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Apple Denies Helping NSA Subvert iPhone
New submitter aissixtir sends word that Apple has responded to allegations that the NSA has backdoor access to iPhones. Apple said,
"Apple has never worked with the NSA to create a backdoor in any of our products, including iPhone. Additionally, we have been unaware of this alleged NSA program targeting our products. ... Whenever we hear about attempts to undermine Apple’s industry-leading security, we thoroughly investigate and take appropriate steps to protect our customers. We will continue to use our resources to stay ahead of malicious hackers and defend our customers from security attacks, regardless of who’s behind them."
What makes you think they could stop the NSA?
Don't believe you.
It's now proven most American companies can't be trusted.
They didn't say there was *not* an NSA backdoor. All they said was that they didn't work with the NSA to create one.
Because, of course, when your domestic intelligence agency asks you to do something, and you comply, you then also admit to it the first time someone questions your integrity.
It's almost as useful as government departments (esp. intelligence agencies) issuing press releases declaring that they only do what's in their mandate and according to the law.
Trust no one, but assume innocence until proven guilty. So, while nobody should trust Apple devices with sensitive data, any direct accusation must be backed up with evidence. It's then up to Apple to defend itself by attacking the evidence. What we have here is neither.
They should say there is no backdoor, not that they did not help making one.
Like RSA they will just keep denying it and hope there is nothing to directly contradict them. They may well be telling the truth, but we can't be sure now and maybe even Apple don't know that one of their engineers was compromised and forced to work for the NSA.
We know that iphones kept location logs, for example. Apple claimed it was done in error... Perhaps a deliberate error by an NSA agent in their ranks, but we will probably never know.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
This rogue agency will destroy billions upon billions of dollars worth of American commerce before its done.
quiquid id est, timeo puellas et oscula dantes.
This could be part of the reason the Whitehouse waived the patent decision against them.
Working with the NSA most likely comes with a caveat: "you follow this gag order or we will put you in jail for interfering with national defense and releasing classified information." In other words, something almost as bad as giving aid to the enemy.
I hate conspiracy theories, but it is plausible that they are under a secret order from a secret court ordering them to deny everything. This is precisely why in the US we should never every have secret courts.
Perhaps they are constrained by law and couldn't release the truth if they wanted to.
Apple has never worked with the NSA to create a backdoor in any of our products, including iPhone. (Once the NSA backdoored the iPhone, we didn't fix it) Additionally, we have been unaware of this alleged NSA program targeting our products(In this case, 'we' refers to the marketing department and the guy that brings the bagels) ... Whenever we hear about attempts to undermine Apple’s industry-leading security, we thoroughly investigate and take appropriate steps to protect our customers. We will continue to use our resources to stay ahead of malicious hackers and defend our customers from security attacks, regardless of who’s behind them. Securing out products against the non malicious, non attacking survailence by the NSA would be inappropiate, of course.
Page 16/272: Acknowledgments
Apple would like to thank the National Security Agency, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the Defense Information Systems Agency for their assistance in creating and editing the client and server security configuration guides for Mac OS X Snow Leopard.
I work in a relationship role for a large firm that most people have heard of. Let me fill all of you in on exactly what was said here.
First time poster as I am normally not interested however I felt that most of the comments were not addressing the whole verbiage of the defense.
"Apple has never worked with the NSA" ----- We did not have a contract with or resources sharing agreement with the NSA. We have friends though. ... Whenever we hear about attempts to undermine Apple’s industry-leading security, we thoroughly investigate and take appropriate steps to protect our customers.
"to create a backdoor in any of our products, including iPhone" ----- Whatever was created was not called a backdoor or we did not create it. Someone else did.
"Additionally, we have been unaware of this alleged NSA program targeting our products..." ----- THIS alleged program. We were given a different name or aware of others.
"
----- Apple will and probably does investigate breach attempts. But this is not a breach. It was a voluntary. So we aren't doing anything.
"We will continue to use our resources to stay ahead of malicious hackers and defend our customers from security attacks, regardless of who’s behind them." ------ Malicious hackers, Security Attacks, as stated above this was voluntary. We will continue not using resources to patch the vulnerabilities.
In summary Apple did not deny. It is simply used double speak/meaning to say, it was not officially worked, we didn't refer to it by this name, we did not personally create the vulnerabilities and we aren't going to fix them. The NSA would be like a vendor to a large company in this instance. The company can sit back and say they did not personally take malicious action. However, they can't get away from the fact that it happened under their watch so they must respond and deny, which as pointed out by others can be proven by subsequent revelation by Snowden or others, or they can type a paragraph which is true and doesn't admit guilt while misguiding others into making their own conclusion.
Remember, you are the one they have to convince, not themselves. The executives are not going to let someone like government or shareholders just waltz in and destroy what they've spent years building. They will lie or mislead and if caught, after years of arbitration and lawsuits, can settle for a small lump sum that pales in comparison to the money they could have made in the meantime. Look at BP and the trust fund they setup for the Gulf Oil Spill Cleanup. They made a profit on the interest and reinvestment of that money.
Believe me or not it's entirely up to you. I work in an area who has written quite a few of these and trust me it works to divide and conquer individuals who have different interpretations of literary/writing style. Either way, most people are not paying attention... and that's a fact.
Perhaps they are constrained by law and couldn't release the truth if they wanted to.
Apple has never worked with the NSA to create a backdoor in any of our products, including iPhone. (Once the NSA backdoored the iPhone, we didn't fix it) Additionally, we have been unaware of this alleged NSA program targeting our products(In this case, 'we' refers to the marketing department and the guy that brings the bagels) ... Whenever we hear about attempts to undermine Apple’s industry-leading security, we thoroughly investigate and take appropriate steps to protect our customers. We will continue to use our resources to stay ahead of malicious hackers and defend our customers from security attacks, regardless of who’s behind them. Securing out products against the non malicious, non attacking survailence by the NSA would be inappropiate, of course.
Ok, I actually went and RTFA. TFA says, and I quote:
The documents suggest that the NSA needs physical access to a device to install the spyware—something the agency has achieved by rerouting shipments of devices purchased online—but a remote version of the exploit is also in the works.
If somebody actually reroutes shipments and tampers with your product in transit it's kind of hard to 'fix' that. What would you like Apple to do? Have every iPhone they sell escorted by armed guards? With all due respect to the noble sport of Apple hating, one security researcher speculates, and once again I quote:
Either [the NSA] have a huge collection of exploits that work against Apple products, meaning they are hoarding information about critical systems that American companies produce, and sabotaging them, or Apple sabotaged it themselves...
...and every Apple hater on /. immediately takes that as proof positive that Apple must be sabotaging their own product by routing their shipments through NSA hacking HQ for spyware installation and have a team of engineers developing a remote attack kit for the NSA. Come to think of it, why would the NSA even need have one 'in the works' if Apple is building NSA friendly back doors into their products by default? I mean it could not possibly be the case that the NSA has teams of people tapping into the hacker underground and buying up zero day exploits now could it? (Hint: that's the other thing that security guy suggested) No it's much more logical that the NSA have blackmailed thousands of American and foreign companies into sabotaging their own products. After all, such an operation is much more easy to cover up (not) that just quietly buying up zero day exploits and/or hiring a team of hackers to ensure a steady supply of exploits. If Apple actually did what they are being accused of they deserve to get punished (and they will when their customers abandon them in droves), but let's at least try to base the idle speculation on something more solid than "I hate Apple".