Apple steps up encrytion to thwart police cracking of iPhones

Apple said Wednesday it was strengthening encryption on its iPhones to thwart police efforts to unlock handsets without legitimate authorization.

The move by Apple, the latest in an ongoing clash with law enforcement, comes amid reports of growing use of a tool known as GrayKey which can enable police to bypass iPhone security features.

Apple said the new features are not designed to frustrate law enforcement but prevent any bypassing of encryption by good or bad actors.

Pentagon Puts Cyberwarriors on the Offensive, Increasing the Risk of Conflict

The Pentagon has quietly empowered the United States Cyber Command to take a far more aggressive approach to defending the nation against cyberattacks, a shift in strategy that could increase the risk of conflict with the foreign states that sponsor malicious hacking groups.

Until now, the Cyber Command has assumed a largely defensive posture, trying to counter attackers as they enter American networks. In the relatively few instances when it has gone on the offensive, particularly in trying to disrupt the online activities of the Islamic State and its recruiters in the past several years, the results have been mixed at best.

China hackers steal data from US Navy contractor - reports

If such a secured data like US NAVY information could be stolen, what can be expected for ordinary systems?

A cyber attack in Saudi Arabia failed to cause carnage, but the next attempt could be deadly

In August, a petrochemical company with a plant in Saudi Arabia was hit by a new kind of cyber assault. The attack was not designed to simply destroy data or shut down the plant, investigators believe. It was meant to sabotage the firm’s operations and trigger an explosion.

The attack was a dangerous escalation in international cyber warfare, as faceless enemies demonstrated both the drive and the ability to inflict serious physical damage. And US government officials, their allies and cybersecurity researchers worry that the culprits could replicate it in other countries, since thousands of industrial plants all over the world rely on the same US-engineered computer systems that were compromised.

Investigators have been tight-lipped about the August attack. They still won’t identify the company or the country where it is based and have not identified the culprits.