Apple's New T2 Security Chip Will Prevent Hackers From Eavesdropping On Your Microphone (techcrunch.com)

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Apple's New T2 Security Chip Will Prevent Hackers From Eavesdropping On Your Microphone (techcrunch.com)

Posted by BeauHD on Tuesday October 30, 2018 @10:03AM from the safety-first dept.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: Buried in Apple's latest range of MacBooks -- including the MacBook Pro out earlier this year and the just-announced MacBook Air -- is the new T2 security chip, which helps protect the device's encryption keys, storage, fingerprint data and secure boot features. Little was known about the chip until today. According to its newest published security guide, the chip comes with a hardware microphone disconnect feature that physically cuts the device's microphone from the rest of the hardware whenever the lid is closed. "This disconnect is implemented in hardware alone, and therefore prevents any software, even with root or kernel privileges in macOS, and even the software on the T2 chip, from engaging the microphone when the lid is closed," said the support guide. The camera isn't disconnected, however, because its "field of view is completely obstructed with the lid closed." Apple said the new feature adds a "never before seen" level of security for its Macs, without being quite so blunt as to say: Macs get malware too.

145 comments

Min score:

Reason:

Sort:

T2 chip? by b0s0z0ku · 2018-10-30 10:06 · Score: 2

Is the T2 chip really needed to implement a simple hardware disconnect? Also, is this terribly useful anyway, because hackers can still eavesdrop with the lid open? (99% of the time, the computer will be asleep or off with the lid closed anyway.)
1. Re:T2 chip? by b0s0z0ku · 2018-10-30 10:10 · Score: 2
  
  No. We don't need a lockdown chip aka modern version of the Clipper Chip polluting our hardware.
2. Re:T2 chip? by msauve · 2018-10-30 10:20 · Score: 1
  
  Yep. No need for some special "T2" chip - all (?) laptops have a lid switch, and stopping an analog signal based on it being closed isn't high tech.
  
  Next week, we'll hear of some security flaw which allows evildoers to listen in based on fluctuations in SSD access times, or some such.
  
  --
  "National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
3. Re:T2 chip? by Rick+Schumann · 2018-10-30 10:27 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Is the T2 chip really needed to implement a simple hardware disconnect?
  No, but since it must be a totally proprietary ASIC, they threw in an analog switch, tied it's enable line to the state of the lid switch, and routed the microphone signal through the analog switch, then provide a 'MIC_OUT' pin to go to whatever handles audio.
4. Re:T2 chip? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-30 10:35 · Score: 0
  
  Besides, that's not the real purpose of the T2 chip. Apple is struggling to come up with reasons why anyone would want it, but its real purpose is quite simple: to prevent the machine from booting if you repair it at a non-Apple repair shop.
  That's the only thing the T2 actually does: verify that all the hardware is the same as it was when the machine last booted, and only allow hardware to change if given a special encrypted message from Apple. It's designed to prevent third-party repair shops. That's its primary purpose.
  This "microphone switch" thing is just a bogus excuse to try and market a user-hostile feature as a positive.
5. Re:T2 chip? by ELCouz · 2018-10-30 10:40 · Score: 0
  
  Mod parent up please!
6. Re: T2 chip? by GrahamJ · 2018-10-30 10:58 · Score: 1
  
  The wheel is pretty easy to implement too.
7. Re:T2 chip? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-30 11:08 · Score: 1
  
  Yes I agree this is its actual purpose is to keep you from soldering your own chips on your motherboard or changing components out you don't like or tinkering. They are trying to change the paradigm of you don't own your own hardware you bought yourself. Just like John Deere and the Auto companies are keeping you from modding your vehicles or repairing our own tractor. Apple is ushering in a new era of we own your hardware. They will go after people now if you circumvent this device.
8. Re:T2 chip? by GerryGilmore · 2018-10-30 11:08 · Score: 1
  
  Given the additional functionality this thing provides (as you said, the mic disable thing is pretty easy), I would be surprised if it's pure ASIC, though some of the ASICs available now are pretty complex. I was thinking it was some kind of minimalist CPU with embedded RAM, etc. It would be interesting to know the provider...
9. Re: T2 chip? by msauve · 2018-10-30 11:26 · Score: 1
  
  If the thunder don't get you then the lightning will.
  
  --
  "National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
10. Re:T2 chip? by Cmdln+Daco · 2018-10-30 11:33 · Score: 1
  
  How much do you want to bet it will also be used as a Hackintosh Defeat Device?
11. Re:T2 chip? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-30 11:37 · Score: 2, Interesting
  
  It 100% is that. Some future version of macOS will drop support for all Macs without these chips. Why else put one in the Mac mini? What purpose does that serve? Once they do that: no more Hackintoshes as you can guarantee that the kernel will be encrypted using a key that only these "security" chips can decrypt, and the decrypted kernel image will be locked away from all user code.
12. Re:T2 chip? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-30 12:09 · Score: 0
  
  I suppose that it depends on where the ADC is, all it takes is a gate on its output (or enable logic). No need to fuss with the analog, likely makes it easier to maintain mic audio fidelity.
13. Re:T2 chip? by jcr · 2018-10-30 12:10 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  No, its primary purpose is to store your fingerprint and encryption key data securely. Google "Apple Secure Enclave" and read all about it.
  -jcr
  
  --
  The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
14. Re:T2 chip? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-30 12:38 · Score: 0
  
  No, its foot-in-door bullshit with "Secure" or "Trusted" tacked on for complete morons. That's a euphemism for "end of personal computing".
  Honestly, how do you lie to yourself like this? You really think they can build all this lockdown crap and then tell a forum of gearheads the purpose isn't to reduce and restrict them? Come on dude. dude@mac,com
15. Re: T2 chip? by rworne · 2018-10-30 12:38 · Score: 1
  
  Unfortunately, we are not talking about or thunderbolt or lightning ports. The cameras on all modern Macs are USB devices.
  
  --
  I tried every decent and legal way I could think of to resolve the issue w/the business before I rented the chicken suit
16. Re:T2 chip? by bonedonut · 2018-10-30 12:43 · Score: 1
  
  So how long until this chip wants to find Sarah Conner?
17. Re: T2 chip? by msauve · 2018-10-30 13:21 · Score: 1
  
  "we are not talking about or thunderbolt or lightning ports. "
  
  Please state your confusion in the form of a coherent question.
  
  --
  "National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
18. Re:T2 chip? by postbigbang · 2018-10-30 14:15 · Score: 2
  
  This may well be the intention. The day of the hackintosh seems almost over anyway. There is sufficient bloat in macOS that it rivals Windows 10, although without so many phone-homes and in-your-face ads.
  The Mac is only barely more immune from hacking and malware than Windoze. Even Linux and ?BSDs are having their own problems. I'm not sure the hacks needed to do a Mac clone are worth the trouble. There are a few features that I personally like in High Sierra+, but it's not worth the trouble. My need for encryption is less than most people's. Encrypting a 'home' directory seems a waste of time, given the possible trouble.
  
