Facebook Boosts Online Encryption, But Not End-to-End

In light of recent revelations that the National Security Agency (NSA) is spying on U.S. citizens, Facebook has been working to boost its encryption standards over the past few months -- but it is holding back on end-to-end encryption. The reasons: the technology is too complex and users would run into trouble trying to use the feature.

Rather than adding another layer of encryption to the site directly, Facebook said that it will try to support more third-party apps that offer the service.

Experts have continued to push for end-to-end encryption because it is one of the best defenses against government spying and malicious hackers. Facebook has been able to improve its current security features with the help of hackers, developers, and other individuals, but its current forms of security are not enough to keep the NSA out of the site.

Major Concerns

NSA documents that revealed FacebookEUs connection to the NSA and the governmentEUs ability to spy on people who use the social network have already forced Facebook to change its policies and implement stronger security measures. A recent discovery, however, showed just how badly the NSA has wanted to spy on Facebook users.

Recently, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg telephoned President Barack Obama after it was reported earlier this month that the NSA impersonated the social network in order to infect computers. However, Zuckerberg still asserts that many aspects of the U.S. intelligence system need to be changed. EUUnfortunately, it seems like it will take a very long time for true full reform,EU Zuckerberg said on his Facebook page.

The NSA program that allowed for this sort of attack to occur has not been EUviableEU since last summer, according to Joe Sullivan, FacebookEUs chief security officer. However, the revelation has added more fuel to the anti-NSA fire and FacebookEUs goal of...