Re: FBI Warns Americans to Start Using Encrypted Messaging Apps

On Thu, 12 Dec 2024, Broseki wrote:

> On Dec 4, 2024 at 3:55:59 PM EST, "Nomen Nescio" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> It's all about protecting against China, but there's the added benefit of
>> protecting against Trump.
>>
>>
>>
>> America’s top cybersecurity and law enforcement officials made a coordinated
>> push Tuesday to raise awareness about cyber threats from foreign actors in the
>> wake of an intrusion of U.S. telecom equipment dubbed Salt Typhoon. The
>> hackers are linked to the Chinese government and they still have a presence in
>> U.S. systems, spying on American communications, in what Sen. Mark Warner from
>> Virginia has called “the worst hack in our nation’s history.”
>>
>> Officials with the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and
>> FBI went so far as to urge Americans to use encrypted messaging apps,
>> according to a new report from NBC News, something that’s ostensibly about
>> keeping foreign hackers out of your communications. But using apps like Signal
>> has received a lot more attention in recent weeks as Donald Trump is slated to
>> take power on Jan. 20, 2025. Trump has nominated Kash Patel to become head of
>> the FBI, a jaw-droppingly authoritarian decision given Patel’s promises to
>> punish Trump’s political enemies and imprison journalists.
>>
>> “Our suggestion, what we have told folks internally, is not new here:
>> encryption is your friend, whether it’s on text messaging or if you have the
>> capacity to use encrypted voice communication. Even if the adversary is able
>> to intercept the data, if it is encrypted, it will make it impossible,” Jeff
>> Greene, executive assistant director for cybersecurity at CISA, said on a
>> press call Tuesday according to NBC News.
>>
>> The unnamed FBI agent on the call with reporters echoed the message, according
>> to NBC News, urging Americans to use “responsibly managed encryption,” which
>> is a rather big deal when you remember that agencies like the FBI have been
>> most resistant to Silicon Valley’s encryption efforts.
>>
>> The hackers behind Salt Typoon failed to monitor or intercept anything
>> encrypted, meaning that anything sent through Signal and Apple’s iMessage was
>> likely protected, according to the New York Times. But the intrusion for all
>> other communications was otherwise extremely galling. The hackers had access
>> to metadata, including information on messages and phone calls along with when
>> and where they were delivered. The hackers reportedly focused on targets
>> around Washington, D.C.
>>
>> The most alarming sort of intrusion in Salt Typhoon involved the system used
>> by U.S. officials to wiretap Americans with a court order, but NBC reports the
>> FBI didn’t provide much in the way of details on that including if any
>> classified material was accessed. But ABC News reports officials believe the
>> intrusion had a goal of gaining access to a much broader swath of American
>> communications beyond classified material.
>>
>> The cybersecurity divisions of the Five Eyes spy alliance between the U.S.,
>> UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada, also released a joint statement on
>> Tuesday that includes a guide about how to harden your systems against the
>> Salt Typhoon attack.
>>
>> Again, the focus of these recommendations has been on protecting against
>> threats from overseas. But just about everyone knows what’s likely to happen
>> when Trump gets back into office. The former and future president has pledged
>> to become a dictator on day one and has repeatedly threatened his political
>> opponents with charges of treason. Trump even suggested last year that Gen.
>> Mark Milley should be executed.
>>
>> And while nobody knows for sure how seriously to take all of these threats, it
>> doesn’t hurt to get your digital house in order. Because Signal may not be
>> perfect, but encrypted apps are better than nothing when the U.S. is staring
>> down the barrel of a fascist government. Trump is saying some pretty
>> outrageous things even before he takes office. You can dismiss his suggestion
>> to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that Canada should become a U.S.
>> state as just a joke. But this is the guy who literally tried to buy
>> Greenland. All bets are off when he takes power again.
>>
>> https://gizmodo.com/fbi-warns-americans-to-start-using-encrypted-messaging-apps-2000533800
>
> Gotta love that it is the same FBI that wants backdoors in all encryption.
>

FBI Messenger coming soon! The only safe place in town! ;)