  --
  ---- Teach Peace. It's Cheaper Than War.
19. Re:T2 chip? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-30 15:13 · Score: 0
  
  I just snip the built-in microphone cable in my laptops. If the need to record anything arises, I plug in a real microphone.
20. Re:T2 chip? by TheFakeTimCook · 2018-10-30 15:23 · Score: 2
  
  Is the T2 chip really needed to implement a simple hardware disconnect? Also, is this terribly useful anyway, because hackers can still eavesdrop with the lid open? (99% of the time, the computer will be asleep or off with the lid closed anyway.)
  No.
  The T2 chip does a BUNCH of stuff. This was something that took two dedicated pins/pads and a single transistor in the chip.
  Why not?
21. Re:T2 chip? by TheFakeTimCook · 2018-10-30 15:23 · Score: 1
  
  No. We don't need a lockdown chip aka modern version of the Clipper Chip polluting our hardware.
  This is NOTHING like the Clipper Chip.
22. Re:T2 chip? by TheFakeTimCook · 2018-10-30 15:25 · Score: 1
  
  Is the T2 chip really needed to implement a simple hardware disconnect?
  No, but since it must be a totally proprietary ASIC, they threw in an analog switch, tied it's enable line to the state of the lid switch, and routed the microphone signal through the analog switch, then provide a 'MIC_OUT' pin to go to whatever handles audio.
  Exactly. Took 5 minutes of engineering time, max.
23. Re:T2 chip? by TheFakeTimCook · 2018-10-30 15:26 · Score: 1
  
  Given the additional functionality this thing provides (as you said, the mic disable thing is pretty easy), I would be surprised if it's pure ASIC, though some of the ASICs available now are pretty complex. I was thinking it was some kind of minimalist CPU with embedded RAM, etc. It would be interesting to know the provider...
  That's easy: Apple.
  They have been designing custom silicon since the Apple ][ days. Seriously.
24. Re:T2 chip? by TheFakeTimCook · 2018-10-30 15:28 · Score: 1
  
  It's also in charge of making sure that if you ever attempt to repair it, it won't boot until you pay Apple for the privilege.
  Prove it.
25. Re:T2 chip? by TheFakeTimCook · 2018-10-30 15:48 · Score: 2
  
  It 100% is that. Some future version of macOS will drop support for all Macs without these chips. Why else put one in the Mac mini? What purpose does that serve? Once they do that: no more Hackintoshes as you can guarantee that the kernel will be encrypted using a key that only these "security" chips can decrypt, and the decrypted kernel image will be locked away from all user code.
  It does audio processing, transparent SSD encryption, and bunch of other system stuff that applies to both desktop and mobile Macs. In fact, the first Mac with a T2 chip was the 2017 iMac Pro.
  And if you knew any history, you'd know that Apple had the PERFECT opportunity to put a Hardware Lock on OS X/macOS. The first Intel Macs, which were LOANED to Developers for about a year, while Apple cranked out the first Production Macs, were nothing more than a modified G5 Tower case with an Intel Motherboard inside.
  What's important about that? That mobo had a TPC chip, which Apple EASILY could have written a quick driver-for.
  But they never did, and except for I believe the first "real" Intel Mac, the TPC was dropped from the circuitry.
  IMHO, Apple sees the Hackintosh community as an interesting way to gauge how many people are willing to put up with the hassle of getting drivers to work, worrying about Upgrades breaking things, etc., just to have what Apple is not currently providing. The entire Hackintosh community is little more than a rounding-error when it comes to "lost sales".
  But I also believe that if that percentage started to grow, at some point, Apple would make a decision whether to integrate common Hackintosh features into a Product, continue to "wait-and-see", or risk the ill-will of getting dickish with hardware-lock-in for the OS.
  But it has been almost 20 years of OS X, and 15 years of Intel Macs, and it hasn't happened yet. So I wouldn't worry.
26. Re:T2 chip? by TheFakeTimCook · 2018-10-30 15:55 · Score: 2
  
  The Mac is only barely more immune from hacking and malware than Windoze.
  That is demonstrably untrue.
27. Re:T2 chip? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-30 15:59 · Score: 0
  
  Apple's New Proprietary Software Locks Kill Independent Repair On New MacBook Pros
  Yes, it says "software lock" but the software in question runs on the T2 and applies to all Macs with a T2 chip.
  My, that was hard.
28. Re:T2 chip? by TheFakeTimCook · 2018-10-30 16:03 · Score: 0
  
  Besides, that's not the real purpose of the T2 chip. Apple is struggling to come up with reasons why anyone would want it, but its real purpose is quite simple: to prevent the machine from booting if you repair it at a non-Apple repair shop.
  That's the only thing the T2 actually does: verify that all the hardware is the same as it was when the machine last booted, and only allow hardware to change if given a special encrypted message from Apple. It's designed to prevent third-party repair shops. That's its primary purpose.
  This "microphone switch" thing is just a bogus excuse to try and market a user-hostile feature as a positive.
  So, how does that paranoid delusion line-up with the fact that the Mac mini, with its T2 chip, has User-Upgradeable RAM, and possibly Upgradeable SSD, too?
  Answer: It doesn't.
  And BTW, anything other than the CPU that isn't a very simple component (and thus beneath the purview of any "hardware tamper checking"), is likely to be a custom component, especially since the mini is, well, pretty "mini", as far as its overall size...
29. Re: T2 chip? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-30 16:04 · Score: 0
  
  I have a tin foil hat to sell to you.
30. Re:T2 chip? by TheFakeTimCook · 2018-10-30 16:06 · Score: 1
  
  No, its primary purpose is to store your fingerprint and encryption key data securely. Google "Apple Secure Enclave" and read all about it.
  -jcr
  Exactly.
31. Re: T2 chip? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-30 16:23 · Score: 0
  
  A product selling a product? How odd.
32. Re:T2 chip? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-30 17:39 · Score: 0
  
  It could also work the other way around; listen while rest of system is shut down. Apple needs to monetize its users even more to keep the growth going on as they have already sold a Mac to every sucker.
33. Re: T2 chip? by arglebargle_xiv · 2018-10-30 18:12 · Score: 1
  
  I didn't know T2 came in chip form, usually it's either loose-leaf or in small packets.
34. Re:T2 chip? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-30 19:45 · Score: 0
  
  My friend which uses an laptop from them at home where he typically leaves the lid closed but connected to the TV.
  According to this, he shouldn't continue to buy new laptops from them LOL.
  Every other laptop can use a 3.5mm microphone jack terminator. Picked up a few from a security conference. It's basically a 3.5mm jack that signals a mic is there but doesn't have anything connected. It was freely being given away.
35. Re:T2 chip? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-30 19:48 · Score: 0
  
  And there's cryptographic keys to lock out mic repairs. It's pretty obvious.
36. Re:T2 chip? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-30 19:53 · Score: 0
  
  The denial is stronger in this one.
  They literally are lobbying against right to repair. Locking things out would circumvent any right-to-repair bill as "uh... security herp derp Error 55, oops, I guess you can't". They hard-bricked a replaced home button fingerprint reader instead of just disabling the fingerprint sensor.
  Recently they even impounded people buying refurbished idevice batteries.
37. Re: T2 chip? by gnasher719 · 2018-10-30 19:57 · Score: 1
  
  Actually, there is a chip in every Mac containing a 64 bit code that is needed during the boot process. Easy to get around. Just enough to invoke the DMCA against any Hackintosh user - if Apple wanted to.
38. Re: T2 chip? by Hallux-F-Sinister · 2018-10-30 20:08 · Score: 1
  
  The T2 is found directly between the T1 and T3, and counting down from the base of the skull, it is the 9th vertebra. It serves as the anchor point for your second rib on your posterior side, which in turn connects anteriorly with your sternum at the sternal angle, (where the manubrium, or upper part of the sternum, meets the sternal body, (a.k.a. your breast bone,) around the front side of your thorax).
  (Okay, I might have had to reach for the old anatomy textbook for SOME of that information...)
  
