encrypt

India has canceled a ban of BlackBerry services that was scheduled to occur at the end of October.

A press release from India's Ministry of Home Affairs on Friday confirmed the news, saying that discussions with RIM had led to an interim agreement under which BlackBerry Messenger services could continue. This agreement provides the Indian government with access to the lawful interception of data over the BlackBerry network, according to the ministry. Further, RIM has promised India that it would offer a final solution by January 31, to give the government continued access.

Details of the agreement were not … Read more

Chances are, there's something on your computer that you don't want other people to see, whether it's financial information, client files, trade secrets, or evidence of your erotic photography hobby. AxCrypt makes it easy to encrypt all types of files, ensuring that your sensitive data is safe from prying eyes.

The program integrates easily into Windows, appearing as an item in any file's context menu. Users simply right-click on the item they want to encrypt, select AxCrypt from the menu, and choose Encrypt. The program lets users select a password for the file and optionally create … Read more

Research In Motion and the United Arab Emirates have reached an agreement to call off a BlackBerry ban that was scheduled to start Monday.

Today's press release (Google Translate version) from the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA), which regulates telecommunications for the UAE, confirmed that all BlackBerry services will continue as usual and not be suspended on October 11.

The agency said that BlackBerry services are now compatible with the UAE's regulatory framework and added that RIM had cooperated in offering a compatible solution. Beyond that, the agency offered no details as far as specific actions or measures that … Read more

In an attempt to improve call security on its network, AT&T has added two-factor encryption, the company announced today.

According to AT&T, its encryption service, called Encrypted Mobile Voice, is powered by two products: the KoolSpan TrustChip and SRA International's One Vault Voice. KoolSpan's TrustChip is inserted into a smartphone's microSD slot. With it installed, users are able to place encrypted calls.

AT&T is using One Vault Voice to provide users with an application to control their security. The app integrates into a device's address book and "standard operation&… Read more

Google plans to use Chrome as a tool to reform the Web by encouraging use of a technology the company says will reduce data-transfer delays.

The technology, called False Start, has the potential to reduce one round of back-and-forth communications between a browser and a Web server when establishing an encrypted connection. That's a significant time savings--about 7 hundredths of a second for communication across the United States and 1.5 tenths of a second from California to Europe.

Even better, unlike many protocol improvements that could improve communications, it doesn't even require changes on both sides of … Read more

Microsoft Outlook is a very popular way to keep up with e-mail, calendars, to-do lists, and contact information. Unfortunately, it's not very portable; the information on one computer isn't accessible on another computer without some maneuvering. EssentialPIM Portable is an alternative to Outlook that makes it easy to keep e-mail, schedules, and contacts handy wherever you go.

EssentialPIM Portable's portability doesn't come just from its small size. This attractive personal information manager can actually only be run on U3 smart drives. Its interface reminds us a lot of Outlook, and anyone with Outlook experience should find … Read more

After tangling with foreign governments over BlackBerry encryption issues, Research In Motion's co-CEO has one suggestion: ask the companies that use the smartphones for the encryption keys.

In an interview with the Associated Press, Jim Balsillie, co-CEO of RIM, reiterated the company's assertion that it has no way of giving governments the keys to the corporate data that flow through its BlackBerry networks. But those governments are free to ask BlackBerry-wielding companies themselves for access, a move that would be okay by RIM.

Balsillie added that he could see such countries creating a national registry in which companies … Read more

The Obama administration will seek a new federal law forcing Internet e-mail, instant-messaging, and other communication providers offering encryption to build in backdoors for law enforcement surveillance, The New York Times reported today.

Communication providers, apparently including companies that offer voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services, would be compelled to reconfigure their systems so that police could be guaranteed access to descrambled information.

It could become illegal for a company to offer completely secure encrypted communications--through a protocol such as ZRTP, for instance--if its customers held the keys and the provider did not.

Valerie Caproni, the FBI's general counsel, … Read more

After its recent conflict with Research In Motion over access to customer data, India is expanding its reach to include Google and Skype.

The Indian government is asking all three companies to install local servers in the country so that it can more easily tap into encrypted e-mail and other communications, according to Bloomberg and other sources.

Home Secretary G.K. Pillai told reporters on Wednesday that notices were being sent to Google and Skype to provide "lawful access" of data to security agencies. The country sees access to such communications as vital in its fight against militants … Read more