By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
DailynewsegyptDailynewsegypt
  • Home
  • Business
    BusinessShow More
    Egypt’s IDA gears up to provide its services for investors online
    Egypt’s IDA gears up to provide its services for investors online 
    March 29, 2023
    Egypt. Germany discuss promotion of cooperation in communications, digital transformation
    Egypt, Germany discuss promotion of cooperation in communications, digital transformation
    March 29, 2023
    Egypt-Australia trade exchange reaches AUD 1bn in FY2022: Ambassador
    Egypt-Australia trade exchange reaches AUD 1bn in FY2022: Ambassador
    March 29, 2023
    Volatile trading on EGX amid anticipation of interest rate movement
    Volatile trading on EGX amid anticipation of interest rate movement
    March 29, 2023
    Mohamed Nasr El-Din appointed as new CEO of Telecom Egypt
    Mohamed Nasr El-Din appointed as new CEO of Telecom Egypt
    March 29, 2023
  • Politics
    PoliticsShow More
    Ugandan president says peacekeepers will help stabilize eastern DR Congo
    Ugandan president says peacekeepers will help stabilize eastern DR Congo
    March 31, 2023
    Formes US President Donald Trump Is Indicted in New York
    Trump indicted in hush-money payment case
    March 31, 2023
    Humza Yousaf is to be the first minister of Scotland after narrowly winning the election for leader of the Scottish National Party
    Humza Yousaf becomes Scotland’s first minister: A decade of polls suggest he’ll struggle to deliver independence, just like Nicola Sturgeon
    March 30, 2023
    Iranian FM says Tehran, Moscow taking final step toward signing long-term cooperation agreement
    Iranian FM says Tehran, Moscow taking final step toward signing long-term cooperation agreement
    March 29, 2023
    Health Minister, UNODC discuss bilateral cooperation in combating drugs, corruption
    Health Minister, UNODC discuss bilateral cooperation in combating drugs, corruption
    March 29, 2023
  • Interviews
    InterviewsShow More
    Developers have to offer innovative products, state should provide more facilities to stimulate industry: Kareem Mamoun
    Developers have to offer innovative products, state should provide more facilities to stimulate industry: Kareem Mamoun
    March 27, 2023
    Government should help Egyptian arts revive its pioneering role: Omar Abdel Aziz
    Government should help Egyptian arts revive its pioneering role: Omar Abdel Aziz
    March 15, 2023
    Interconnected healthcare systems in Africa require political will from North African leaders: Amref official
    Interconnected healthcare systems in Africa require political will from North African leaders: Amref official
    March 12, 2023
    EGX ready for government’s IPOs programme: Chairperson
    EGX ready for government’s IPOs programme: Chairperson
    February 15, 2023
    British International Investment invests $4.5bn in 700 businesses across Africa: Sherine Shohdy
    February 15, 2023
  • Culture
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Lifestyle
Reading: WikiLeaks announces tech firm cooperation
Share
Notification
Latest News
Ugandan president says peacekeepers will help stabilize eastern DR Congo
Ugandan president says peacekeepers will help stabilize eastern DR Congo
Politics
Formes US President Donald Trump Is Indicted in New York
Trump indicted in hush-money payment case
Politics
Humza Yousaf is to be the first minister of Scotland after narrowly winning the election for leader of the Scottish National Party
Humza Yousaf becomes Scotland’s first minister: A decade of polls suggest he’ll struggle to deliver independence, just like Nicola Sturgeon
Politics Opinion
Egypt’s IDA gears up to provide its services for investors online
Egypt’s IDA gears up to provide its services for investors online 
Business
Iranian FM says Tehran, Moscow taking final step toward signing long-term cooperation agreement
Iranian FM says Tehran, Moscow taking final step toward signing long-term cooperation agreement
Politics World
Aa
Aa
DailynewsegyptDailynewsegypt
  • Home
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Interviews
  • Culture
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Lifestyle
  • Home
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Interviews
  • Culture
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Lifestyle
Have an existing account? Sign In
Follow US
  • Advertise
© 2023 DNE News. All Rights Reserved.
Dailynewsegypt > Blog > Politics > WikiLeaks announces tech firm cooperation
PoliticsWorld

WikiLeaks announces tech firm cooperation

DNE
Last updated: 2017/03/10 at 3:19 PM
By DNE 6 Min Read
Share
SHARE

The anti-secrecy platform WikiLeaks has said it would work with tech firms to fix security flaws before publishing them. Customers’ trust in firms like Google and Apple has already been eroded by the Snowden leaks.Google, Apple, Microsoft, Samsung and other major tech companies have been faced with new dilemmas by the latest WikiLeaks release. The “Vault 7” dump of CIA files has exposed a number of security breaches in their software, which US intelligence has exploited and kept secret so that it can continue to hack into smartphones, computers, and even TV sets to use them as surveillance devices.

