Global elites’ love of iPhone made iOS a prime target of CIA

Cult of Mac ^ | March 7, 2017 | BY LEANDER KAHNEY

[Swordmaker]

The CIA has a special department to develop iOS hacks to use iPhones and iPads to spy on their users. — PING!

Mobile Devices and the CIA
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[Jonty30]

My tv camera is firmly in place in it’s hole, where the CIA gets a great look at my ceiling tiles.

I wonder if Android Blackberry is secure, as I am soon in need of a new phone.

[Presbyterian Reporter]

I know far too many people who go out of their way to proclaim their Apple phones and computers are so much better because they are not vulnerable to viruses and other attacks.

And most of these folks consider themselves to be very elite.

[morphing libertarian]

I consider myself elite, but my wife disagrees.

[xp38]

Blackberry has pretty much left the phone field. They are now just a software company. There are still a few blackberrys around for sale I guess but there will be no new products anymore. The Priv was probably their last gasp.

[Jonty30]

They make security software for Android. That’s what I’m wondering about.

[xp38]

Oops my mistake. I was repeating an article I had read the other day about the company but they do seem to have a couple of new phones still. The Keyone and the DTEK60.

[Jonty30]

I was reading that they actually three phones coming out in 2017, but those phones will be the last if they don’t get traction.

[Carpe Cerevisi]

Android Blackberry?

[Jonty30]

Basically an Android phone using Blackberry security software.

[SharpRightTurn]

“I wonder if Android Blackberry is secure, as I am soon in need of a new phone.”

I would think BB would have the securest Android devices, but it is running Android, so who knows how much security is possible even with a BB with that software.

[Chgogal]

So, what is Apple going to do about this?

This really pisses me off.

[Jonty30]

Probably nothing, unless Apple is going to rewrite their software from the ground up.

[Squantos]

Blackphone II from silent circle ..... use a quality VPN, Tor w custom bridges, 12P Bote, Tails and a good AES128 encryption program, stir that with a ROT-13 program and Photon email service out of Switzerland ...... I use it to play chess with my neighbor. Probably drives somebody nuts.

That said never put anything on a IoT gadget you don’t want anyone else to see.

[Swordmaker]

So, what is Apple going to do about this?

This release gives indications of where any vulnerabilities may lie. Apple will close any it finds. They will also sue the government under the law that requires the government to reveal any known vulnerabilities it knows about so the manufacturer can fix them. This should have been done automatically under that law.

[Chgogal]

Will these vulnerabilities be fixed by the time iPhone 8 comes out?

[vooch]

correct - Apple will quickly seal the openings. One of their key selling points is security against viruses & hacks. Too much money involved for them.

As for android - it’s open source, extremely prone to hacking and viruses. I got my wife a Android phone ( Galaxy 6) in 2015; 12 months later it was so full of bugs & popup ads that it became useless. Yes, I installed the ad blockers and anti virus programs; useless.

Sold the android and got her a iphone, 7 months later, not a glitch.

[Swordmaker]

Will these vulnerabilities be fixed by the time iPhone 8 fe out?

I am confident they will be. . . and I think the vast majority of people would never be affected by these vulnerabilities.

I recall that the government could not even open an older model iPhone 5c owned by the San Bernardino terrorists just a year ago. That does not give much credibility to these current claims. That iPhone could have been quietly opened without all that hoopla if what is being claimed now were true about being able to get into a locked iPhone. These agencies were under orders to cooperate and the CIA was brought in, as was the NSA, due to the potential for foreign connections.

I believe they have developed malware that could compromise iOS devices. . . but they have to get it ON the devices. I also believe that they can compromise a device before it is delivered. . . if they have physical possession of it before delivery, which is what was done with Angela Merkel's iPhone. Remote compromising, however, is another issue. I also do not believe they have been paying Apple to maintain any vulnerabilities in iOS, a backdoor, so they can keep their accessibility open as some have hinted. Apple's credibility with the Enterprise and its individual customers is far too valuable to ever agree to such a nefarious arrangement.

[ReignOfError]

I recall that the government could not even open an older model iPhone 5c owned by the San Bernardino terrorists just a year ago ... the CIA was brought in, as was the NSA, due to the potential for foreign connections.

Unless that whole episode was a feint to give potential targets a false sense of security.