra- to the fast-growing, high- pleted the IT support pro-
Associated Press tion’s worker training ef- paying field of IT support gram.
By DARLENE SUPERVILLE million people for technol- forts. is part of the tech giant’s “I cannot tell you how ex-
Associated Press ogy jobs, adding its name Google is also expanding decision to join more than cited we are about this,”
WASHINGTON (AP) — to a White House initiative a program it developed to 350 U.S. companies and added Ivanka Trump. “IT
Google pledged Thursday designed to get private prepare people for entry- add its name to the Trump is such a critical industry to
to help train a quarter of a companies to expand level jobs in information administration’s “ Pledge this nation.”q