All of my machines have been custom made - also the time-frame has been the same (after dispatch email) as these new ones. I'm fairly confident they went from China to the Netherlands, then here.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
What if our Macs are intercepted and compromised while in transit?
- Thread starter iBrooker
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
All of my machines have been custom made - also the time-frame has been the same (after dispatch email) as these new ones. I'm fairly confident they went from China to the Netherlands, then here.
Well all CTO are not made when you order it they can have them in stock, in the US they have for a example 16GB ram in stock in almost every Apple Store.
I know for a fact that Apple have a storage in the Netherlands so do Lenovo and Dell also.
It should not surprise me if they did share the storage as it's only for sending and receiving units.
If you do a express replacement here in Europe you will send for broken device to the Netherlands.
I really doubt there is anything we could do to protect ourselves. You just have to know if you send out information on a phone or computer or any of that the government can probably easily get to it and the regulations protecting us from corporations are already eroding under this administration with internet providers being able to sell your information as well. So if you are concerned about something not being recorded in some way you have to control it at the source and not say it through an electronic device. I really think this is the only way to really protect information in this day and age.
The scary thing is when you start to think about the potential of a Alexia type device to basically have a voice recorder listening to everything going on in your house. I think that was the biggest reason for the Xbox one having sales issues is it came out right after the Snowden revelations. There was no way in hell I wanted a powerful camera and microphone recording my living room. Sure Microsoft swore up and down that it would only be on when playing games but as a lot of the leaks show what these companies think is going on doesn't really matter.
The scary thing is when you start to think about the potential of a Alexia type device to basically have a voice recorder listening to everything going on in your house. I think that was the biggest reason for the Xbox one having sales issues is it came out right after the Snowden revelations. There was no way in hell I wanted a powerful camera and microphone recording my living room. Sure Microsoft swore up and down that it would only be on when playing games but as a lot of the leaks show what these companies think is going on doesn't really matter.
^but like most people, it's convenience over personal info. I think people's mentality is that if a product or service makes someone's daily life easier they will do it over worrying if their personal info will be leaked out. Part of this has to do with almost everyday you hear about another company saying their customers data was compromised. The public has no control over how these companies manage your personal info. Target hacking CC's gas stations bank ATMs hacking magnetic strips etc the list goes on and on. People will not give up convenience over risk.
I would worry more about routers, access points, TV, and Bluetooth devices you bring home. Also, connecting to hotspots at public places, or using USB charging stations at airports, etc.
Of course you're right our private stuff is our private stuff, but realistically, what more can Apple do when they're shipping millions of low-value (to them) items through the global logistics system? If there were an established problem with items being monkeyed with en-route, then possibly they could look at tamper-proof packaging, but likely they've more to worry about with pilferage than interference. When you get your computer, which I hope you enjoy, then a whole bunch of people, including Google, Microsoft, the state and your ISP, will be trying to track what you do with it, a and a small army of dodgy geezers will want to exert malign influence on it - that's the threat, not foul play in a parcel depot. As always, IMHO.
In terms of probability, I think the single biggest threat is probably the constantly found and exploited weaknesses of TLS (closely matched by how people put so much private information on publicly-accessible sites, providing the very information needed to take unauthorized control of a user account.) There's no way Apple can force another company to use a stronger cipher, and a huge portion of companies (including ones that provide financial services) still use obsolete/vulnerable protocols (and most people don't run a TLS test on every website they are going to make a purchase from or send personal information to...)
While I haven't read the entire cable, I assume that hardware interception is only being done if and when less expensive, intrusive, and potentially traceable/liable methods are not effective (i.e., high-value targets.)
Last edited:
Did you expect it to say NSA black site under one of the destination?
If it were to happen, obviously won't be listedTheir list of "worrying stuff" can change at a moments notice, and suddenly something you perceived as harmless now has you in their crosshairs. They operate under zero rules. That is why. How do people not understand this?