APPLE DEFIES FBI AND OFFERS ENCRYPTION BY DEFAULT ON NEW OPERATING SYSTEM (STA BREAKING NEWS and ARCHIVES)

by STANews , Friday, October 17, 2014, 18:22

Apple computers will be locked down by default once their owners upgrade. Photograph: Adrian Lyon/Alamy

The latest version of Apple’s operating system for desktop and laptop computers, Mac OS X 10.10 “Yosemite”, encourages users to turn on the company’s FileVault disk encryption, as the company hardens its pro-security stance.

The decision to encourage encryption, so that users must opt out – rather than opting in as has been the case since FileVault was introduced in 2003 – shows the company refusing to back down to pressure from the US government to restrict the availability of cryptographic tools to the public.

On Thursday, the FBI’s director, James Comey, decried the company’s decision to offer similar tools on mobile devices running iOS 8.

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http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/oct/17/apple-defies-fbi-encryption-mac-osx