  --
  Our reign has gone on long enough. Indeed. Summon the meteors.
39. Re:T2 chip? by Hallux-F-Sinister · 2018-10-30 20:41 · Score: 1
  
  The Mac is only barely more immune from hacking and malware than Windoze.
  That is demonstrably untrue.
  But in which direction? Are you asserting that the Mac* is no more immune to hackers and malware than a M$ Windows computer, or that it is FAR more? Can you substantiate your claim?
  * By "Mac," I think we must agree because of the role the user plays as a sysadmin, that it's pointless because without qualification the word is functionally meaningless, to talk about a Mac generically. For the purposes of this discussion, I think we should limit the meaning of the word "Mac" to mean an Apple, Inc., built, offered for retail sale computer as part of the Mac line, (i.e., iMacs, Trash-Can Mac Pros, Mac Minis, and all variants of MacBook,) running a cleanly (or factory) installed copy of the latest version of macOS, which at any given time is the current version, that the "rootless" feature, or System Integrity Protection is and has always been enabled, that the "Allow apps downloaded from:" security settings has never been set to anything but "App Store" only, that firewall is enabled, that automatic updates is selected, and that all this was so BEFORE it was ever connected to the internet, and has remained so ever since. Therefore, excluded would be any Mac running any previous version of OS X or macOS, any Mac which has any updates that have ever not been immediately applied, any Mac on which any software NOT from Apple has ever been run, any "vintage" Mac that cannot run (or is not running) the latest stable/production release of the OS, and obviously any "Hackintosh" computers. Any Mac connected to the internet BEFORE all the security settings were selected must be excluded, which kind of means that MOST Macs would be excluded, since you'd have to connect yours TO the internet TO download security updates, meaning if you DID need an update right after you bought it... you'd have HAD to connect it to the internet BEFORE it was fully patched and up-to-date... (oops! that can't be counted,) and also any Mac for which you are not the first owner, as you can't prove what happened to it BEFORE you got it, and also any Mac which you've let any other people use under your login, or whom you have provided with their own login account on your machine, who was then allowed to use it (not completely supervised and observed,) by you. So honestly, there really aren't NEARLY as many Mac computers out there to make this comparison with as you might think or expect.
  Obviously, any Mac running Bootcamp must also be excluded, at least when NOT booted into macOS.
  What if instead of malware, we had MalWear? MalWear is something you can buy at a store (also called MalWear, or something similar,) which stocks war-surplus Independent Browncoats, guns that look like they should go "bang-bang" but instead go "pew-pew" or "zzaouuuu," and of course vaguely futuristic-looking yet simultaneously old-timey western-wear like what Captain Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds wears in the sci-fi/old-west series, "Firefly" (and of course, the film "Serenity"). I wouldn't mind having some of THAT kind of MalWear. I actually toyed with the idea of buying one of the jackets, but... guess I'm not enough of a Browncoat myself, after all. (I was raised on an Alliance world, (Earth that Was,) after all. It kind of spoils you.)
  
  --
  Our reign has gone on long enough. Indeed. Summon the meteors.
40. Re: T2 chip? by arglebargle_xiv · 2018-10-30 21:08 · Score: 1
  
  As long as Apple don't ship the T-800 we should be OK.
41. Re:T2 chip? by AmiMoJo · 2018-10-30 23:06 · Score: 1
  
  Not really, these days most of the attacks are on web browsers and the the same ones run on MacOS as on every other system. The only real differences are the level of protection that the OS provides (e.g. sandboxing) and how easy it is to manipulate the UI to confuse the user.
  MacOS doesn't seem to be significantly better in these regards. It's had it's fair share of gaffes too, such as allowing Unicode bidirectional markers in file names.
  
  --
  const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
  SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
42. Re:T2 chip? by thegarbz · 2018-10-30 23:18 · Score: 1
  
  They should have dedicated an entire separate computer to the task of switching off audio. Clearly they still haven't made it complicated enough yet.
43. Re: T2 chip? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-30 23:30 · Score: 0
  
  In an era where security is paramount, things like the T2 are the current solution.
  If this wasn't there, then folk would bitch that Apple are not securing the system. With it folk like you bitch it secures it too much.
  Sadly repairability and security are not easy bedfellows; One has to give. If we want machines that cannot be hacked by a nefarious repair shop sneaking some miniscule gizmoid into the repair, then this is the price.
  Blame the criminals (both civilian and state), not Apple.
44. Re: T2 chip? by MachineShedFred · 2018-10-30 23:38 · Score: 1
  
  Any system with remote management features made in the last decade have ways of being woken up remotely. Wake-on-LAN, vPro / AMT, etc
  
  --
  Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
45. Re: T2 chip? by mSparks43 · 2018-10-30 23:44 · Score: 1
  
  for a minute there i thought they were going to stop the baseband processor being used to remotely listen on iphones. silly me.
46. Re:T2 chip? by jcr · 2018-10-31 02:17 · Score: 1
  
  You'll believe whatever you want to, but fuck you for calling me a liar.
  -jcr
  
  --
  The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
47. Re: T2 chip? by TheFakeTimCook · 2018-10-31 03:35 · Score: 1
  
  Actually, there is a chip in every Mac containing a 64 bit code that is needed during the boot process. Easy to get around. Just enough to invoke the DMCA against any Hackintosh user - if Apple wanted to.
  And considering that they haven't exercised anything like that for the ENTIRETY of the 15 years of Intel Macs, anyone so "charged" at this point would have a pretty good legal argument against prosecution.
  It's like if I pay my rent 10 days late every month for 5 years, and my landlord suddenly decides to evict me for paying late, I would have a valid legal argument that they "let it happen". I can't remember the legal term off-hand; but it is a real thing.
48. Re:T2 chip? by TheFakeTimCook · 2018-10-31 03:43 · Score: 1
  
