The pandemic has made Zoom one of the most popular video conferencing applications. When it comes to video conferencing apps, we always try to make sure our privacy settings are up to the mark to keep the communications secure.

Zoom is trying to ensure that users get the security they deserve, and it has an essential encryption feature that many people dont know about.End-to-end encryption ensures that even if you are hacked, the hacker will not be able to make any sense out of your data. It also keeps your data safe from the company itself.

How to Password Protect Google Search History

Zoom initially only encrypted data on its own servers, but with the end-to-end encryption feature, an encrypted key will be generated on the users computer, making your data truly secure. In today's tutorial,I will show you how to enable end-to-end encryption in Zoom on Windows 10 computers in just a few simple steps.

Step-1: Open Zoom App and sign in.

Step-2: Click on the settings cog on the top right corner of the app.

Step-3: Click on View More Settings at the bottom of the settings window.

How to Record FaceTime Calls on iPhone and iPad [Tutorial]

Step-4: You will be directed to the settings in your browser. Click on the Settings tab on the left side of your screen.

Step-5: Click on the Meeting tab.

Step-6: Scroll down till you reach the toggle switch for Allow use of end-to-end encryption. Turn it On. [If it is grey, it is Off. If it is blue, it is switched On]

Step-7: You will be asked to verify your number. After you enter your phone number. Click on Send Verification Code. You will then be sent a 6-digit code on your given number. Enter that code and then move on to the next step.

Step-8: After verification, your settings will be updated. Click on End-to-end encryption in the Default encryption type section.

Step-9: Click Save.

After following these steps, your Zoom will be end-to-end encrypted.

See original here:
How To Enable End-To-End Encryption In Zoom On Windows 10 - Wccftech

One of the best ways to protect your privacy is to encrypt important information on your computer. Whether you need to send personal information to someone, or simply want to make sure that no one who gets access to your computer can see stuff you would rather keep private, encryption is the way to go.

Editors Note:Guest author Heinrich Long is a writer at Restore Privacy, a blog dedicated to inform about best online privacy practices, secure your electronic devices, unblock restricted content and defeat censorship.

As a Windows 10 user, you have numerous options for encrypting information. In this guide we will show you ways to encrypt individual files, file folders, and even entire disk drives. Each approach has its own benefits and drawbacks, so well cover those, too. That way, youll have a better sense of which type of encryption you will need for various situations. Before we go further, here are a couple of points to keep in mind:

Now lets talk about when to use the three types of encryption that you can use:

As the name implies, individual file encryption refers to encrypting one file at a time. Each file has its own password or key.

Individual file encryption is great for files you plan to share or store in the cloud. Windows 10 users can encrypt individual files using a tool like 7-zip. You can also encrypt individual Microsoft Office files from within their apps, although this is better suited to casual person use than protection against serious adversaries.

Next up is folder level encryption. This approach involves encrypting everything that is stored in a folder. Passwords or keys are assigned to the folder, not individual files.

Folder encryption is a great organizational tool. For example, you could create a different encrypted folder for each member of your family. Give Sally only the password for her folder, and Jimmy only the password for his, and each can have their own private space on the same device.

Note that storing a file in an encrypted folder doesnt prevent you from also encrypting files individually.

Hard drive or disk encryption protects the entire drive at once. To use a device with an encrypted hard drive you would need to enter the password or key when you logged on, or nothing on the disk would be accessible.

This kind of encryption is a good first line of defense in case of theft. If someone stole your laptop, or ripped the drives out of one of your servers, they would need to defeat the hard drive encryption to get any data at all.

You can still apply folder level encryption and individual file encryption to an encrypted disk.

Before we dive into the details of file encryption, we need to make an important note on passwords. You need to be using a good password manager, along with good password hygiene.

Why is that? Well, if you lose or forget the password for accessing your encrypted files, then theyll probably be gone for good. A good password manager is critical. Weve reviewed many options, including 1Password, LastPass, and many more.

See our guide on the best password managers for the top recommendations and step-by-step information for good password management. Now that weve hit the basics, it is time for some specifics. Lets start with

Your options for encrypting files and folders on Windows 10 devices depend on which version of Windows 10 you have. Windows 10 Pro and Enterprise users have a built-in encryption tool called the Encrypting File System (EFS). Any Windows 10 user, including those with the Home edition, can also use third-party apps such as 7-zip for file and folder encryption.

