Apple Allegedly Provided User Data to Hackers That Forged Legal Requests

[Jim Lahey]

The phone, no. If there is a properly executed warrant for iCloud data, Apple will cooperate by giving access to that.

That’s different from on device security, which Apple has no ability to break.

One major caveat with this, as I understand it anyway, is that iCloud backups aren't end-to-end, meaning law enforcement can effectively access your entire device if they gain access to your iCloud data through Apple. For example iMessage is E2E encrypted but the messages are readable in plain sight on your device backup?

Many privacy-savvy users avoid iCloud backup for this reason and make encrypted hard backups to their Mac, which in turn uses an encrypted Time Machine disk to backup its own data. Very happy to be corrected, or updated on current affairs if something has recently changed ?

 

[vipergts2207]

But Apple so secure though..

??

 

[toasted ICT]

I am SUPER excited for the sweaty video Rene Ritchie will make defending Apple. Grade A propaganda. He's probably on the phone with Apple PR people as I type this....

Did you see him defending the Studio monitor? wow.

 

[IllinoisCorn]

Did you see him defending the Studio monitor? wow.

Yep--it was slavish. And you know, I'm super critical but I still watch the videos, so he has the last laugh.

 

[symphony]

What ever happened to that exploitative microchip server thing that Bloomberg also reported about Apple?

 

[TracesOfArsenic]

But....privacy!

 

[IllinoisCorn]

It continues to astound me that anyone can take Bloomberg seriously after their raging dumpster fire of a story about imaginary Chinese spy chips.

They can be right about something and wrong about other things. Even major mistakes. Last time I checked, Dan Rather never apologized for the forged National Guard documents in a 2004 story, but people still watch CBS news and I imagine they are right about a good deal more than they are wrong about.

Also--where was Apple's lawsuit against Bloomberg? You'd have to think Apple was boiling mad about a story that literally defamed them and they did.....nothing. This is a company that zealously protects itself.

You sure there was nothing to that story? Hmmmmm....

 

[IllinoisCorn]

But....privacy!

hUmAn RiGhT, PrIvAcY iS!

 

[Mr. Heckles]

But Apple so secure though..

??

They never said the stuff in the cloud was….

 

[jarman92]

They can be right about something and wrong about other things. Even major mistakes. Last time I checked, Dan Rather never apologized for the forged National Guard documents in a 2004 story, but people still watch CBS news and I imagine they are right about a good deal more than they are wrong about.

Also--where was Apple's lawsuit against Bloomberg? You'd have to think Apple was boiling mad about a story that literally defamed them and they did.....nothing. This is a company that zealously protects itself.

You sure there was nothing to that story? Hmmmmm....

They weren't just wrong, they reported extremely serious accusations based on terrible sources that to this day have not been corroborated by any other news organization, and then consistently refused to correct or retract it. They haven't even mentioned it again. And yeah, I'm pretty sure there was nothing to the story since it is easily verifiable and not one single person has ever found a secret Chinese spy chip in one of their devices.

 

[Bandaman]

They never said the stuff in the cloud was….

Uh … yes they have …

iCloud data security overview - Apple Support

iCloud uses strong security methods, employs strict policies to protect your information, and leads the industry in using privacy-preserving security technologies like end-to-end encryption for your data.

support.apple.com

 

[antiprotest]

So Apple isn't infallible, it happens to other law enforcement and governmental agencies also.

There is no excuse. We don't pay them to be fallible. They should have had a better system in place to mitigate their excessive fallibility.

 

[IllinoisCorn]

They weren't just wrong, they reported extremely serious accusations based on terrible sources that to this day have not been corroborated by any other news organization, and then consistently refused to correct or retract it. They haven't even mentioned it again. And yeah, I'm pretty sure there was nothing to the story since it is easily verifiable and not one single person has ever found a secret Chinese spy chip in one of their devices.

All the more reason to sue them into oblivion. There's a reason they didn't do that.

 

[Tdude96]

Apple should take this as a learning experience and use it as an opportunity to improve privacy by making everything fully and securely end-to-end encrypted. They can't provide to hackers/phishers/snoopers what they don't have themselves.

 

[developer13245]

Will Apple notify the owners (users) who were comprised?

 

[jarman92]

All the more reason to sue them into oblivion. There's a reason they didn't do that.

Sue them for what, exactly? Defamation? It's nearly impossible to get a defamation suit against a news organization in the US past even the summary judgement stage. Even if they did, Apple would have to prove that a) the story is false, b) the story is defamatory, c) Apple suffered some cognizable injury, and c) that Bloomberg knew the story was false. And even if Apple could clear that enormous hurdle, suing a news org looks pretty bad.

 

[citysnaps]

No! Not Apple! Not this fine upstanding company with a squeaky clean record!

Apple is required to provide information to law enforcement, by law, when presented with proper legal documents. Apparently somebody hacked/masqueraded as law enforcement with forged documents.

 

[katbel]

Sue them for what, exactly?

Stupidity

 

[ct2k7]

Stupidity

Really?

 

[Apple_Robert]

One major caveat with this, as I understand it anyway, is that iCloud backups aren't end-to-end, meaning law enforcement can effectively access your entire device if they gain access to your iCloud data through Apple. For example iMessage is E2E encrypted but the messages are readable in plain sight on your device backup?

Many privacy-savvy users avoid iCloud backup for this reason and make encrypted hard backups to their Mac, which in turn uses an encrypted Time Machine disk to backup its own data. Very happy to be corrected, or updated on current affairs if something has recently changed ?

I am one of those people. However, I do store my backup in the cloud, as well as other secure places (local and elsewhere). The security difference is said backup is encrypted with Crytomator. If Apple, LEO, or some other agency or bad actor tried to read the backup, they wouldn't be able to.

 

[Mr. Heckles]

Uh … yes they have …

iCloud data security overview - Apple Support

iCloud uses strong security methods, employs strict policies to protect your information, and leads the industry in using privacy-preserving security technologies like end-to-end encryption for your data.

support.apple.com

14 of the 27 items have ee2e. The other 13 Apple has the keys and has access.

 

[hydropsyche]

Apple just created the greatest spy network since the NSA infiltrated telecom in the 60's. The bluetooth mesh net can't be turned off and now they are working on the ultra wide band technology as a new spy net with better bandwidth.

 

[Bandaman]

14 of the 27 items have ee2e. The other 13 Apple has the keys and has access.

The response was Apple didn’t say things in the cloud are secure. They are. Some aren’t. But that wasn’t the point.

 

[mikethemartian]

I am SUPER excited for the sweaty video Rene Ritchie will make defending Apple. Grade A propaganda. He's probably on the phone with Apple PR people as I type this....

He is one of those YouTubers that seem to need to have some over exaggerated facial expression on all the thumbnails for his videos.

 

[Mr. Heckles]

The response was Apple didn’t say things in the cloud are secure. They are. Some aren’t. But that wasn’t the point.

All that says is what they do to the data. So yes, that is the point.