eff

Hackers exploit chink in Web's armor

A long-known but little-discussed vulnerability in the modern Internet's design was highlighted yesterday by a report that hackers traced to Iran spoofed the encryption procedures used to secure connections to Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, and other major Web sites.

This design, pioneered by Netscape in the early and mid-1990s, allows the creation of encrypted channels to Web sites, an important security feature typically identified by a closed lock icon in a browser. The system relies on third parties to issue so-called certificates that prove that a Web site is legitimate when making an "https://" connection.

The problem, however, … Read more

FBI to announce new Net-wiretapping push

The FBI is expected to reveal tomorrow that because of the rise of Web-based e-mail and social networks, it's "increasingly unable" to conduct certain types of surveillance that would be possible on cellular and traditional telephones.

FBI general counsel Valerie Caproni will outline what the bureau is calling the "Going Dark" problem, meaning that police can be thwarted when conducting court-authorized eavesdropping because Internet companies aren't required to build in back doors in advance, or because technology doesn't permit it.

Any solution, according to a copy of Caproni's prepared comments obtained by … Read more

FLASHBACK! Buzz Out Loud 1262: Apple raises the bars (podcast)

You say Flashback, I say Unicorn of Rock! Go!

There's a fix coming for the iPhone 4's antenna problems: Apple will make the signal strength meter go higher, no matter what. Seriously? Yes. Also, Steve Jobs did not say, "It's just a phone," Microsoft doesn't care which way you insert your batteries, and there is no space dust on Hayabusa.

The jailbreaking exemption has its limits

Editors' note: This is a guest column. See Larry Downes' bio below.

The U.S. Copyright Office on Monday granted an exemption to users who install unapproved applications or switch carriers on their smartphones. That act, when applied to the Apple iPhone, is often referred to as "jailbreaking."

Apple and others have argued that such activities violate provisions of 1998 revisions to federal copyright law known as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, specifically provisions that forbid the circumvention of security technologies a copyright holder uses to ensure that its software is not modified without permission.

The Copyright Office … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1262: Apple raises the bars (podcast)

Firefox add-on encrypts sessions with Facebook, Twitter

The Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Tor Project have released a public beta of a new Firefox extension that lets people encrypt their communications with Facebook, Twitter, and other sites.

The HTTPS Everywhere Firefox extension was inspired by Google's encrypted Web search option, the EFF said in announcing the tool on Thursday.

In addition to Facebook and Twitter, the Web sites that the software works on are Google Search, Wikipedia, The New York Times, The Washington Post, PayPal, EFF, Tor, and Ixquick.

The tool works by creating an HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) connection to the sites. But even … Read more

Advocacy groups: Facebook privacy changes not enough

Updated at 12:31 p.m. PDT: with comments from a Facebook spokesman.

Facebook's recent announcement that it had simplified and enhanced its privacy settings wasn't enough to satisfy the privacy activists that have become some of its sharpest critics.

In an open letter on Wednesday, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the ACLU of Northern California, and the Center for Democracy and Technology urged Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to make "instant personalization" opt-in by default and provide more privacy options including allowing users to "control every piece of information they can share via Facebook." Instant … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1230: The accumulation of little indignities (podcast)

The indignities start with problem in the New York studio that keep Molly from being visible on today's show, and then end with the realization that all those browser preferences are basically a trackable fingerprint that's further eroding any illusion of online privacy you might have ever had. Also, Google's getting into the phone business. Again.

Subscribe with iTunes (audio) Subscribe with iTunes (video) Subscribe with RSS (audio) Subscribe with RSS (video)… Read more

EFF knocks iPhone developer license agreement

The Electronic Frontier Foundation obtained a copy of Apple's iPhone developer license agreement and posted the 28-page document on its Web site on Tuesday.

The digital rights watchdog group used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain the document (PDF) from NASA after it noticed the NASA App for the iPhone.

The EFF has also listed what it describes as "a few troubling highlights" from the agreement.

In order to be eligible to sell an application on Apple's App Store, for example, developers must agree to the license agreement, part of which forbids public statements about … Read more

EFF sues feds for info on social-network surveillance

The Electronic Frontier Foundation sued the CIA, the U.S. Department of Defense, Department of Justice, and three other government agencies on Tuesday for allegedly refusing to release information about how they are using social networks in surveillance and investigations.

The nonprofit Internet rights watchdog group formally asked more than a dozen agencies or departments in early October to provide records about federal guidelines on the use of sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr for investigative or data gathering purposes, according to the lawsuit.

The requests were prompted by published news reports about how authorities are using social networks to … Read more