Apple iOS security Ping!
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Posted on 08/13/2014 3:41:56 PM PDT by Swordmaker
While Android phones are constantly targeted by cybercriminals, the iPhone is considered more secure. Now, leaked documents from one of the world's leading surveillance companies have reaffirmed the idea.
As spotted by the Washington Post, a leaked document from Gamma Group, a secretive seller of surveillance tools, emerged on the Internet last week. Hosted on Netzpolitik, the document (.PDF) reveals interesting information concerning Gamma Groups' extensive range of surveillance tools, but in particular, notes that the iPhone is notoriously difficult to infiltrate -- the only exception being when a user has jailbroken their device.
A particular piece of software is called FinSpy. According to Gamma Groups' FinSpy software specifications hosted by Wikileaks, the spyware can be used to monitor Skype conversations, take screenshots and photos using a device's camera, record microphone use, emails, voice-over-IP and extract files from hard discs. FinSpy can be controlled remotely as soon as the compromised device is connected to the Internet.
Source: Wikileaks According to the latest Gamma Group document leak, while FinSpy has the capabilities to infiltrate Android, Blackberry, and older Microsoft handsets, iPhones are out of reach unless the device's core security protocols have changed through jailbreaking.
Dated April 2014, the document states that the spyware "is designed to help law enforcement and intelligence agencies to remotely monitor mobile phones and tablet devices," and get full access to calls, SMS, MMS, address books and make silent calls to remotely listen to microphones. If a user of FinSpy wishes to infiltrate a phone, the support details are as below:
An iPhone user can jailbreak their device using a number of free tools, and by doing so, they gain root access which the iOS operating system does not allow by default. Doing so allows for unsigned apps to run and heavy customisation of the OS -- something Android allows as an open-source, free ecosystem -- but if unsigned code is permitted to run, then this provides a channel for tools such as FinSpy to enter.
Last year, researchers from The Citizen Lab said the spyware had been discovered in use by 25 countries, including being linked to the monitoring of dissidents in Bahrain. While developed by Gamma Group in Munich, Germany and sold through a UK subsidiary as a law enforcement tool, it is also believed to be used to target opposition groups and activists by governments worldwide.
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Sweet!
World's most secore Android Phone, the Blackphone, hacked in under five minutes
It took a lot longer than 5 minutes and it required:
- having physical access to the phone
- connecting the phone to a computer in developer mode
- disabling several security features
You can read more about it on ArsTechnica. It was not a remote hack at all, and it would be virtually impossible to replicate without someone physically giving you their phone. (But it sounds much more catchy to run a sensational headline, not do any fact checking with either the company who makes the phone, or the man who did the hack.)
That said, I’m still glad to be an iPhone user.
Thanks for the more complete information. More information also claims that the security vulnerability has been closed already. Good.
Of course, that's what they WANT you to think.
Thanks Swordmaker.
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