A former head of MI5 has argued against undermining end-to-end encryption in messaging apps like WhatsApp, claiming it will damage broader cybersecurity efforts.

Jonathan Evans, who left the secret service in 2013 and is now a crossbencher in the House of Lords, made the comments in an interview with BBC Radio 4’s Today program on Friday.

Read more: Source Infosecurity Magazine

The pressure is now on for UK organizations to comply with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) after the government announced its intention to write the legislation officially into law in the form of a new Data Protection Bill.

The proposed bill will upgrade the UK’s privacy laws for the digital age, providing consumers with sweeping new rights while mandating strict requirements on businesses which handle their data.

Read more: Source Infosecurity Group

The refreshing thing about the recent encryption debate is how politicians cheerfully admit that their plans have no basis in reality.

Take Malcolm Turnbull, the Australian Prime Minister. Last month he proposed legislation that would force internet companies to remove end-to-end encryption, saying: "The laws of mathematics are very commendable, but the only law that applies in Australia is the law of Australia."

Read More: Source Sky News

German police are set to make use of new laws to hack the devices of criminal suspects in order to monitor communications, bypassing the need to force tech companies to provide encryption backdoors.

Read more: Infosecurity Group

Using photos of young women and Hebrew slang, the Palestinian militant group Hamas chatted up dozens of Israeli soldiers online, gaining control of their phone cameras and microphones, the military said on Wednesday.

Read more: source Reuters

Reports show that soldiers in the US military who send emails that are not classified are leaving themselves open to attack as there is no encryption. After receiving a mountain of criticism the pentagon have finally given the order to start encrypting all emails within a year.

Read more, Source engadget

The governemnets in the intelligence sharing partnership between Australia, Canada, New zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States commonly known as "The Five eyes" are to meet in Ottawa to discuss how to bypass encryption.

Read more, Source Human Rights watch

Research showing how accelerometers can be hacked has recently come to attention. Accelerometers which are present in most smartphones of today are used to detect motion of a phone. Recent studies have shown how they can be manipulated using sound waves. This combined with previously reported issues with accelerometers such as using them as a basic microphone or as a method to decipher words from a nearby computer keyboard highlights an important challenge for cyber security.

Read more source: New York Times

Information collected by Context Information Security (CIS) has shown that some conference call systems typically used in boardrooms are at risk to hackers. They were able to take root control of a market leading conference and video phone which would allow them to listen to meeting and gain potentially sensitive information undetected.

Read more; source Vanilla Plus

A new cleaner, more informative look we hope that our new website will help you to be informed about mobile voice and message security and of course our products. There is much going on so please do watch this site.  Very soon you will also see our social media feeds light up with information about us and our products.  Please do browse around and see why Enigma products are the best in their class

Draft reports seem to suggest that the EU wish to ban the implementation of so called backdoors to encrypted data. This might cause a problem for many systems; not Enigma E2. Backdoors are not possible on E2

Read more, Source; The Guardian

Loophole found in the implementation of the signal encryption protocol used by popular messaging service WhatsApp. In April 2016 the messaging giant implemented end to end encryption into its service for added security of its users. It has now come to light that the signal encryption protocol has not been implemented correctly and could potentially be used as a backdoor that could create new encryption keys. Whilst this cannot be used for mass surveillance of users it does leave individuals who are being targeted open to exploitation.

The regulation of investigatory powers act has now been passed in the UK which provides more power to security services and sets boundaries on their ability to gain information on citizens without a warrant. Internet companies will now have to retain browser history for up to a year and in a world where the reliance on technology and the web is ever increasing the true potential invasiveness of this act cannot be adequately measured

German Security Researcher Karsten Nohl recently went on TV highlighting how easy it is to hack a mobile phone and gain access to a user’s messages as well as listen to their calls. The hack uses the network interchange service Signalling System 7 (SS7) known as C7 in the UK. SS7 acts as a broker between mobile phone networks and handles number translation, sms transfer and other duties that connect one network caller to another. If an SS7 system is successfully attacked then then a person’s location, messages and calls can all be monitored.

Intsec announces a major new development programme. IDG will bring our unique secure technology together with 3G and 4G, providing users with additional facilities that include securing all messaging formats and secure voice mail. E2 is the advance product of this programme that is projected to be completed by the end of 2012. Secure global connectivity has been achieved and ensuring this continues is crucial to protecting your investment into our technology. The Intsec Development Group brings together internal and external partners covering diverse and in many cases unique technologies into one group with the aim of developing innovative secure products.

A survey from access control management specialist Courion found that one-fifth of large IT decision makers said their business had no plan to block employee-owned devices from accessing the corporate network, and 10 percent of the respondents admitted to facing data breaches after the loss of a mobile device with access to their network. Read more source Information Week

Android malware has jumped 400 percent since the summer of 2010, says a new report from Juniper Networks Global Threat Center. 
The report contributes the malware surge to users who are "unaware, disinterested or uneducated" in mobile security. In addition, a large number of downloads are coming from unknown sources and few smartphones are running security software. 
"Consumers can expect to see more advanced malware attacks against the Android platform," according to the report. These attacks include "command and control zombies and botnet participators, devices that are remotely controlled to execute malicious attacks." Read more source, FieceMobileIT

International Security (INTSEC Ltd) is pleased to announce a strategic new supply contract with a major British defence contractor. Valued at just under a million pounds over two years. International Security will be supplying both Tripleton® Enigma mobile and static line encryption systems to protect high value mission critical projects within the UK and Europe. International Security looks forward to a long-term partnership providing a significant implementation of Tripleton Enigma as well as the new Falcon project scheduled to start late 2009.

The home secretary, faces a revolt from her senior officials over plans to build a central database holding information on every telephone call, e-mail and internet visit made in the UK. 
 The Times

"His wiretaps made Mr. Pellicano an “uninvited and unknown” party to calls between “parents and children, husband and wife, husband and lover, doctor and patient, lawyer and client,” Mr. Lally said, “so he could always remain one, two, three steps ahead of an adversary.” 
New York Times

Two enterprising researchers claim to have figured out a way to eavesdrop on calls made using GSM mobile phones, cracking open its 64-bit A5 encryption. According to David Hulton and Steve Muller, who presented the technique at the Black Hat security conference in Washington this week, GSM calls can now be recorded over long distances and cracked open in half an hour using only $1,000 worth of field-programmable gate array-aided computer equipment and a frequency scanner. 
"The Washington Post"

Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis and several ministers had their mobile phones tapped for more than a year, the government has confirmed. BBC News

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