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Private Data On iOS Devices Not So Private After All
theshowmecanuck (703852) writes with this excerpt from Reuters summarizing the upshot of a talk that Jonathan Zdziarski gave at last weekend's HOPE conference:
Personal data including text messages, contact lists and photos can be extracted from iPhones through previously unpublicized techniques by Apple Inc employees, the company acknowledged this week. The same techniques to circumvent backup encryption could be used by law enforcement or others with access to the 'trusted' computers to which the devices have been connected, according to the security expert who prompted Apple's admission. Users are not notified that the services are running and cannot disable them, Zdziarski said. There is no way for iPhone users to know what computers have previously been granted trusted status via the backup process or block future connections.
If you'd rather watch and listen, Zdziarski has posted a video showing how it's done.
These so-called "smart telephones" aren't telephones at all; they are computers. Computers that you cannot control. And if you aren't, who is?
Some folks thought Richard Stallman was crazy for saying no-one should run software or use hardware that is based on clandestine (proprietary, hidden) knowledge. This latest revelation is just one reason he was right all along.
The more we buy devices whose master is someone else, the more things of this very nature will become a problem.
Do not buy devices that you do not control after you buy them. You must be able to run any kernel and any userspace you want, you must be able to control the machine top to bottom. If you give this up in exchange for convenience, then you will be taken advantage of by companies that don't have your interests at heart.
If you store sensitive stuff on your iPhone, don't make backups from it onto an insecure/unencrypted computer.
And if you were making backups from anything secure onto anything insecure, it is time to revise your security policy.
These *attacks* require the attacker to have the keys from a trusted computer. Is your linux secure if you give somebody the root pass? Is your house safe if you give a friend the keys? These "security" headlines are just clickbait.
Trusted by whom? I don't think there's any requirement that the purchaser of the device trust the "trusted" data extractor. IIUC it could become trusted before the customer ever received the device, or anytime it's in for service.
Step 1: Plug iOS device into a Mac.
Step 2: Unlock iOS device.
Step 3: Click on YES when the iOS device asks if it should trust the computer.
The critical part is Step 2, which you can only perform if you know how to unlock the device. In other words, if you know the passcode. But if you know the passcode, then you can do _anything_ with the phone. That's what the passcode is there for.
So basically, this security "expert" found a way for a thief to enter my home through the backdoor, as long as the thief has the keys for my front door.