Beyond these options, Microsoft Office apps have a basic file locking / encryption feature built in, as does Adobe Acrobat. Well round out our coverage of Windows 10 encryption by taking a look at these.

The Encrypting File System (EFS) is built into the Professional and Enterprise versions of Windows 10. It is treated as an Advanced feature of the Windows File Explorer. This makes a lot of sense, since used carelessly, EFS can leave you with files you can never access again.

EFS does all its encryption work in the background, including automatically creating a File Encryption Key (FEK), and encrypting that key so only the account that encrypted the file can decrypt it. All this happens automatically and transparently.

Aside from a lock symbol that appears in the File Explorer next to a file or folder that is encrypted, there is no easy way to tell that a file or folder is encrypted with EFS.

Unfortunately, EFS has some quirks that make it a less than ideal choice for many uses. Knowing what these are will help you decide whether EFS is the answer to your Windows 10 file encryption needs:

If these quirks havent scared you away, heres how to encrypt files and folders with EFS:

That is all you need to do, from now on, the encrypted file or folder will appear encrypted to anyone other than the user account that encrypted the item in the first place.

7-zip is a freeware file compression program that can also encrypt files and folders using AES-256 encryption, which is the industry standard for most encrypted systems. If you plan to use 7-zip to encrypt files or folders you should know that the process creates an encrypted copy of the file or folder. The original, unencrypted file or folder is unchanged.

If you are creating the encrypted item because you plan to send it somewhere, or store it in the cloud or something like that, this is fine. But if your goal is to protect the files and folders on your own device, this isnt ideal.

In the rest of this section, well first look at how to encrypt files and folders with 7-zip. After that well talk about what else you need to do if your goal is to protect the files and folders on your own device. The following instructions assume you already have 7-zip installed on your system. If not, you can download it here.

The result of encrypting something with 7-zip the way we did here is a zipped archive that is AES-256 encrypted. This archive appears in the same folder as the file or folder that you encrypted, alongside the original file or folder. What this means to you depends on what you plan to do with the encrypted file or folder.

If you created the archive to share copies of the file or folder, this is fine. Just send the archive to the recipient. Assuming they have 7-zip or a similar program on their system (and you securely conveyed the password to them somehow), they will be able to unzip the archive, then double-click the file to enter the password in a dialog box like this one:

Once they do that, the operating system should open the file in whatever app is appropriate, and the recipient can view it, or save it, or do whatever is necessary with it. Note that they will still have the encrypted files on their system as well.

If you created the archive to protect the files or folders on your system, you should skip down to the section titled, Eliminate any possible unencrypted copies of the file once you are done encrypting files and follow the instructions there to make sure no unencrypted copies of things are lying around where some snoop can find them.

Some applications now have options to encrypt the types of files they themselves use. For example, Microsoft Word can encrypt Word files, and Adobe Acrobat can encrypt PDF files. Well demonstrate this below.

Lets use Microsoft Word to show how it is done by encrypting a simple Word document.

From now on, the only way to view this document will be by entering the password when prompted from within a Microsoft Office application that supports the unencrypted file type. But please see the next section to eliminate any possible unencrypted copies of the file on your computer.

If you use 7-zip or Microsoft Office to encrypt files, it is likely that Windows 10 still has one or more temporary copies of the unencrypted files stashed on the disk. To be safe, you will want to delete all temporary files once you are done encrypting things.

When it comes to disk encryption on Windows 10, BitLocker Device Encryption is the tool that Microsoft provides. Built into Windows 10 Pro and Enterprise, BitLocker Device Encryption does exactly what it sounds like it encrypts all the storage devices in your system.

This sounds ideal, but there are some drawbacks to using BitLocker.

Happily for us, there is a great alternative available. Called VeraCrypt, it addresses all of the drawbacks we just saw:

VeraCrypt is Free, Open Source Software (FOSS), which we really like. Without getting into the OpenSource vs Proprietary software argument that plagues the computer world, from our perspective, FOSS software is generally considered more secure, and of course is free to use. Once VeraCrypt is installed, all you need to do is enter your VeraCrypt password whenever you start the computer.

