Security News
Google has extended its Advanced Protection Program for account security to the iPhone platform, aimed at those that are the most-targeted by cybercriminals: Members of political campaign teams, journalists, activists, executives, employees in regulated industries such as finance or government, and others. These can either be a physical security key or a smartphone's built-in security key.
You can now use your iPhone or iPad, running iOS 10 or later, as a physical security key for securely logging into your Google account as part of the Advanced Protection Program for two-factor authentication. Roid users have had this feature on their smartphones since last year, but now Apple product owners can also use this advanced, phishing-resistant form of authentication as an alternative to a physical security key.
President Donald Trump has weighed in on Apple's decision not to help the FBI unlock iPhones of the suspect in a shooting in Florida, slamming the company in a Tweet that demands Apple "Step up to the plate and help our great Country." "We are helping Apple all of the time on TRADE and so many other issues, and yet they refuse to unlock phones used by killers, drug dealers and other violent criminal elements," Trump wrote.
Google users who opt for the Advanced Protection Program to secure their accounts are now able to use their iPhone as a security key. In May 2019, Google made it possible to exchange the physical security key with one's Android device.
Apple has responded to a demand from the United States' Attorney General William Barr that it grant the FBI access to two iPhones used in a recent shooting by carefully calling bullshit on his claims. Barr held a press conference on Monday in which he accused Apple of not having given the FBI "Any substantive assistance" in the case of Saudi airman Mohammed al-Shamrani, who shot and killed three American sailors at a naval base in Pensacola, Florida.
U.S. Attorney General William Barr is ratcheting up the pressure on Apple to unlock two iPhones belonging to a Saudi national who killed three at a military based in Pensacola, Florida, in December. In comments on Monday, the attorney general labeled the shooting as an act of terrorism and accused Apple of hampering a counterterrorism investigation.
Apple once again is drawing the line at breaking into a password-protected iPhone for a criminal investigation, refusing a request by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to help unlock the iPhones of a shooter responsible for an attack in Florida. While Apple said it's helping in the FBI's investigation of the Pensacola shooting-refuting criticism to the contrary-the company said it won't help the FBI unlock two phones the agency said belonged to Alshamrani.
The FBI has asked Apple to help it unlock two iPhones that belonged to the murderer Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani, who shot and killed three young US Navy students in a shooting spree at a Florida naval base last month. Yes, the FBI has tried the tactics it used when it was trying to unlock the iPhone of San Bernardino terrorist Syed Farook.
The FBI has sent a letter to Apple asking for help in accessing encrypted data stored on two iPhones belonging to a deceased shooter. The FBI has told Apple that Alshamrani's devices are encrypted and that efforts to guess his passwords have been unsuccessful, NBC News reports.
The FBI has asked Apple to unlock two iPhones belonging to a murderer, potentially reviving a tense battle over encryption and the rights of law enforcement to digital devices. Alshamrani had two iPhones - one of which he reportedly shot and damaged - and the FBI has been trying to unlock the phones and extract the encrypted contents to see if there is any evidence that others were involved in the attack, or other clues to his actions.