This story is part of Focal Point iPhone 2022, CNET’s collection of news, tips, and advice on Apple’s most popular product.
What is happening
Apple will offer a new “Lock Mode” for its iPhones, iPads and Macs this fall. It is designed to combat advanced piracy and spyware targeted as the Pegasus of the NSO group.
Why it matters
The move is that Apple recognizes, in a way, that the threat is serious and growing. Pegasus was used by repressive governments to spy on human rights activists, lawyers, politicians and journalists.
That follows
Cybersecurity observers believe Apple can push customers and competitors to take stronger security stances. Ultimately, the way we all use technology may need to change.
Three years ago, Apple posted an ad in Las Vegas showing the back of one of its devices, with the phrase “What happens on your iPhone, stays on your iPhone.” It was a bold, though brazen, statement. But Apple is increasingly up to the task.
The tech giant has increased its commitments to privacy and security with a number of new features that cybersecurity experts say are more than a point function to differentiate its products from Samsung gadgets and other devices with the operating system Google Android. Instead, Apple’s moves have challenged the world of advertising and annoyed government officials, signaling, technology observers say, that Apple is living up to its promises.
That’s why many cybersecurity experts realized Apple’s lock mode when it was introduced last Wednesday. The feature is designed to enable “extreme” protections for the company’s iPhone, iPad and Mac computers. Among them, Apple’s blocking mode blocks previews of links to the messaging app, disables potentially hackable web browsing technologies, and stops incoming FaceTime calls from unknown numbers. Apple devices will also not accept accessory connections unless the device is unlocked. (Here’s how to use Apple’s lock mode on an iPhone.)
The cheeky announcement from Apple in Las Vegas in 2019.
CNET
Of the people who use its approximately 2 billion active devices worldwide, Apple said few should activate the feature. But cybersecurity experts say such extreme measures may need to become more common as governments around the world expand their targeting while increasing their frequency of attacks.
Last week, the FBI and the British intelligence organization MI5 took the strange step of issuing a joint warning about the “immense” threat posed by Chinese spies to “our economic and national security.” and that his piracy program is “bigger than that.” from all other major countries combined. ”Other government agencies have issued similar warnings about piracy from other adversaries, including Russia, which the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence said in 2017 had addressed to think tanks and lobbyists, as well as government and political parties.
And, unlike widespread virus or ransomware campaigns, which are often designed to spread as quickly as possible, targeted attacks are often designed for the collection of silent intelligence, which could lead to technology theft, secrets of been exposed and more.
People have become accustomed to comfort without understanding the problems.
Susan Landau, Tufts University
Apple itself said last week that it has tracked piracy efforts targeting people in nearly 150 countries over the past eight months. Apple has already launched a warning program to people when it can be targeted. When the lock mode is released in the fall, cybersecurity experts say, it will represent an escalation by Apple, mostly because the feature will be available to anyone who wants to activate it.
“Over the years there have been a number of attempts to make devices highly secure, and it’s great to have these things and have them for sale, but we haven’t seen widespread adoption,” said Kurt Opsahl, deputy executive director. and general counsel. at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which advocates for privacy and other civil liberties in the digital world. And while Opsahl believes an upgraded phone is probably good enough for the average person, he said any way Apple can increase the cost of hacking a phone helps protect devices.
“Make no mistake, the lock mode will be a major blow,” said Ron Deibert, a political science professor and director of the Citizen Lab for cybersecurity researchers at the University of Toronto.
Angela Lang / CNET
Change coming
Much of Apple’s focus on cybersecurity dates back to 2010, when company co-founder Steve Jobs spoke about his vision of privacy on stage at the D8 conference.
“Privacy means people know what they sign up for, in plain English and repeatedly,” Jobs said. “Ask them. Ask them every time. Have them tell you to stop asking them if they’re tired of you asking them. Let them know exactly what you’re going to do.”
It was an outlet for other Internet giants, such as Facebook, whose co-founder Mark Zuckerberg listened to among the audience. Google, Facebook, and Amazon make a lot of money from targeted ads, which are often at odds with users’ privacy. After all, the more targeted your ad, the more relevant and effective it will probably be.
Apple, by comparison, makes little money from ads. In contrast, iPhone, iPad and Mac computers accounted for more than 70% of its sales last year, totaling more than $ 259 billion overall.
As a result, Apple offers security features to all its users by default. When people download Facebook for the first time and start using it on their phone, they are quickly greeted with pop-ups asking if they want to give the app access to the microphone or camera.
Ultimately, Apple makes it as easy as possible to make decisions about security and privacy.
Jeff Pollard, Forrester
Last year, Apple took it a step further by asking if people wanted to prevent companies from tracking them through websites and apps, a feature Apple calls App Tracking Transparency. Research surveys suggest that almost everyone responds that they don’t want to be tracked, a measure that Facebook owner Meta said has significantly hurt their finances, costing them up to $ 10 billion in sales. lost this year. “It’s a big headwind,” Meta chief financial officer David Wehner said in February.
But effectively offering a new mode to iPhones is a whole new approach. When people activate the lock mode on their device, by turning a switch on the configuration application, it must be restarted, effectively loading a new set of codes and rules under Apple’s “extreme” security measures. .
“Ultimately, Apple makes it as easy as possible to make decisions about security and privacy,” said Jeff Pollard, a Forrester analyst who focuses on cybersecurity and risk. Pollard said this approach offers Apple the opportunity to test the waters between usability and security, while fulfilling its promise to continually improve lock mode over time. “We have to make it easier, so our opponents have to work harder.”
James Martin / CNET
Future security
Lock mode may be one of Apple’s most important security moves to date, but the company still has more things to do. Craig Federighi, Apple’s vice president and chief software officer, testified in court last year that his company’s Mac computers face a “significantly larger malware problem” than their iPhones. iPads and other devices.
“Today, we have a level of malware on the Mac that we don’t consider acceptable,” Federighi said during testimony in defense of Apple in a lawsuit with maker Fortnite Epic Games. Each week, Apple identifies a couple of pieces of malware on its own or with the help of third parties, he said at the time, and uses built-in systems to automatically remove malware from customers’ computers. Nasty programs are still proliferating, though. The year that ended last May, Federighi said, Apple had fought 130 types of Mac malware and a single program infected 300,000 systems.
Lock mode does not directly address widespread malware problems, but could end up forcing hackers to devote even more time and resources to finding security flaws that could explode.
“Something needs to be done,” said Betsy Sigman, a distinguished professor emeritus at McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University.
Privacy means that people know what they are logging in to, in simple English and repeatedly.
Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple, in 2010
An alarming …