  The Mac is only barely more immune from hacking and malware than Windoze.
  That is demonstrably untrue.
  But in which direction? Are you asserting that the Mac* is no more immune to hackers and malware than a M$ Windows computer, or that it is FAR more? Can you substantiate your claim?
  * By "Mac," I think we must agree because of the role the user plays as a sysadmin, that it's pointless because without qualification the word is functionally meaningless, to talk about a Mac generically. For the purposes of this discussion, I think we should limit the meaning of the word "Mac" to mean an Apple, Inc., built, offered for retail sale computer as part of the Mac line, (i.e., iMacs, Trash-Can Mac Pros, Mac Minis, and all variants of MacBook,) running a cleanly (or factory) installed copy of the latest version of macOS, which at any given time is the current version, that the "rootless" feature, or System Integrity Protection is and has always been enabled, that the "Allow apps downloaded from:" security settings has never been set to anything but "App Store" only, that firewall is enabled, that automatic updates is selected, and that all this was so BEFORE it was ever connected to the internet, and has remained so ever since. Therefore, excluded would be any Mac running any previous version of OS X or macOS, any Mac which has any updates that have ever not been immediately applied, any Mac on which any software NOT from Apple has ever been run, any "vintage" Mac that cannot run (or is not running) the latest stable/production release of the OS, and obviously any "Hackintosh" computers. Any Mac connected to the internet BEFORE all the security settings were selected must be excluded, which kind of means that MOST Macs would be excluded, since you'd have to connect yours TO the internet TO download security updates, meaning if you DID need an update right after you bought it... you'd have HAD to connect it to the internet BEFORE it was fully patched and up-to-date... (oops! that can't be counted,) and also any Mac for which you are not the first owner, as you can't prove what happened to it BEFORE you got it, and also any Mac which you've let any other people use under your login, or whom you have provided with their own login account on your machine, who was then allowed to use it (not completely supervised and observed,) by you. So honestly, there really aren't NEARLY as many Mac computers out there to make this comparison with as you might think or expect.
  Obviously, any Mac running Bootcamp must also be excluded, at least when NOT booted into macOS.
  What if instead of malware, we had MalWear? MalWear is something you can buy at a store (also called MalWear, or something similar,) which stocks war-surplus Independent Browncoats, guns that look like they should go "bang-bang" but instead go "pew-pew" or "zzaouuuu," and of course vaguely futuristic-looking yet simultaneously old-timey western-wear like what Captain Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds wears in the sci-fi/old-west series, "Firefly" (and of course, the film "Serenity"). I wouldn't mind having some of THAT kind of MalWear. I actually toyed with the idea of buying one of the jackets, but... guess I'm not enough of a Browncoat myself, after all. (I was raised on an Alliance world, (Earth that Was,) after all. It kind of spoils you.)
  Actually, I'd be willing to stipulate that Macs are far more impervious to malware than a Windows box, REGARDLESS of the above stipulations (all that would make it too easy, right?), with the notable exception that the User cannot have been tricked by Social Engineering into ignoring all warnings and instead, installed a Trojan.
  I think we can all agree that NO reasonable OS can guard against a User with sufficient permissions and insufficient smarts. And I will stipulate that macOS is, of course, no exception.
  I was talking about the rando "Open this email, get pwned" type of stuff. That STILL happens all too often in the Windows world. I work in that environment every day, and can also read.
49. Re:T2 chip? by TheFakeTimCook · 2018-10-31 03:44 · Score: 1
  
  Not really, these days most of the attacks are on web browsers and the the same ones run on MacOS as on every other system. The only real differences are the level of protection that the OS provides (e.g. sandboxing) and how easy it is to manipulate the UI to confuse the user.
  MacOS doesn't seem to be significantly better in these regards. It's had it's fair share of gaffes too, such as allowing Unicode bidirectional markers in file names.
  ...and yet?
50. Re:T2 chip? by the_B0fh · 2018-10-31 04:27 · Score: 1
  
  You are the one claiming Apple locked up people buying refurbished batteries and he's the crazy one?
  Also, only the home button, if you replace it, it will turn into a home button without fingerprint read ability. Apparently you don't live in this reality?
51. Re:T2 chip? by the_B0fh · 2018-10-31 05:06 · Score: 1
  
  Why do you hate Apple and Macs so much? Did someone used a Mac to touch you inappropriately when you were young?
  Go on. Show us on a stick figure where the bad touch happened.
52. Re: T2 chip? by xgerrit · 2018-10-31 06:45 · Score: 1
  
  The T2 chip does exactly what they say it does *as of today.* If you want to speculate about the future, it makes more sense that since Apple designs so much hardware for iOS devices, the T2 is being developed and used as an integration point to bring blocks from their iOS SoC to Macs. Eventually they'll bring their custom GPU designs over, and the amount of money they save would make the money saved from "lost repair fees" look like a rounding error.
53. Re: T2 chip? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-31 08:09 · Score: 0
  
  So some googling, he's not crazy. Apple had the feds raid and seize a container filled with Apple batteries going to a repair shop.
  You must be new here. Learn to check facts before you call someone out. Cuck.
54. Re: T2 chip? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-31 08:10 · Score: 0
  
  Actually no, the whole fucking phone stopped workin and users received an error message that wouldn't go away until they went to an Apple store.
55. Re: T2 chip? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-31 08:11 · Score: 0
  
  Why? You are knowinglingly lying. Go read all about Apple and right to repair and the new system that stops users from replacing parts. go ahead and read up on that.
  Come back and call yourself a liar.
  Fucking lying shill.
56. Re: T2 chip? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-31 08:13 · Score: 0
  
  No argument so ad homien. Nice. You fail.
57. Re:T2 chip? by Hallux-F-Sinister · 2018-10-31 12:24 · Score: 1
  
  The Mac is only barely more immune from hacking and malware than Windoze.
  That is demonstrably untrue.
  But in which direction? [...]
  Actually, I'd be willing to stipulate that Macs are far more impervious to malware than a Windows box, REGARDLESS of the above stipulations (all that would make it too easy, right?), with the notable exception that the User cannot have been tricked by Social Engineering into ignoring all warnings and instead, installed a Trojan.
  I think we can all agree that NO reasonable OS can guard against a User with sufficient permissions and insufficient smarts. And I will stipulate that macOS is, of course, no exception.
  I was talking about the rando "Open this email, get pwned" type of stuff. That STILL happens all too often in the Windows world. I work in that environment every day, and can also read.
  Not to be argumentative, and I almost hate to ask it, but do you remember when Apple shipped a production version of macOS where you could gain root by trying to login as root and just provided no password?
  I think the argument could be made that macOS is USUALLY more secure, when someone at Apple has not royally cocked up (as they occasionally do,) and left the keys metaphorically hanging from the lock in the highly secure door.
  Did anyone hear if Apple fired anyone over that debacle? Im curious.
  
