The online debates
continue to grow, and Apple might have to explain to its customers why iOS
features installed backdoors. According to the security researcher Jonathan
Zdziarski, Apple might have deliberately installed security holes in its
devices running iOS.
Jonathan
Zdziarski, when at the HOPE security conference, demonstrated some
“undocumented high-value forensic services’ that can be found running on every
iOS device, along with some suspicious design omissions in the operating system
that made collection easier. Finally, Zdziarski also pointed at the examples of
forensic artefacts acquired which “should never come off the device” without
user consent.
The security researcher believes that the tech giant did that all the while it shored up the security in the rest of the iOS in order to make it harder to break in. The interesting thing is that the iPhone proves to be reasonably secure to a typical hacker, with the iPhone 5 and iOS 7 being more secure from everybody except Apple and the government. For instance, Zdziarski has pointed out that locking your Apple device doesn’t necessarily mean that information on it is encrypted.
He says that the only way to encrypt the data is to shut the phone down. In other words, as long as your device is on, you run the risk to see your data stolen. Indeed, commercial forensic instruments can perform deep extraction using these backdoor services. Zdziarski believes that Apple might have succumbed to the pressure of the security services and law enforcement and installed such security holes to just make it easier for the government to break in with a warrant.
Although the company has promised to be transparent when faced with government requests, the security researcher believes that it is still a breach of customers’ trust. Of course, the backdoors are undocumented and customers are unaware of them.
The security researcher believes that the tech giant did that all the while it shored up the security in the rest of the iOS in order to make it harder to break in. The interesting thing is that the iPhone proves to be reasonably secure to a typical hacker, with the iPhone 5 and iOS 7 being more secure from everybody except Apple and the government. For instance, Zdziarski has pointed out that locking your Apple device doesn’t necessarily mean that information on it is encrypted.
He says that the only way to encrypt the data is to shut the phone down. In other words, as long as your device is on, you run the risk to see your data stolen. Indeed, commercial forensic instruments can perform deep extraction using these backdoor services. Zdziarski believes that Apple might have succumbed to the pressure of the security services and law enforcement and installed such security holes to just make it easier for the government to break in with a warrant.
Although the company has promised to be transparent when faced with government requests, the security researcher believes that it is still a breach of customers’ trust. Of course, the backdoors are undocumented and customers are unaware of them.
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