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The U.K. government appears to have quietly scrubbed encryption advice from government web pages, just weeks after demanding backdoor access to encrypted data stored on Apple\u2019s cloud storage service, iCloud.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The change was spotted by security expert Alec Muffet, who wrote in a blog post on Wednesday<\/a> that the U.K.\u2019s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) is no longer recommending that high-risk individuals use encryption to protect their sensitive information.<\/p>\n The NCSC in October published a document titled \u201cCybersecurity tips for barristers, solicitors & legal professionals,\u201d that advised the use of encryption tools such as Apple\u2019s Advanced Data Protection (ADP).\u00a0<\/p>\n ADP allows users to turn on end-to-end encryption for their iCloud backups, effectively making it impossible for anyone, including Apple and government authorities, to view data stored on iCloud.<\/p>\n The URL hosting the NCSC document now redirects to a different page<\/a> that makes no mention of encryption or ADP. Instead, it recommends that at-risk individuals use Apple\u2019s Lockdown Mode, an \u201cextreme\u201d security tool that restricts access to certain functions and features.<\/p>\n Muffet reports that the original document, still accessible via the Wayback Machine<\/a>, has been \u201cwholesale deleted from the internet.\u201d TechCrunch wasn\u2019t able to find any encryption advice on the U.K. government\u2019s website.\u00a0<\/p>\n The U.K. Home Office and NCSC did not respond to TechCrunch\u2019s questions.<\/p>\n The removal of the encryption advice comes weeks after the U.K. government secretly ordered Apple to build a backdoor<\/a> that would give authorities access to users\u2019 encrypted iCloud data. <\/p>\n Following the order, first reported by The Washington Post<\/a>, Apple pulled its ADP feature in the U.K., and confirmed<\/a> to TechCrunch that the feature will no longer be made available to new users in the U.K., and its current users would eventually need to disable it.<\/p>\n Apple is challenging<\/a> the U.K.\u2019s data access order in the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT), The Financial Times<\/a> reported this week.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n