  --
  Our reign has gone on long enough. Indeed. Summon the meteors.
58. Re:T2 chip? by Aighearach · 2018-10-31 13:12 · Score: 1
  
  Is the T2 chip really needed to implement a simple hardware disconnect?
  You can't just disconnect the wire, you have to gently reduce the signal or you'll generate a bunch of crackle and pop.
  Plus, you'd at least need a transistor. So, an IC. But with just that, you'd also need a capacitor and resistor to prevent the crackle/pop.
  They can make their own IC for about the same price that they'd pay for a discrete transistor, and they'd both be the same tiny package. But their own IC would have its own capacitors and resistors built in; it would cost less and use less space!
  If it was DIY or a small business, you'd be right; no special chip is "needed." Or, in a DIY setting you might still have extra CPU pins for GPIO, and you can just turn it off with that.
  Another advantage would be that you could connect it to a bus, and control it from software without using extra pins on another chip. I have no idea how robust that brand is when it comes to dealing with broken lid sensors, but on my Thinkpad I can stop it from responding to lid close events if I wanted to. So I'd absolutely insist that something like that be known to the OS as a peripheral.
59. Re: T2 chip? by Aighearach · 2018-10-31 13:13 · Score: 1
  
  Don't worry, they're iterating as fast as they can.
60. Re: T2 chip? by Aighearach · 2018-10-31 13:21 · Score: 1
  
  It is a real thing in general contract law, but that isn't going to touch something with specific legislation like DMCA.
  More likely, the argument is simply wrong on its claims due to being overly-broad when the statute is actually much narrower. Just because a code is needed doesn't actually make it an access control; many of the ICs in a circuit have to be sent a code during startup, so that the chip can make sure you were trying to start it up before it starts up. And to give you time to get everything ready before telling it to start. Being required at boot doesn't automatically make those things into access controls.
61. Re:T2 chip? by Aighearach · 2018-10-31 13:24 · Score: 1
  
  Once you figure out what "entire computer" means, you'll realize that you're not being sarcastic or insightful, and that it is most certainly "an entire separate computer" but also there are already probably 50 "entire separate computers" on their motherboard.
  Even what appears to be an analog op-amp is actually an "entire (digital) computer."
62. Re:T2 chip? by Aighearach · 2018-10-31 13:27 · Score: 1
  
  I don't know about the coward, but I know when I tried to touch an Apple ][e in an inappropriate way it hurt for a whole week.
  Right there, on the doll. That's where it hurt.
63. Re:T2 chip? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-31 17:24 · Score: 0
  
  Hmmm, pretty sure that's illegal. Cue EU anti-trust suit in 3..2..
64. Re:T2 chip? by TheFakeTimCook · 2018-11-01 03:56 · Score: 1
  
  The Mac is only barely more immune from hacking and malware than Windoze.
  That is demonstrably untrue.
  But in which direction? [...]
  Actually, I'd be willing to stipulate that Macs are far more impervious to malware than a Windows box, REGARDLESS of the above stipulations (all that would make it too easy, right?), with the notable exception that the User cannot have been tricked by Social Engineering into ignoring all warnings and instead, installed a Trojan.
  I think we can all agree that NO reasonable OS can guard against a User with sufficient permissions and insufficient smarts. And I will stipulate that macOS is, of course, no exception.
  I was talking about the rando "Open this email, get pwned" type of stuff. That STILL happens all too often in the Windows world. I work in that environment every day, and can also read.
  Not to be argumentative, and I almost hate to ask it, but do you remember when Apple shipped a production version of macOS where you could gain root by trying to login as root and just provided no password?
  I think the argument could be made that macOS is USUALLY more secure, when someone at Apple has not royally cocked up (as they occasionally do,) and left the keys metaphorically hanging from the lock in the highly secure door.
  Did anyone hear if Apple fired anyone over that debacle? Im curious.
  According to the Google Machine, it was about a year ago, on macOS High Sierra. The bug existed for all of about 24 hours after it was uncovered before being Patched. Obviously, an error in QA; but no sign that it was ever exploited (Thank $Deity)...
  https://arstechnica.com/inform...
  And as the article pointed out, it wasn't just that you could login with any random username and just skip the password, there was a particular "procedure" (that, BTW, didn't ALWAYS work!), to trigger the bug. That is also a good possibility why it slipped past testing.
  Honestly don't know it anyone got the axe over that; Apple (and likely anyone else in that situation) wouldn't typically say, unless it was something that needed a showing of "a severed head to hold up". But I would imagine that, if not fired outright, that person got called on the carpet pretty severely (as one would hope!), although the fact that it didn't ALWAYS happen may have been a mitigating factor in any punishment that was, or was not, meted-out.
  And the fact that it was newsworthy just shows how rare a serious gaffe like that really is.
65. Re: T2 chip? by TheFakeTimCook · 2018-11-01 04:07 · Score: 1
  
  It is a real thing in general contract law, but that isn't going to touch something with specific legislation like DMCA.
  More likely, the argument is simply wrong on its claims due to being overly-broad when the statute is actually much narrower. Just because a code is needed doesn't actually make it an access control; many of the ICs in a circuit have to be sent a code during startup, so that the chip can make sure you were trying to start it up before it starts up. And to give you time to get everything ready before telling it to start. Being required at boot doesn't automatically make those things into access controls.
  All VERY good points! Thanks for the info!!!
  The sad thing is, something like the T2 chip, to ensure a "clean boot", is something that can be used for good, or evil. The "good" uses are the VERY nice thing that RootKits are effectively neutered; since a machine so-compromised will likely not pass the Boot Test. Same thing with many classes of viruses, I think.
  But of course, that same capability can be used to effectively lock software to hardware, or to prevent the installation and dual-booting from alternative OSes, such as Linux. But it is very hard for me to believe that the same company that has a built-in Bootloader that the User can Invoke with a Startup Key-Combo (Hold the Alt/Option Key on Startup, until the Boot-Menu appears), a Bootloader that is also there to support BootCamp, as well as things like Booting from a USB Drive, is going to suddenly restrict the "on purpose" installation and booting of an alternative OS.
Errr Title? by thegarbz · 2018-10-30 10:09 · Score: 3, Insightful

Title: Apple's New T2 Security Chip Will Prevent Hackers From Eavesdropping On Your Microphone
Summary: "This disconnect is implemented in hardware alone, and therefore prevents [snip] even the software on the T2 chip, from engaging the microphone when the lid is closed,"
So...
1. Re:Errr Title? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-30 10:56 · Score: 0
  
  ...so the FBI can still remotely activate the mic on your iPhone, even when it is turned off.
  Yeah, I know this has little to do with the article. But it still bugs me. All cell phones support this "feature," and the only way to disable it is to remove the battery.
2. Re: Errr Title? by GrahamJ · 2018-10-30 10:59 · Score: 1
  
  So what? Itâ(TM)s implemented in the chip but not software controllable. Seems pretty straightforward.
3. Re: Errr Title? by TheFakeTimCook · 2018-10-30 16:10 · Score: 1
  
  So what? Itâ(TM)s implemented in the chip but not software controllable. Seems pretty straightforward.
  Exactly.
  And since laptops like the new MacBook Air have MULTIPLE microphones for better phone-call and "Hey, Siri" operation, it is easier to implement a hardware-switch electronically than mechanically. And since Apple was building this chip anyway, why not stick a 3 channel Analog Switch with a single Enable line in the same chip?
4. Re:Errr Title? by AmiMoJo · 2018-10-30 23:00 · Score: 1
  
  It's not even new, this kind of thing has been on laptops for decades. I remember similar stuff back in the 90s, where a physical switch would be actuated by closing the lid and disable stuff like the screen backlight and the microphone. Back then Windows' power management was a joke so manufacturers used hardware switches.
  
