“To put it briefly and bluntly: The iPhone is already vulnerable to hackers around the world. So are Android-based devices and other smart device platforms. In fact, the US government is late to a party long dominated by black hat hackers working for themselves or even more nefarious parties. The FBI’s order has only brought this sensitive issue to a head,” Min Pyo Hong writes for TechCrunch. “Here’s why: The iPhone already has backdoors Apple hasn’t yet closed.”
“The US government lost the backdoor race long ago,” Hong writes. “Many foreign governments have long been secretly working with blackhat hackers to create unauthorized backdoors into the iPhone, usually without Apple’s knowledge or control, seeking the ability to access documents of officials from rival governments. (Senator Bernie Sanders may not care about Secretary Clinton’s damn e-mails, but I can assure him that many people in the blackhat underground surely do.)”
Tis is “why Apple is fighting with such tenacity to prevent the iPhone’s security from becoming even weaker,” Hong writes. “A majority of Americans understandably assume the US government’s demand for a backdoor is a reasonable request to make us safer from terrorist attacks. If they understood how profoundly insecure and under threat all their devices already are, I believe their thinking on the topic would instantly change.”
Much more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Every hack – of which Apple becomes aware – makes iOS and OS X that much more secure. If they’re not already, Apple should offer significant sums to entice blackhat hackers to come out of the woodwork to identify flaws. Apple can in fact afford to pay more than many foreign governments.
To set a stronger alphanumeric passcode on your iOS device that cannot be easily brute-forced:
1. Settings > Touch ID & Passcode. On devices without Touch ID, go to Settings > Passcode
2. Tap Change Passcode
3. Tap Passcode Options to switch to a custom alphanumeric code
4. Enter your new, stronger passcode again to confirm it and activate itSEE ALSO:
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