It also considerably reduces the ability of nation-state attackers to replace parts with modified hardware without your knowledge, as Apple can detect and terminate misuse of the tool that creates new cryptographic signing keys for the pairing of phone and part. We saw signed-pairing appear with the Touch ID system in response to Apple learning of nation-state attacks on the iPhone that used hardware modifications.
To date, no HN discussion of this crypto-pairing of the phone to its parts has revealed an alternative solution that would be effective at Apple’s scale for preventing phones from being hacked by a parts swap while also allowing any part to be swapped in — not to mention while providing the anti-theft benefits described upthread. I’d love to see a viable alternative solution described, if anyone has one.
To date, no HN discussion of this crypto-pairing of the phone to its parts has revealed an alternative solution that would be effective at Apple’s scale for preventing phones from being hacked by a parts swap while also allowing any part to be swapped in — not to mention while providing the anti-theft benefits described upthread. I’d love to see a viable alternative solution described, if anyone has one.