Apple was one of the first companies to respond to the revelations, releasing a statement on Tuesday, the same day that WikiLeaks released the files. The tech giant promised to “rapidly address any identified vulnerabilities” in the iPhone.

It also said that its “initial analysis” indicated that many of the holes mentioned in the files, which were created between 2014 and 2016, had already been plugged in the latest updates to its operating system.

Samsung offered a similar statement, emphasizing that “protecting consumers’ privacy and the security of our devices is a top priority,” and promised that the claims would be investigated. Microsoft, meanwhile, would only say: “We’re aware of the report and are looking into it.”

On Thursday, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange announced that not only did his organization have “a lot more information” about the CIA’s hacking operation, but that it had listened to manufacturer’s complaints and would from now on first share that information with tech companies.

“We have decided to work with them to give them some exclusive access to the additional technical details we have so fixes can be developed and then pushed out,” Assange told a press conference broadcast via Facebook. “Once this material is effectively disarmed by us, we will publish additional details about what has been occurring.”

Trusting your phone

The CIA refuses to comment on the authenticity of leaks, but so far few doubt that the documents are real, and that they represent further damage to customers’ trust in major tech giants. Documents released in 2013 by the former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden showed that the NSA paid Google, Facebook, Yahoo, and Microsoft to cover legal costs related to its “Prism” surveillance program.

In 2014 a top lawyer representing the NSA told a hearing of the US government’s institutional privacy watchdog that technology companies were not only fully aware of the agency’s mass collection of data, but had provided assistance. In fact, as Snowden himself pointed out on Twitter on Tuesday, the new leaks included evidence that the US government was also paying firms to keep software unsafe.

This raises doubts about whether major tech firms even have full control over their users’ data. But Frank Herrmann, privacy spokesman of the German Pirate Party, criticized WikiLeaks for leaking flaws that hadn’t been fixed. “Some manufacturers seem to have been surprised, and they were annoyed a little I think,” he said.

“Having trust is a difficult matter, but we believe that the manufacturer is the first who should be informed about a security gap in their software – so that they can fix it,” Herrmann told DW. “But in the end there should always be some kind of publication. The aim of the publication always has to be that broken, flawed software, which includes dangers, isn’t used, or is fixed.”

The big question, for Herrmann, was whether such tech companies could still be trusted in the future – not least because they are US companies bound by US law to help authorities in some cases. “The big companies, like Apple, are defending themselves, saying, ‘We’d never do that,’ but in ten years it might be different; they might say, ‘We had to.'”

Privacy vs. connectivity

Frederike Kaltheuner, policy advisor for Privacy International, suggested that the real problem lay in the fact that the technology is fundamentally insecure. “These revelations point to a more systematic problem: consumers are buying ever more smart, connected devices that are insecure,” she told DW. “The Samsung smart TV is a good example, because Samsung has faced security issues before these revelations, and I think these vulnerable devices give governments easier access to our private lives.”

“Companies do have a responsibility and must be liable for putting poorly secured connective devices with more sensors into our private lives,” she said. “If you’re selling devices that don’t put the individual in control, that have sensors that you never know if they’re on or off, you’re essentially betraying your users.”

You Might Also Like

Ugandan president says peacekeepers will help stabilize eastern DR Congo

Trump indicted in hush-money payment case

Humza Yousaf becomes Scotland’s first minister: A decade of polls suggest he’ll struggle to deliver independence, just like Nicola Sturgeon

Iranian FM says Tehran, Moscow taking final step toward signing long-term cooperation agreement

Health Minister, UNODC discuss bilateral cooperation in combating drugs, corruption

Share this Article
Facebook Twitter Email Print
Previous Article DNE News Brief: 9 March 2017
Next Article Russian hackers use Dutch polls as practice
Leave a comment

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Ad image

Stay Connected

Facebook Like
Twitter Follow
Instagram Follow
Youtube Subscribe

Latest News

Ugandan president says peacekeepers will help stabilize eastern DR Congo
Ugandan president says peacekeepers will help stabilize eastern DR Congo
Politics
Formes US President Donald Trump Is Indicted in New York
Trump indicted in hush-money payment case
Politics
Humza Yousaf is to be the first minister of Scotland after narrowly winning the election for leader of the Scottish National Party
Humza Yousaf becomes Scotland’s first minister: A decade of polls suggest he’ll struggle to deliver independence, just like Nicola Sturgeon
Politics Opinion
Egypt’s IDA gears up to provide its services for investors online
Egypt’s IDA gears up to provide its services for investors online 
Business
//
Egypt’s only independent daily newspaper in English. Discuss the country’s latest with the paper’s reporters, editors, and other readers.

Quick Link

  • Home
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Interviews
  • Culture
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Lifestyle

Sign Up for Our Newsletter

Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!

© 2023 DNE News. All Rights Reserved.

Join Us!

Subscribe to our newsletter and never miss our latest news, podcasts etc..

Zero spam, Unsubscribe at any time.

Removed from reading list

Undo
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Lost your password?