Given all that, you know where were going with this. In the following section well walk you through installing VeraCrypt on one of our lab machines. Ready?

While installing VeraCrypt is much simpler than the alternative, there is more to it than just launching an installer and pressing Okay a few times. And if you mess up, there is a chance you will lose files or even access to the entire disk drive.

We suggest you read through the instructions that follow before starting the process. If you are not confident you can complete the steps shown, or if you have a bad habit of losing important passwords, it is better to skip this type of encryption.

Here are the steps to install VeraCrypt on Windows 10:

Encrypting important information is one of the best things you can do to protect yourself from everyone who is trying so hard to get their hands on your personal information.

In this guide we covered techniques that Windows 10 users can use to encrypt individual files, folders, and entire drives on their Windows systems. While no one can guarantee that your data will be 100% safe against any and all attacks, the simple act of encrypting your most important data can make a big difference.

Masthead credit: eamesBot

Read the original:
How to Encrypt Files, Folders and Drives on Windows 10 ...

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Encrypted messaging applications (EMAs) that rely on end-to-end encryption (E2EE), like Signal, Telegram, and WhatsApp, offer a level of intimacy and security that have made them remarkably popular among activists and others who want to communicate without fear of government surveillance. These qualities also make them a useful vector for disinformation: they offer a means of spreading untraceable claims to users via trusted contacts in a secure environment. This policy brief argues that successfully countering disinformation on EMAs does not require undermining this stronger form of encryption.

Although EMAs typically end-to-end encrypt the content of private messages, they often do not encrypt the metadata of those messages. Interventions based on that metadata show particular promise. Metadata-based forwarding limits on WhatsApp, for instance, appear to have slowed the proliferation of disinformation in India and elsewhere. Third-party evaluations of such approaches are needed to develop and guide best practices for use on other platforms, particularly given criticism of, and broader worry surrounding, WhatsApps use of said metadata.

Disinformation campaigns on EMAs are successful primarily because of the intimacy and trust they afford. Regulatory responses to disinformation EMAs should therefore target how that trust is leveraged, rather than EMAs use of E2EE. For example, stricter advertising disclosure laws would prevent influence farms coordinating on EMAs from spreading untraceable political messaging.

See the original post:
Countering disinformation and protecting democratic communication on encrypted messaging applications - Brookings Institution

from the we've-got-a-server-on-the-inside-[wink] dept

Recently unsealed documents have revealed the FBI and the Australian Federal Police ran a backdoored encrypted communications service for more than three years, resulting in dozens of arrests and several large drug busts. Here's a brief summary via Joseph Cox for Motherboard.

For years the FBI has secretly run an encrypted communications app used by organized crime in order to surreptitiously collect its users' messages and monitor criminals' activity on a massive scale, according to a newly unsealed court document. In all, the elaborate operation netted more than 20 million messages from over 11,800 devices used by suspected criminals.

This honeypot/chat app went into development following law enforcement's takedown of other encrypted phone providers like Phantom Secure and Sky Global. According to the unsealed warrant [PDF] targeting a Gmail account of a suspect, the backdoored communications offering was the direct result of the indictment of Vincent Ramos, the CEO of Phantom Secure.

After Ramos was arrested, San Diego FBI agents recruited a Confidential Human Source (CHS) who had been developing the next generation encrypted communications product, poised to compete for market share against established hardened encrypted device competitors. At the time, the void created by Phantom Secures dismantlement provided a new opportunity for criminal users to switch to a new, secure brand of device. The CHS previously distributed both Phantom Secure and Sky Global devices to TCOs [transnational criminal organizations] and had invested a substantial amount of money into the development of a new hardened encrypted device. The CHS offered this next generation device, named Anom, to the FBI to use in ongoing and new investigations. The CHS also agreed to offer to distribute Anom devices to some of the CHSs existing network of distributors of encrypted communications devices, all of whom have direct links to TCOs.

ANoM was first distributed to criminals in Australia by the FBI's source. But not before both the FBI and AFP added interception capabilities.

