 "Internet firms step up war on spying")
When Marissa Mayer, Yahoo's chief executive, recently announced the company's biggest security overhaul in more than a decade, she did not exactly receive a standing ovation. Ordinary users asked Mayer why Yahoo was not doing more. Privacy activists were more blunt. "Even after today's announcement, Yahoo still lags far behind Google on web security," said Christopher Soghoian, a technology analyst at the American Civil Liberties Union.
For big Internet outfits, it is no longer enough to have a fast-loading smartphone app or cool messaging service. In the era of Edward J Snowden and his revelations of mass government surveillance, companies are competing to show users how well their data is protected from prying eyes, with billions of dollars in revenue hanging in the balance. On Thursday, Microsoft will be the latest technology company to announce plans to shield its services from outside surveillance. It is in the process of adding state-of-the-art encryption features to various consumer services and internally at its data centres.
The announcement follows similar efforts by Google, Mozilla, Twitter, Facebook and Yahoo in what has effectively become a digital arms race with the National Security Agency as the companies react to what some have called the "Snowden Effect."
While security has long simmered as a concern for users, many companies were reluctant to employ modern protections, worried that upgrades would slow down connections and add complexity to their networks. But the issue boiled over six months ago, when documents leaked by Snowden described efforts by the NSA and its intelligence partners to spy on millions of Internet users. More than half of Americans surveyed say NSA surveillance has intruded on their personal privacy rights, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll conducted in November.
The revelations also shook Internet companies, which have been trying to reassure customers that they are doing what they can to protect their data from spying. They have long complied with legal orders to hand over information, but were alarmed by more recent news that the NSA was also accessing their data without their knowledge.
"We want to ensure that governments use legal process rather than technological brute force to obtain customer data - it's as simple as that," said Bradford L Smith, Microsoft's general counsel, in an interview. Smith said his company would also open "transparency centres" where foreign governments can inspect the company's code in an effort to assure them that it does not plant back doors for spy agencies in its products.
For big Internet outfits, it is no longer enough to have a fast-loading smartphone app or cool messaging service. In the era of Edward J Snowden and his revelations of mass government surveillance, companies are competing to show users how well their data is protected from prying eyes, with billions of dollars in revenue hanging in the balance. On Thursday, Microsoft will be the latest technology company to announce plans to shield its services from outside surveillance. It is in the process of adding state-of-the-art encryption features to various consumer services and internally at its data centres.
The announcement follows similar efforts by Google, Mozilla, Twitter, Facebook and Yahoo in what has effectively become a digital arms race with the National Security Agency as the companies react to what some have called the "Snowden Effect."
While security has long simmered as a concern for users, many companies were reluctant to employ modern protections, worried that upgrades would slow down connections and add complexity to their networks. But the issue boiled over six months ago, when documents leaked by Snowden described efforts by the NSA and its intelligence partners to spy on millions of Internet users. More than half of Americans surveyed say NSA surveillance has intruded on their personal privacy rights, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll conducted in November.
The revelations also shook Internet companies, which have been trying to reassure customers that they are doing what they can to protect their data from spying. They have long complied with legal orders to hand over information, but were alarmed by more recent news that the NSA was also accessing their data without their knowledge.
"We want to ensure that governments use legal process rather than technological brute force to obtain customer data - it's as simple as that," said Bradford L Smith, Microsoft's general counsel, in an interview. Smith said his company would also open "transparency centres" where foreign governments can inspect the company's code in an effort to assure them that it does not plant back doors for spy agencies in its products.
© 2013 The New York Times News Service