  --
  const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
  SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
5. Re: Errr Title? by thegarbz · 2018-10-30 23:13 · Score: 1
  
  Well I guess in this brave new world we need to throw silicon at things that could be easily achieved via a dumb switch.
6. Re: Errr Title? by Aighearach · 2018-10-31 13:33 · Score: 1
  
  It isn't as easy as you think; unplug a microphone without turning the gain down. Hear anything?! If you didn't hear a bunch of noise, it means whatever you were unplugging it from didn't use a dumb switch, it either used some silicon or some external passive components to prevent the pop. Anything like a laptop where space is at a premium and it is being manufactured in large quantities, then throwing silicon at the problem is cheaper than the passives. Better results, too.
7. Re: Errr Title? by thegarbz · 2018-10-31 21:02 · Score: 1
  
  It isn't as easy as you think; unplug a microphone without turning the gain down.
  So ... use a switch with two contacts, one to alert the audio chip that the mic is unplugged.
  Yes actually it is precisely as easy as I think. I design exactly these kinds of audio circuits, in the past for a living, now for a hobby.
  
  then throwing silicon at the problem is cheaper than the passives
  The thing with passives is you already have them, unless you're not using "hardware" to detect conditions as the summary would imply.
T2 Everywhere == End of Hackintoshes by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-30 10:12 · Score: 0

Now that all new macs will have T2 chips, watch them connect their existence to the ability to run newer versions of the OS.
1. Re:T2 Everywhere == End of Hackintoshes by b0s0z0ku · 2018-10-30 10:15 · Score: 1
  
  Newer OS X (I mean MacOS) versions are increasingly dumbed down and crippled. Who needs this junk?
2. Re:T2 Everywhere == End of Hackintoshes by unique_parrot · 2018-10-30 10:23 · Score: 1
  
  The first one at ebay/alibaba/etc selling a pci-t2-compatible card will be rich. as of REALLY rich... nothing to be seen :D
3. Re:T2 Everywhere == End of Hackintoshes by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-30 10:34 · Score: 0
  
  Tim Cocksucker's special order - dumb dildos to wirelessly and securely rap up his stupid butthole.
4. Re:T2 Everywhere == End of Hackintoshes by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-30 16:12 · Score: 0
  
  I've been wanting hardware disconnect for camera and microphone on anything and everything I buy. I know the joke is everything is spying on you now. Or maybe the joke is all the people who so flippantly and thoughtlessly allow mass surveillance and don't care. That includes the people who work for gov and corp entities to allow it and say nothing and go with the plan. This makes me happy. I like the hackintosh and they may not necessarily be out to screw the hackingtosh crowd. They've been tolerating it for years. I would bet it ultimately helps them sell more Macs. I would say PC/Linux would be great but IBM will probably find a way to poison the water and set Linux back. I just built a PC in July and hated Windows 10 enough to Hackintosh. My next step with it is probably linux, or sell it and buy a Mac Mini?
5. Re:T2 Everywhere == End of Hackintoshes by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-30 19:59 · Score: 0
  
  My girlfriend's laptop has an LED that turns on whenever the camera/mic is activated, which seems safer. If your lid is open, then the T2 chip enables it silently.
  She also has a 3.5mm dead mic plugged into the jack of her computer. It's literally 2mm thick. Others I've seen have a hardware switch that just simply cuts power to the camera and microphone (man, that must have been hard, even if there were 3 mics!)
  OMG HARDWARE LOCKOUT ... without depending on any chip or having stupid restrictions like being unable to use your mic if your lid is closed (i.e. while plugged into a TV)
6. Re: T2 Everywhere == End of Hackintoshes by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-31 04:48 · Score: 0
  
  That led is software controlled. What makes you think the led can't be turned off with software while the camera is activated? If I recall correctly, this has already been done.
7. Re: T2 Everywhere == End of Hackintoshes by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-31 08:15 · Score: 0
  
  The t2 chip is software controlled.....
  The same fucking argument can be made.
T2 by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-30 10:17 · Score: 1

Judgement Day
It's a more advanced version of the T1, sent back from the future to kill the leader of the resistance.
1. Re: T2 by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-30 11:17 · Score: 0
  
  Nah, must be a early alpha of tve T-800
Apple's New Chip Will Prevent you from Doing Stuff by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-30 10:26 · Score: 0

Apple's New Chip Will Prevent you from keeping money From Apple.
Apple's New Chip benefits Apple, but will pretend to benefit you, during this shamelessly tranparent marketing article.
Hello we invented a $500 lid switch! BUY BUY BUY! by Narcocide · 2018-10-30 10:26 · Score: 2

No, it doesn't work on the camera.
A switch? by hawguy · 2018-10-30 10:27 · Score: 2

Another name for a hardware device that cuts off a device when the lid is closed is a "switch", and it's hardly innovative, even my 30 year old home furnace has a cutoff switch for when the cover is opened.
1. Re: A switch? by GrahamJ · 2018-10-30 11:02 · Score: 1
  
  So which laptop that you designed has this simple feature?
  Oh thatâ(TM)s right, you didnâ(TM)t think of it. Just like everyone else.
2. Re: A switch? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-30 11:18 · Score: 0
  
  I have a better idea. My laptop doesn't have a microphone. If I ever wanted one, I could plug it into the microphone jack. Then I could unplug it when I'm not using it. But really I don't know what I would use a computer microphone for. I'm not a podcaster.
3. Re: A switch? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-30 11:19 · Score: 0
  
  No. The furnace is an example of a safety interlock. This is a safety interlock. Safety interlocks are common on all sorts of hardware devices... and using one this way is a great thing, just not a major innovation.
  The microphone thing misses the entire point. It's increasingly clear to me that hardware is needed to ensure security. Hardware that enforces security, and that the standard Trusted Platform Module approach, or ARM TrustZone, or Intel SGX aren't sufficient. I don't know what the T2 actually does, and that's the problem here. Security also has to be open and auditable.
4. Re: A switch? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-30 11:27 · Score: 0
  
  So which laptop that you designed has this simple feature?
  Just like everyone else.
  Wow! Not many people get to design their own laptops, but even so, previous people have designed laptops with this simple feature.This is not innovation.
  #1 - https://puri.sm/learn/hardware-kill-switches/ see also https://www.crowdsupply.com/purism/librem-15/updates/2009
  #2 - http://blog.lenovo.com/en/blog/wireless-switch-revisted
  #3 - https://www.businessinsider.com/lenovo-thinkshutter-laptops-webcam-covers-2018-1
  And the idea of combining a laptop with a hardware feature to disable a camera is not innovation.
  #4 - https://mashable.com/2018/01/17/webcam-covers-buy-sliding-stickers-internet-privacy/
5. Re: A switch? by Cmdln+Daco · 2018-10-30 11:38 · Score: 1
  