The FBI opened a new covert investigation, Operation Trojan Shield, which centered on exploiting Anom by inserting it into criminal networks and working with international partners, including the Australian Federal Police (AFP), to monitor the communications. Before the device could be put to use, however, the FBI, AFP, and the CHS built a master key into the existing encryption system which surreptitiously attaches to each message and enables law enforcement to decrypt and store the message as it is transmitted. A user of Anom is unaware of this capability. By design, as part of the Trojan Shield investigation, for devices located outside of the United States, an encrypted BCC of the message is routed to an iBot server located outside of the United States, where it is decrypted from the CHSs encryption code and then immediately re-encrypted with FBI encryption code. The newly encrypted message then passes to a second FBI-owned iBot server, where it is decrypted and its content available for viewing in the first instance.

The investigation began in Australia with the AFP intercepting messages, utilizing the expanded powers given to it by 2018's Telecommunications and Other Legislation Amendment (TOLA) to secure permission to intercept every communication carried by the ANoM devices. But the permission it received had limits. It was only able to "discuss generally" the content of the intercepted communications, rather than share them directly with the FBI.

As more devices made their way into the hands of suspected criminals, the FBI began performing its own interceptions. But it didn't do it directly. Instead, it asked an unnamed third country to perform the interception for it with the understanding it would hand over intercepted communications to the FBI.

[T]he FBI itself was not yet reviewing any of the decrypted content of Anoms criminal users. Also by summer of 2019, the investigative team engaged representatives from a third country to receive an iBot server of its own and obtain the contents of communications occurring between Anom users The third country agreed to obtain a court order in accordance with its own legal framework to copy an iBot server located there and provide a copy to the FBI pursuant to a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT). Unlike the Australian beta test, the third country would not review the content in the first instance. FBI geo-fenced the U.S., meaning that any outgoing messages from a device with a U.S. MCC would not have any communications on the FBI iBot server.

[...]

In October 2019, the third country obtained a court order which enabled the copying of the iBot server and the receipt of its contents every two to three days. The initial MLAT between the U.S. and the third country authorized FBI to receive data from October 7, 2019, through January 7, 2020. [...]

Since October 2019, the third country has obtained additional court order pursuant to its own laws to copy the iBot server and the United States has obtained the server data pursuant to additional MLATs. The third country provides Anom server data to the FBI every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and will continue to do so until the expiration of the third countrys court order on June 7, 2021. This data comprises the encrypted messages of all of the users of Anoms with a few exceptions (e.g., the messages of approximately 15 Anom users in the U.S. sent to any other Anom device are not reviewed by FBI).

The 15 or so users in the US were monitored by the Australian Federal Police for "any threats to life" and this information "shared generally" with the FBI. Once this was all in place, the FBI was soon swimming in intercepted messages from all over the world.

Since October 2019, the FBI has reviewed the content from the iBot server in the third country pursuant to the MLAT. They have translated the messages (where necessary and where translations are available) and have catalogued more than 20 million messages from a total of 11,800 devices (with approximately 9000 active devices currently) located in over 90 countries.

The affidavit notes that most of ANoM's users reside in Serbia, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, and Australia. Other than Australia, no other country (or their applicable laws/legal processes) are discussed.

There's a whole lot of criminal activity being discussed using these devices. And not all of it is directly drug-related.

[T]he review of Anom messages has initiated numerous high-level public corruption cases in several countries. The most prominent distributors are currently being investigated by the FBI for participating in an enterprise which promotes international drug trafficking, money laundering, and obstruction of justice.

[...]

From those messages, more than 450,000 photos have been sent detailing conversations on other encrypted platforms discussing criminal activity, cryptocurrency transactions, bulk cash smuggling, law enforcement corruption , and self-identification information.

Yep. Law enforcement corruption.

Information reviewed on the platform has revealed law enforcement sensitive information passed to TCOs, such as reports and warrants. TCOs have also been notified of anticipated enforcement actions against the TCO or other criminal associates.

This multi-national investigation shows it's still possible to take down criminal organizations despite their use of encrypted communications. One solution for law enforcement appears to be to "roll your own" -- one that allows investigators to listen in on conversations as they happen.

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Filed Under: australia, backdoor, encrypted chat, encryption, fbi, honeypotCompanies: anom

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FBI, Australian Police Ran A Backdoored Encrypted Chat Service For Three Years - Techdirt