[Cryptography] new wiretap resistance in iOS 8

[Jerry Leichter]

On Sep 18, 2014, at 1:30 AM, John Denker <jsd at av8n.com> wrote:
> Quoting from the new iOS 8 privacy policy announced 
> tonight Wed Sep 17.
> 
>> Apple has no way to decrypt iMessage and FaceTime data when it’s in
>> transit between devices. So unlike other companies’ messaging
>> services, Apple doesn’t scan your communications, and we wouldn’t be
>> able to comply with a wiretap order even if we wanted to.
Actually, I think for iMessage and maybe FaceTime, they've said this before.  They go beyond that to say that they are unable get data off a locked iPhone 6 - a really big change, and as far as I know the first such statement by any device maker.  (They do *not* make a similar statement about stuff in iCloud.  There are all kinds of reasons why that's much more challenging; it'll be interesting to see if they move in that direction, however.)

>  https://www.apple.com/privacy/privacy-built-in/
> 
> This is new.
> 
> This is widely being interpreted as payback for 
> a) NSA attacks against Apple,
> b) wiretap orders that Apple considers overly broad, and
> c) lack of adequate legal process to challenge wiretap orders.
> 
> I reckon we are now all set for a reprise of the Clipper-chip
> wars of the mid-1990s.  Legislation will be introduced to 
> compel manufacturers to cripple their crypto....
I doubt it.  The attacks will be subtle, indirect, and well hidden.  An attempt at doing something in the open right now would produce a firestorm and would almost certainly fail, which from the point of view of the Peeping Tom Agencies (PTA's) would be worse than nothing.  They lost the Clipper war in a time when there was little public understanding or even awareness of the issues.

Always remember that these are professional players in the political and bureaucratic game.  They were here yesterday; they are here today; they'll be here tomorrow, next week, next year.  The long game is a natural for them - their opponents lose interest, move on to other things, miss the series of small moves behind the curtains.  Unfortunately, the only hope of keeping them in check is to have professionals oppose them.  Right now, the big tech powers are beginning to play that role.  As long as Apple and Google and Microsoft see it as important to their businesses to fight the PTA's, the PTA's will find themselves constrained.  If the big guys decide it's no long important to them, the PTA's will be back in control within a fairly short time.
                                                        -- Jerry

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