Not in my house: Amazon's unencrypted devices a sitting target, cybersecurity experts say - CNET

There's a ruckus in the tech world over encrypting mobile devices. No, it's not about Apple's battle to protect user data. This time, it's Amazon's decision not to.

The news landed like a record scratch Thursday, when security industry heavyweights gathered at the RSA conference in San Francisco heard Amazon plans to stop protecting the data customers store on its tablets and other devices with a technology called encryption.

The change might have merely brought about head scratching and odd looks any other day, but the past couple of weeks, encryption has been front and center as Apple slugs it out with the US govement on the front pages of the world's newspapers.

The battle is whether Apple should help the FBI hack into an encrypted phone. Apple says if it's forced to help the FBI, the resulting methods will weaken the more than 1 billion iPhones and iPads used around the world.

Simply put, Amazon's choice flies in the face of security fundamentals, experts at the RSA conference said.