“Apple says that its preliminary assessments of the WikiLeaks documents released today indicate that the vulnerabilities it details for iPhone and Mac were fixed years ago,” Matthew Panzarino reports for TechCrunch. “The documents, which originated with the CIA, detailed a variety of methods for compromising — breaking into — Apple devices if an agent was able to gain physical access to the device.”
Apple’s full statement is as follows:
We have preliminarily assessed the Wikileaks disclosures from this morning. Based on our initial analysis, the alleged iPhone vulnerability affected iPhone 3G only and was fixed in 2009 when iPhone 3GS was released. Additionally, our preliminary assessment shows the alleged Mac vulnerabilities were previously fixed in all Macs launched after 2013.
We have not negotiated with Wikileaks for any information. We have given them instructions to submit any information they wish through our normal process under our standard terms. Thus far, we have not received any information from them that isn’t in the public domain. We are tireless defenders of our users’ security and privacy, but we do not condone theft or coordinate with those that threaten to harm our users.
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Again, the Mac and iPhone exploits that were revealed by Wikileaks require physical access to the device.
SEE ALSO:
Apple: No Wikileaks negotiations, Wikileaks calls Apple’s claim they’ve fixed all Dark Matter vulnerabilities ‘duplicitous’ – March 24, 2017
New WikiLeaks’ Vault 7 data dump shows the CIA’s Mac firmware attacks – March 23, 2017
New WikiLeaks Vault 7 ‘Dark Matter’ leak claims CIA bugs ‘factory fresh’ iPhones, infects Mac firmware – March 23, 2017
I’ve been pointing out the decrepit age of these exploits for some time on here and other forums. These are vulnerabilities that have been closed for sometime. Only assumptions that the CIA has continued to update them with more modern Macs and iPhones have been made by everyone with a dearth of evidence to back those assumptions. If so, where is the documentation they were able to do it? The iPhone since he introduction of the Secure Enclave would require an entirely new approach, as would compromising the Mac since Apple closed off using the Thunderbolt ports for peripherals to access Firmware for updating which was blocked sometime last year. The assumption that these newer versions of the iPhone, iPad, and Mac would succumb to new iterations of the CIA software is wrong. They’d have to start over from scratch to breach the new protections. That’s not easy.
Exactly. This “disclosure” by Wikileaks is was nothing more than a distraction. They are not credible, and are an agent of the Russian government. When Wikileaks releases information damaging to the Russians? I’ll start beliving them. But since he have NEVER done that? They are compromised and worthless. Also trying to blackmail the top tech companies? Bullshit nonsense.
It seems like all of the supposedly hacker exploits into the Mac require physical access to the machine which indicates there’s no hack yet that will penetrate the Mac online or long distance. (In other words no hacks from normal consumer access use unless one idiotically clicks on a Trojan Horse.) CIA, Wikileaks, the Russians or Eric Snowden notwithstanding.
Yeah, yeah. Only folks with PHYSICAL access will be able to pry into your Apple devices. So that’s Apple’s best answer to security.
The physical access issue is incredibly important in ANY discussion of security, and cannot be dismissed by your blustering, bullshit sarcasm.
Duh, Sean. You get it! If a device is only as secure as your ability or capacity to prevent someone else handling it then it’s not very secure.
Apple devices aren’t “only as secure as”… Even with that physical access, Apple’s security is solid – in this context, perfectly so. Without physical access, don’t even bother trying. Not gonna happen.
It is other companies that can be accessed even without physical access. Their form of “security” is worthless. Physical access just makes it that much easier for them.
I guess in your world where unicorns poop rainbow ice cream and fairies flit about with glee anything is possible.