  What is this 'jack' thing you refer to? Is it something Apple hasn't invented yet?
6. Re: A switch? by hawguy · 2018-10-30 11:51 · Score: 1
  
  So which laptop that you designed has this simple feature?
  Oh thatâ(TM)s right, you didnâ(TM)t think of it. Just like everyone else.
  I know you assume that since I'm posting on Slashdot that I'm an expert in the field, but I not actually a laptop design engineer.
  I tried to find the forum post where I suggested exactly this feature a couple years ago, but I don't remember where it was. A hardware switch to physically disable the camera and microphone sounds like such a no-brainer than I didn't think anyone would think it was innovative or hard to imagine.
7. Re: A switch? by GrahamJ · 2018-10-30 13:16 · Score: 1
  
  It isnâ(TM)t, and yet no laptops have it. The story here isnâ(TM)t that lid switches are innovative, itâ(TM)s that finally a company understands that privacy is a feature.
8. Re: A switch? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-30 14:25 · Score: 0
  
  Then it's so obsolete that it's irrelevant.
  Every laptop has a microphone now. There's not a "no microphone" option. And if your laptop is old enough to not have one, you're irrelevant, because everything produced in the last 20 years has one.
  Shit, the camera hasn't been optional for 15+ years now.
  All you're saying is that you're another Slashdot Luddite(TM). You're obsolete, your laptop is obsolete, and your opinion is... wait for it... OBSOLETE.
  ALL laptops have microphones now. Your obsolete piece of shit doesn't count. We need real solutions, not stupid Slashdot Luddite(TM) solutions.
9. Re:A switch? by Uberbah · 2018-10-30 15:27 · Score: 2
  
  Another name for a hardware device that cuts off a device when the lid is closed is a "switch", and it's hardly innovative, even my 30 year old home furnace has a cutoff switch for when the cover is opened.
  Right. Just like it wasn't innovative to have a power cord that attaches magnetically, and easily separates from the laptop when your pet/child/own clumsy ass trips over the cord without sending the computer to the floor, because rice cookers had them over a decade ago. So very obvious that it wasn't innovative - yet only one company thought to try it.
10. Re:A switch? by hawguy · 2018-10-30 15:32 · Score: 1
  
  Another name for a hardware device that cuts off a device when the lid is closed is a "switch", and it's hardly innovative, even my 30 year old home furnace has a cutoff switch for when the cover is opened.
  Right. Just like it wasn't innovative to have a power cord that attaches magnetically, and easily separates from the laptop when your pet/child/own clumsy ass trips over the cord without sending the computer to the floor, because rice cookers had them over a decade ago. So very obvious that it wasn't innovative - yet only one company thought to try it.
  If that's such a great laptop innovation, then why isn't Apple using them anymore?
11. Re: A switch? by aybiss · 2018-10-30 16:06 · Score: 1
  
  No, the story here is that a company has created special hardware to behave like a switch. Special hardware which is so ridiculously complex for the job at hand, that it's almost guaranteed to be exploitable.
  
  --
  It's OK Bender, there's no such thing as 2.
12. Re:A switch? by Uberbah · 2018-10-30 18:06 · Score: 1
  
  That Apple has developed an unhealthy Air fetish (minimizing laptop dimensions to the detriment of usability) in no way diminishes the advantages of a magnetically-attaching power cord. The company has more money than God, there's no reason why they can't have a minimalist Air line and a proper Pro line at the same time.
13. Re: A switch? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-30 20:09 · Score: 0
  
  https://puri.sm/posts/camera-microphone-hardware-kill-switch-behavior-on-librem-laptops/
  https://www.cnet.com/news/hps-new-spectre-laptops-have-a-webcam-kill-switch-to-protect-you-from-creeps/
  Yawn, more Apple fans thinking their new feature is first when it's been over 3+ years.
  As mentioned before, many laptops have a dedicated light that indicates activity. Seems more useful that cutting off without choice.
14. Re:A switch? by AmiMoJo · 2018-10-30 23:15 · Score: 1
  
  So very obvious that it wasn't innovative - yet only one company thought to try it.
  It's not that it was a great innovation, it's that only Apple thought people would pay for it. The magsafe connector was expensive, made of 14 separate parts and that's just the charger side. It also required the computer and charger to carefully manage the power delivery to avoid shorts, further adding to cost.
  Apple laptops are expensive devices with high profit margins, so Apple could afford to spend the money on such a connector.
  You will note that the magsafe connectors on cooking equipment were almost exclusive to Japan. For reasons I won't get in to the Japanese are uniquely willing to pay a lot more for such features so it's often used as a test market for new ideas, and many of those features never make it to the west because the manufacturer doesn't think they will sell.
  It's a myth that Apple's patent prevented other manufacturers from doing their own magsafe connectors. The patent just covers some easily worked-around stuff like the arrangement of the magnets and symmetrical contacts. They just didn't because it's not something they thought would sell.
  
  --
  const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
  SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
15. Re: A switch? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-31 05:18 · Score: 0
  
  Indeed, magnetic connectors were used in industrial applications long before the MacBook. The patent just stopped you making an exact clone. Pity that it didn't catch on, it liked this connector a lot.
16. Re: A switch? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-31 08:18 · Score: 0
  
  My fucking deep fryer has a magnetic power connector.
17. Re: A switch? by Aighearach · 2018-10-31 13:34 · Score: 1
  
  Oh thatâ(TM)s right, you didnâ(TM)t think of it.
  Thanks Jar-Jar. What do they call switches on your planet?
18. Re:A switch? by Aighearach · 2018-10-31 14:07 · Score: 1
  
  Apple laptops are expensive devices with high profit margins, so Apple could afford to spend the money on such a connector.
  You don't seem to have really internalized what having a high profit margin means.
  You're saying, "Gosh, they could just have a low profit margin on their device instead." While true, it isn't a useful point.
  As a consumer I certainly don't want to buy a device with a high profit margin! I certainly wouldn't go around expecting such devices to have quality parts. That would be insane.
19. Re:A switch? by Agripa · 2018-11-01 21:00 · Score: 1
  
  Another name for a hardware device that cuts off a device when the lid is closed is a "switch", and it's hardly innovative, even my 30 year old home furnace has a cutoff switch for when the cover is opened.
  This switch implementation by Apple is innovative because it may be secretly bypassed in software for lawful surveillance purposes.
HEADPHONE JACK by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-30 10:28 · Score: 0

I want headphone jack in a phone, not your stupid "chip".
Penis switch by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-30 10:30 · Score: 0

My dick is currently switched to erect mode. I am getting ready to slather it with butter before deep frying it in a hooker's ass.
1. Re:Penis switch by aybiss · 2018-10-30 16:07 · Score: 1
  
  You better encrypt that shit first or you're likely to get a virus.
  
