Whether or not this hack was developed with the help of Apple (a “backdoor”) or by a third-party exploit, this is exactly what a “golden key” looks like after it gets in the wild.
An espionage tool developed by a major world power proliferates to totalitarian regimes, aided and operated by ex-NSA agents on the payroll, to compromise human rights activists and the political opposition.
If ever there was proof that our devices need to be striving — constantly striving — for absolute security, and can never allow any “trusted party” an authentication or encryption bypass, this article is it.
An exploit like this is incalculably valuable to intelligence agencies. That the exploit would proliferate is undeniable. And the ends to which it would be (has been) used is atrocious.
Probably the only thing different about how intelligence agencies exploited this, and how they would exploit a golden key, is that with the golden key they would be sweeping up every photo on every device, and not just some photos on some devices.
“It was like, ‘We have this great new exploit that we just bought. Get us a huge list of targets that have iPhones now,’” she said. “It was like Christmas.”
An espionage tool developed by a major world power proliferates to totalitarian regimes, aided and operated by ex-NSA agents on the payroll, to compromise human rights activists and the political opposition.
If ever there was proof that our devices need to be striving — constantly striving — for absolute security, and can never allow any “trusted party” an authentication or encryption bypass, this article is it.
An exploit like this is incalculably valuable to intelligence agencies. That the exploit would proliferate is undeniable. And the ends to which it would be (has been) used is atrocious.
Probably the only thing different about how intelligence agencies exploited this, and how they would exploit a golden key, is that with the golden key they would be sweeping up every photo on every device, and not just some photos on some devices.
“It was like, ‘We have this great new exploit that we just bought. Get us a huge list of targets that have iPhones now,’” she said. “It was like Christmas.”