Category Archives: Tim Cook

FBI director: Without compromise on encryption, legislation may be the ‘remedy’

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FBI Director Christopher Wray said Wednesday that unless the U.S. government and private industry are able to come to a compromise on the issue of default encryption on consumer devices, legislation may be how the debate is ultimately decided. “I think there should be [room for compromise],” Wray said Wednesday night at a national security conference in Aspen, Colorado. “I don’t want to characterize private conversations we’re having with people in the industry. We’re not there yet for sure. And if we can’t get there, there may be other remedies, like legislation, that would have to come to bear.” Wray described the issue of “Going Dark” because of encryption as a “significant” and “growing” problem for federal, state and local law enforcement as well as foreign law enforcement and intelligence agencies. He claims strong encryption on mobile phones keeps law enforcement from gaining access to key evidence as it relates […]

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Congress presses Tim Cook and Larry Page for answers on security and privacy

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Congressional Republicans sent letters Monday to Apple CEO Tim Cook and Alphabet CEO Larry Page asking for answers on the collection and use of location and audio data by iPhone and Android devices as well as third-party access to consumer data. The two letters came out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. They were signed by four members: Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairwoman Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Gregg Harper, R-Miss., and Digital Commerce and Consumer Protection Subcommittee Chairman Bob Latta, R-Ohio. In response to reports that Google collected location data on Android devices even when location services were turned off, the committee cited Android users’ “reasonable expectation of privacy” and called the alleged tracking behavior “troubling.” “In June 2017, Google announced changes to Gmail that would halt scanning the contents of a user’s email to personalize advertisements to ‘keep privacy and security paramount,’” […]

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Congress wants answers on embargo of Spectre and Meltdown information

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Lawmakers on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce have sent letters to various CEOs at top tech companies asking why information about massive computer chip vulnerabilities was held under embargo for months. The letters focus on the Spectre and Meltdown bugs, deep-rooted flaws in chips produced by leading computer hardware companies that could allow hackers to access steal sensitive data from machines created as far back as 1995. Co-authored by panel Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., and members Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., Bob Latta, R-Ohio, and Gregg Harper, R-Miss., the letters request answers about why the bugs weren’t disclosed when the companies learned about them in June 2017. The committee has jurisdiction over technology issues. Information about the flaws was supposed to go public in late January, but security researchers tweeted proof-of-concept code before the companies were ready to make announcements. That tweet lead to wider public scrutiny, forcing the companies involved to […]

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