  --
  It's OK Bender, there's no such thing as 2.
Even on a Slackentosh I feel paranoid these days by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-30 10:31 · Score: 0

I call my laptop a Slackentosh because I run slackware and an apple os and still choose to have duck tape over the camera and mic on a lenovo T500> Because of the intel speculative execution garbage, NOT APPLE OR LINUX kernel based software. Take a hike with blaming Apple and Linux for malware you guys the real problems are further up the food chain. HELL I even have tape over the finger print reader for the same reason.
Is there an allergy to user-controlled mechanisms? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-30 10:36 · Score: 0

Apple's New T2 Security Chip Will Prevent Hackers From Eavesdropping On Your Microphone
Because, clearly, providing a simple switch(es) that physically disconnects the microphone, camera, etc. when not needed or in use is putting too much in control by and too inexpensive for the user. What would we ever do without hidden mechanisms that do proprietarily what physical mechanisms could do easily without any need for wasteful mining of materials and ruining one's ability to access their own systems for repair?
At some point... by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-30 10:36 · Score: 0

Slashdot needs to ban all apple storys.
Because they create nothing anymore. Everything about them is going to be like this story here.
'incremental old tech' storys that just sound stupid.
Translation: NSA Backdoor Preinstalled by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-30 10:36 · Score: 0

#freedumbs
#stopbuyingBIGBROTHER
You have to learn something from OS/2.... by martiniturbide · 2018-10-30 10:37 · Score: 1

...we don't even have drivers for that, so we don't have that issue :)
Put in a physical switch by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-30 10:40 · Score: 0

We're supposed to trust a chip given the long history of backdoors in chips?
I guess they don't include the NSA as hackers.
1. Re:Put in a physical switch by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-30 12:51 · Score: 0
  
  "Long history of backdoors in chips" ????? hahaha... Please post some serious research about that and you will find almost nothing.
Re: what nerds hate the most by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-30 11:04 · Score: 0

Notches.
(Honorable mention: spaces and curly braces.)
Real Innovation! by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-30 11:08 · Score: 0

Dell used to have a physical switch to turn off camera, mic, wifi and bluetooth at least as early as 2005.
What happened to the hardware kill switch?
1. Re:Real Innovation! by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-30 11:13 · Score: 0
  
  It couldn't turn off the ability to withold revenue from Apple.
so in the new mac pro storage capped at pci-e x4 by Joe_Dragon · 2018-10-30 11:17 · Score: 1

so in the new mac pro storage capped at pci-e x4 stacked off of the t2 chip??
so even if it has 4 pci-e disk at X4 each they will all be locked to the T2 at pci-e X4?
My old iSight had a "hardware disconnect" by 93+Escort+Wagon · 2018-10-30 11:28 · Score: 1

When you rotated the barrel of the camera, physical blades would block the lens completely.
Nowadays you have to use a piece of tape to accomplish that simple task. Why not just have a little physical slider, built into the laptop, which would obscure the lens?

--
#DeleteChrome
Or so you think by SuperKendall · 2018-10-30 11:36 · Score: 1

I have a better idea. My laptop doesn't have a microphone.
Does it have speakers?
Then it has a microphone.

--
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
1. Re:Or so you think by Cmdln+Daco · 2018-10-30 11:41 · Score: 1
  
  Not without an amplifying element to pick up the signal the speaker's voice coil generates.
2. Re:Or so you think by SuperKendall · 2018-10-30 16:42 · Score: 1
  
  Not without an amplifying element to pick up the signal the speaker's voice coil generates.
  So you have personally inspected the electronics around your speakers and are sure no such amplification exists?
  Seems like a laptop that explicitly left off microphones is exactly the kind of device you would hide speaker amplification in.
  
  --
  "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
3. Re: Or so you think by Cmdln+Daco · 2018-10-30 23:10 · Score: 1
  
  Bets are all off, then. There have gotta be six extra mics buried in there. In fact, this mystery laptop you describe probably has a robotic arm hidden in it to implant the anal probe after you fall asleep.
T2--The real issue is non-repairability by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-30 11:36 · Score: 0

Apple security disclosure guide fails to disguise THE OTHER features which prevent 3D party repairs by rendering devices containing the T2 inoperable if certain chips are replaced, or screen or other components are replaced. Only Apple Dealers with their vastly inflated prices and LYING / INCOMPETENT diagnostic technicians will be able to affect repairs.
Evesdrop all you want, bro by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-30 11:42 · Score: 0

all u gonna hear is farts.
Re: Even on a Slackentosh I feel paranoid these da by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-30 11:51 · Score: 0

Everything was serious up until your last post about taping over the fingerprint reader. That made me laugh out loud.
What are you afraid of someone accidentally reading your fingerprint as you unintentionally swipe your finger perfectly over the sensor? It's literally a manual process dude.
At this rate you might need a piece of duct tape to keep you from punching yourself in the face or something. I mean honestly man you covered up the fingerprint reader!!!
Missing the point by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-30 12:21 · Score: 0

It's "haxxorz in ur fone!" because beauhd is still trying to be k-rad.
physically and electricly verifiable disconnection by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-30 13:50 · Score: 0

physically seperatable mics matter. So do single cent sliding plastic covers for cameras. Historians should pay close attention to the timelines of such features and their popularity. Trump isn't the only thing completely whack with the history we are generating.
oh no by jtrainor · 2018-10-30 14:04 · Score: 0

Big woop, so a hacker might hear fapping noises and the occasional fart from my laptop. I'm not too worried about this.
Re:Cue the Apple haters by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-30 14:44 · Score: 0

Let's see....
1. A white supremacist piece of garbage who managed to become the US president, despite not actually being elected.
2. A company, that despite its many faults, actually gives something of a shit about privacy, even when the US government goes apeshit about it.
Yeah. There's no contest.
Drumpf deserves the guillotine, but because murder by the state is actually a crime against humanity, he should be imprisoned for the rest of his life for his treason.
Apple can be mildly annoying sometimes.
Re:Hello we invented a $500 lid switch! BUY BUY BU by Anubis+IV · 2018-10-30 18:19 · Score: 1

To be fair, they said it doesn't work on the camera because the camera's view isn't exactly problematic when the lid is closed. ;)
Camera not disconnected, but ... by SemperOSS · 2018-10-30 20:34 · Score: 1

"[...] The camera isn't disconnected, however, because its "field of view is completely obstructed with the lid closed."
That's a perfect idea ... until someone comes up with a way to record audio through fluctuations in the camera's output due to the shifting patterns of air pressure.

--
I don't need a signature to draw attention to myself.
Will it thought by johnsie · 2018-10-30 21:34 · Score: 1

These phones are mostly built in red China.
Google is bestest by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-31 03:16 · Score: 0

Google is bestest phone. No need T2 chip.
Apple New Update by NeilBhisma · 2018-11-01 19:02 · Score: 1

The information that you provided above is so relevant to know about Apple's New T2 Security Chip Will Prevent Hackers From Eavesdropping On Microphone. Thanks for sharing. Still anyone wants to know more about Apple Mac then i suggest you to read https://www.mactechnicalsuppor... blog, to gathered more information.
anti self repair by sad_ · 2018-11-03 05:10 · Score: 1

remember, the T2 chip is also used to disable the computer when it detects non-apple replacement parts.
this is just a stupid story to take your attention away from that fact and have you think that having the T2 chip in your computer is a good thing.

--
On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.