Hackers have created master keys to TSA-approved locks, and the TSA couldn’t care less

First, some background. In 2003, Travel Sentry introduced a new type of TSA-approved lock with a built-in backdoor. A TSA agent armed with the appropriate tools could open the lock, inspect the item, and then send the luggage on its way. The entire system was meant to ensure that officials could still search luggage without forcing consumers to give up all of their security in the process.For years, the US TSA (that’s the Transportation Security Agency, a division of Homeland Security) has recommended that travelers in the United States buy and equip their luggage with a TSA-approved lock. The ostensible reason for this is because it allows the agency immediate access to your bag in the event that it needs to inspect your luggage rather than requiring agents to cut the lock physically in order to inspect its contents. Now, a team of hackers have demonstrated that the seven master keys that collectively open every TSA-approved lock ever manufactured have been broken.

Samsung is still lying about the encryption on its Smart TVs

When news broke that Samsung’s Smart TV’s listened to conversations and sent them to a third-party server company, the Korean manufacturer countered by claiming that all data transmissions to and from its televisions were encrypted. When testing demonstrated that the data in question wasn’t encrypted (despite being sent via Port 443, which is typically used for HTTPS traffic), Samsung modified its stance, claiming that new TVs were encrypted properly but older sets were not. This, too, has now been proven false.

NSA, GCHQ colluded to steal SIM encryption keys for millions of phones

Edward Snowden’s data trove continues bearing fruit — and the implications of the latest release are dark for anyone who cares even slightly about mobile privacy. According to the once-secret documents, the NSA and its British counterpart, the GCHQ, engaged in a massive operation against one of the world’s largest mobile SIM card manufacturers, Gemalto. To understand the significance of this release it helps to know a bit about how SIMs are used. When you use 3G or 4G connections, the connection between your device and your cell phone carrier is encrypted. That encryption isn’t perfect, but cracking it is still time-consuming, particularly if the goal is to monitor millions of people simultaneously.

Prominent developer criticizes HTTP/2 protocol, claims politics drove adoption process

The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) completed work on the Hypertext Transfer Protocol 2 (HTTP/2) standard earlier this week. This new protocol will replace current versions of HTTP (1.0 and 1.1) and is the largest single update to the standard since it debuted more than 25 years ago. Most analysts and websites that have covered the announcement positively, but at least one major developer, Poul-Henning Kamp, has publicly spoken out against the project.