The World Wide Web was born 30-years ago on August 6, 1991. Just two months earlier an American computer scientist and cryptographer, Philip R. Zimmerman, wrote the code for the encryption program Pretty Good Privacy (PGP). Zimmerman shared the PGP open-source code in the United States, making it the first widely available data security program. It quickly spread globally on the web.
The U.S. government had long considered cryptographic software a munition and thus subject to arms trafficking. The Customs Service started a criminal investigation against Zimmerman for violating the Arms Export Control Act because they deemed PGP cryptography to be too strong to export. Zimmerman asserted he was not responsible for sharing the software outside of the states and responded by publishing his entire code in the book, PGP: Source Code and Internals, to the delight of those who wanted to ensure digital privacy. After 3-years the investigation was dropped in 1996 without charges against Zimmerman ever being filed. U.S. restrictions on the export of encryption software relaxed in the new millennium and cypherpunks claimed a small victory in the war on cryptography.
Today the encrypted communications industry is dominated by giants like Amazon, whose cloud computing arm Amazon Web Services (AWS) recently bought the private messaging app Wickr. Facebook owns WhatsApp and is now said to be trying to analyze encrypted WhatsApp messages.
These companies have millions of users deeply attached to their products and services, and their business leaders have one-on-one meetings with heads of state in countries worldwide.
The creator of PGP has weighed in on the contemporary situation saying the fight over encryption is not over. While Amazon and Facebook bring knowledge, relationships and wealth to the table their own privacy policies have been subject to lawsuits and public outcry. Not to mention they are mining your data every time you use their service.
Facebook is Leaky and Problematic
Almost 2-billion people use Facebook every day — a quarter of the world’s population! In April 2021, the personal data of over half a billion users was posted to a low-level hacking forum — the data included phone numbers, locations, full names, email addresses and biographical information.
Researchers say this information could be used by scammers to commit fraud. While hackers exploiting your personal data stolen from Facebook is a major concern, policies of the social media giant also threatens users privacy.
WhatsApp is suing the Indian government for severely undermining the tech giant’s encryption by requiring the platform to store all messages in a traceable database. WhatsApp promises its users that all messages are protected by end-to-end encryption, but if governments have a back door to read your messages it is an empty promise.
Twitter has also had problems in India. In May 2021, Indian police visited Twitter’s New Delhi office to serve notice about an inquiry into a tweet published by a member of the ruling party which Twitter had labelled manipulated media. Critics called it censorship.
Amazon’s Payment Processor Leaked
Last August there was a data breach at Juspay, the payment processor used by companies like Swiggy and Amazon. As a result, the personal data of 100 million debit and credit card users was leaked on the dark web. The hack didn’t come to light until January of this year. The data included the name, mobile number and bank name of customers.
Security experts noted this isn’t the end of the Juspay threat. Since the leak included phone numbers, the hackers could call unsuspecting cardholders and dupe them into revealing their full credit card number, PIN, CVV and one-time passwords.
The information of paying customers is worth a lot more to hackers and scammers than non-paying customers. The threat and scope of this enormous breach could continue to grow.
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos famously had his cell phone hacked. What would be revealed if yours was too? Learn how Myntex keeps you safe from hackers in this guide to encryption so you’ll never be the victim of a data breach on your phone.
Technology has developed by leaps and bounds since the 1990s but the fight to maintain privacy rights and prevent government intrusion continues. Using an encrypted phone on a hardened device free of third-party apps is the best way to ensure your personal data is safe and secure. With our proprietary solutions, Myntex keeps you fully protected anywhere in the world.