China already got themselves the means to spy on iPhone users. Technically, it is not a backdoor, but the results are not vastly different when you consider that all user data is backed into Apple’s icloud servers by default:
I like the idea, if it was in the form of saying “we will use it when you make it work” (since that would mean never).
But I don’t think vendors, even rich ones like Apple, could control the political narrative like that in each country involved. The general public of Australia (or wherever) would simply be told that Apple were refusing to stop helping terrorists, with mainstream news being more or less complicit in that. A minority of Australians would know better, but when those people said “this law must be stopped”, their friends and family would assume they meant “…to protect the rights of terrorists”, because that is what TV news had presented as the “other side” of the debate.
Perhaps I am being overly pessimistic there. Sometimes mainstream news does challenge the establishment’s narrative. But it’s hard work for them, and I don’t think crypto is ever a high enough priority for them to try.
The failure mode in any such system is (as normal) through the human channel. The governments would deny this is a potential risk until it happens.
In general that might be true but in this case the current Australian Government is so toxic that the public will be sceptical of the political narrative.
especially since it will be abundantly clear that Apple iPhones can be purchased without the backdoor in every other market on earth.
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I think more Australian’s love iPhones than the government.
It’s also worth remembering that the “mainstream media” isn’t nearly as dominating as it once was. Many people get their news from Facebook, Twitter, Etc. and you can bet your bottom dollar that Facebook in particular is also going to be pushing against this law.
If Apple loudly announced it was withdrawing from the Australian market, Facebook would back them in a heartbeat and the almost certainly about to lose anyway government would be cooked. The law would be amended within weeks of the next election.
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A really bad new law in Australia gives police the right to force companies like Apple to ‘backdoor’, or create encryption circumvention alternatives, in all their products.
Oh no! My Australian cell phone that I will buy next year! It has become insecure, and any passing Australian cop can read my texts here in the Midwest!
Interesting thought experiment, however when it fails the blame will be shifted (“You were doing it wrong!”), and who knows how much damage will be done to the poor bastards that were stuck with it. Would you volunteer to be one of them?
The way to fight this stupidity isn’t to capitulate to it, it’s to fight it.
Yeah, that.
I know this is a huge leap on my part, and I get you’re either being snarky/sarcastic or implying that this doesn’t matter to people outside of Australia, but having something like this implemented by the government is a totalitarian’s wet dream, and our country is certainly shifting in that direction. If it passes in Australia, it can be duplicated – or even “improved” on – here in the US.
With a backdoor, all data you keep on your phone – not just texts – is accessible. And once the keys to the backdoor are known/available, anyone can use it for any intent. You may think you have nothing to hide, since you don’t engage in illegal activities, but is that really true? Would you feel comfortable handing someone you don’t know your unlocked smartphone and the freedom to do whatever they wanted to with it while you weren’t looking?
It’s also a really small shift between using a backdoor to look for illegal activity and using it to look for immoral activity.
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They also like to pretend that their own cops and spies are “the good guys”.
The technical difficulty is not the core problem here.
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That sound you can hear is the UK Home Office sobbing quietly that it was beaten to the line by our oldest enemy[1].
If only they hadn’t been distracted by fellating one another over Brexit, the Tories and Labour Party could have got together to introduce a suitably Orwellian bit of legislation for these bleak frigid islands.
[1] apart from the French (naturally), and the Germans, and the Italians, and the Belgians, let’s not get started on the Americans…
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Have you just found the only good thing about Brexit? Let’s push for the longest Article 50 extension we can get, so we to prolong this inaction.
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You’re right, except I think math is still on my side.
EDIT: As in, you can’t cripple crypto.
Imagine being told you must insert a backdoor into your company’s software, or you will be arrested if you ever return to your homeland…
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Well, that depends on the crypto provider, no? And are you saying you’re solidly encrypted from top to bottom?
Not to mention, just having encrypted data will throw up their flags.
The first line of defense is the same when dealing with vampires. Don’t let them in. Everything after they’re in is at best damage control.
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A la ‘You don’t mind if someone you have never met, and don’t know can locally and/or remotely log into your computer/phone, right?’
What’s that? It’s OK, because only the government or cops or whatever will have the keys? Well, until they are leaked, or stolen, or hacked. Then whoever receives the keys can simply log into your computer.
That’s cool. Oh look! Here’s your bank login info…
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A bit like the NSA hackerware that managed to leak into the hands of actual hackers…
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