Australia to pass law to allow tapping of iMessage and Whatsapp

Forums › ICT Policies and Regulation › Australia to pass law to allow tapping of iMessage and Whatsapp

Batman

Mad Scientist
29770 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#243327 6-Dec-2018 13:50

https://edition.cnn.com/2018/12/05/tech/australia-encryption-law/index.html

Apparently these 2 are perfect for people to communicate in secret ... but not for long ... ??

SpartanVXL

1322 posts

Uber Geek

#2140537 6-Dec-2018 13:53

Apple will deny it. It'll be up to the aussies to figure out a way around. iMessage is encrypted using the passcode of the phone so gl getting into that.

Batman

Mad Scientist
29770 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2140538 6-Dec-2018 13:54

I wonder how they will actually implement that. Assuming the law passes that is.

Batman

Mad Scientist
29770 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2140539 6-Dec-2018 13:55

It could be that the best way for the secret service is to get someone on the whatsapp chat list! Who would've known!

SaltyNZ

8237 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

2degrees

Lifetime subscriber

#2140541 6-Dec-2018 14:00

Well, technically we already have one. It's called TICSA; but the Minister has simply not yet decided to declare those services as requiring interception access. It will be interesting to see if we jump on this bandwagon too.

iPad Pro 11" + iPhone 15 Pro Max + 2degrees 4tw!

These comments are my own and do not represent the opinions of 2degrees.

SaltyNZ

8237 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

2degrees

Lifetime subscriber

#2140542 6-Dec-2018 14:02

Batman:

I wonder how they will actually implement that. Assuming the law passes that is.

All the traffic is in the clear on the device by definition. The most straightforward was is that they will be forced to update the app / firmware as the case may be, and break the service for anyone who does not update.

iPad Pro 11" + iPhone 15 Pro Max + 2degrees 4tw!

These comments are my own and do not represent the opinions of 2degrees.

gehenna

8520 posts

Uber Geek

Moderator

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2140543 6-Dec-2018 14:06

It's not just iMessage and Whatsapp, those are just examples regular people will recognise. It's any encrypted data. It's nonsense, but the law will pass pretty soon. The people who will suffer for this are regular IT folk who will get done for obstruction just because they can't make it happen on demand. It makes Australia look even more foolish than usual.

freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
79314 posts

Uber Geek

Administrator

ID Verified

Trusted

Geekzone

Lifetime subscriber

#2140544 6-Dec-2018 14:08

Please use correct sub-forum when creating topics. Moved to ICT Policies & Regulations.

Quic Broadband

Move to New Zealand's best fibre broadband service (affiliate link). Free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE. Note that to use Quic Broadband you must be comfortable with configuring your own router.

Batman

Mad Scientist
29770 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2140548 6-Dec-2018 14:11

freitasm:

Please use correct sub-forum when creating topics. Moved to ICT Policies & Regulations.

Sorry, I wasn't aware this sub forum existed!

KrazyKid

1238 posts

Uber Geek

#2140639 6-Dec-2018 15:44

Batman:

It could be that the best way for the secret service is to get someone on the whatsapp chat list! Who would've known!

I recall a suggestion was to get the telco/ISP/somebody to silently add the spy agency into the group chat. No notification that some has joined and no need to hack any encryption as the are a valid member of the chat.
No idea if this is possible or not.

And as an aside - Secret City on Netflix is a good Aussie political spy drama - Aussie intelligence vs Chinese with the little fellas in the middle. They didn't hack whatsapp etc in that, just hacked the mobile phones :)