Historically, many features iOS first appeared on Android. Let's not stick labels and accuse some of copying the ideas of others, in the end, implementation is of great importance, but the fact remains. Therefore, many users of the OS from Google, having heard about the next innovation iOS, turned on snobs and defiantly asked: what, they didn't have this before? But if in relation to the notification curtain or the control center this claim is of little use, then it is quite applicable to end-to-end encryption of backups.
Backups Android are better protected than iOS
It was revealed this week that Apple has deprecated end-to-end encryption of iCloud backups. Despite the fact that Cupertino had been working on this project for about two years, it was decided to close it. According to Reuters, this was influenced by the FBI, which required Apple not to encrypt backups. The fact is that this would not only complicate the obtaining of user data, which is often used as an evidence base in the investigation of crimes, but generally excluded the possibility of their seizure even with the help of Apple.
Why end-to-end encryption is dangerous
Google has been protecting backups Android with end-to-end encryption since 2018
However, according to another version, in Cupertino they could make such a decision on their own without looking back at the FBI, which the company has recently been opposing in every possible way. The fact is that the use of end-to-end encryption would actually deprive Apple of the ability to recover a forgotten password from an account, which happens quite often among users of all ages. However, Google was not a problem, and it was able to implement end-to-end encryption of backups, protecting them with the latest technology.
Google turned on end-to-end encryption for backups Android back in 2018, when Cupertino was just getting started on this project. To do this, the company has equipped its servers that store backups with a Titan security chip. Its use allows you to ensure that neither Google itself nor anyone else can access data stored in the cloud, because the decryption key is stored in the smartphone itself. Therefore, even if the FBI through the court obliges Google to transfer the backup, it will not have the physical ability to do this, because it does not have access to this information.
End-to-end encryption of backups at Android
End-to-end backup encryption is supported by all devices based on Android 9 Pie and Android 10. Google has implemented a system in which the encryption key allowing access to the backup is the unlock password smartphone, but it is transmitted in hashed form to the company's servers, where it is stored in a protected form on the Titan microchip. It is configured to decrypt the backup only when the correct access password is entered.
It would seem, well, what is innovative here, because today there is a wide range of devices that are engaged in the selection of passwords in the interests of law enforcement agencies. However, Google has foreseen this as well. In order to avoid hacking and unauthorized extraction of data from the cloud, the company set a limit on the number of sequentially entered access combinations. Therefore, if the secret services try to guess the password using the Cellebrite or GrayShift tools, access will be blocked forever.