This was a terribly uninformative article filled with various inacuracies. Thanks for nothing punk.
On Tue, Apr 21, 2015 at 10:55 AM, L0R3NZ 5Z4B0 <[email protected]> wrote: > Oh my, the WSJ: No comment on Silent Circle, Signal, or Telegram but of all > bad apps: WhatsApp – where they are working on it? > > This WSJ article reads like a homework assignment. > > – BizDevCon > >> On 21 Apr 2015, at 12:21, Robert Hettinga <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> >> http://www.wsj.com/articles/encryption-uncoded-a-consumers-guide-1429499476?tesla=y >> >> What Exactly Is Encryption? >> >> >> Encryption turns messages into a string of unreadable characters. Photo: >> Getty Images >> >> By >> Elizabeth Dwoskin >> April 19, 2015 11:11 p.m. ET >> In times like these, it’s easy to be paranoid. >> >> Concerned by reports of hacking, data breaches and government spying, >> companies and consumers are looking for better ways to protect their data. >> Many are turning to encryption, a method of encoding messages that goes back >> millennia. Encryption is commonly used to secure online banking sessions and >> to protect credit-card data. But for the average computer user, it remains a >> mystery. >> >> Here’s a brief guide to help readers unlock its secrets. >> >> How does encryption work? >> >> If you saw the recent movie “The Imitation Game,” you’ve seen a rudimentary, >> by modern standards, form of encryption. During World War II, the Germans >> used a machine to turn military messages into coded strings of symbols. >> These days, computers running complex mathematical formulas can do the same >> thing much faster, and the codes are much harder to crack. >> >> What’s it used for? >> >> If you’ve ever done banking online, you may have noticed a “lock” icon in >> the address bar, or that the bar turned green. That means the browser >> session is encrypted by your bank. >> >> Consumers can download a growing crop of encryption tools for texting, >> browsing sessions and video and phone calls. Users usually must download an >> app or install software that scrambles messages as they are sent. (The >> recipient needs to be using the same app or software to unscramble the >> message.) >> >> Apple has started encrypting personal data on its latest mobile operating >> system, iOS 8. This means an outsider who hacks into a device or into >> Apple’s servers would see a string of unreadable characters instead of >> actual messages or FaceTime videos. >> >> Can I encrypt email messages? >> >> Yes, but it’s tricky. Sender and receiver must use the same type of >> encryption. If you have encryption switched on, but the friend you’re >> emailing doesn’t have it, he or she won’t be able to read your message. >> >> Since the revelations of former National Security Agency contractor Edward >> Snowden about electronic eavesdropping by the NSA, big tech companies have >> made moves to add encryption. Yahoo Inc. and Google Inc. both have announced >> plans to begin encrypting emails of users of their services, but the >> projects are moving slowly. >> >> Can encryption really protect me from getting hacked? >> >> ENLARGE >> Maybe. If a hacker obtains the encryption keys, or the formula that unlocks >> the code, all that encrypting was for naught. And that happens all the time >> in corporate data breaches, says Avivah Litan, a vice president and senior >> analyst focusing on security issues at market-research firm Gartner Inc. For >> example, as part of the 2007 breach at TJX Cos., hackers stole a TJX >> point-of-sale card-reader system and brought it home. The hackers were able >> to break the code used to encrypt card transactions and stole data from tens >> of millions of customer accounts. >> >> How can I get started? >> >> In addition to Apple’s built-in encryption in its new mobile devices, >> Android users can download WhatsApp, which encrypts text messages. WhatsApp, >> a company owned by Facebook Inc., says it is working on offering encryption >> for all communication sent between WhatsApp users, including images, audio >> and text. >> >> A number of vendors—including Voltage Security Inc., Protegrity and RSA >> Security, a unit of EMC Corp. —offer encryption of corporate data, including >> email and credit-card records. Silent Circle’s Blackphone is a phone for >> corporate users that can send encrypted voice calls, text, emails and other >> data—if both parties are using a Blackphone. >> >> Why isn’t everything encrypted? >> >> There are plenty of reasons. Encryption is time-consuming and difficult to >> implement. It’s hard to properly manage who has access to encryption keys, >> and it slows system performance. >> >> Ms. Dwoskin is a reporter in the San Francisco bureau of The Wall Street >> Journal. >
