WikiLeaks: CIA has bugged factory-fresh iPhones since 2008

[Landon]

In a new report by WikiLeaks, evidence shows that the CIA has been bugging factory-fresh iPhones as far back as 2008. The stunning thing about this is that the "bug" is still on the phone regardless of whether or not it is wiped.

I'm pretty excited to give the information a read. Or I'm not excited. It could work both ways. Here's a summary of the documents from the WikiLeaks website:

Today, March 23rd 2017, WikiLeaks releases Vault 7 “Dark Matter”, which contains documentation for several CIA projects that infect Apple Mac Computer firmware (meaning the infection persists even if the operating system is re-installed) developed by the CIA’s Embedded Development Branch (EDB). These documents explain the techniques used by CIA to gain ‘persistence’ on Apple Mac devices, including Macs and iPhones and demonstrate their use of EFI/UEFI and firmware malware.

Among others, these documents reveal the “Sonic Screwdriver” project which, as explained by the CIA, is a “mechanism for executing code on peripheral devices while a Mac laptop or desktop is booting” allowing an attacker to boot its attack software for example from a USB stick “even when a firmware password is enabled”. The CIA’s “Sonic Screwdriver” infector is stored on the modified firmware of an Apple Thunderbolt-to-Ethernet adapter.

Have a look at the WikiLeaks releases here:

https://wikileaks.org/vault7/darkmatter/?cia

Do you think that the government should have the right to bug your phones for the purpose of protection against terrorism and national security?
Tell me what you think!

[xxMATTGxx]

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.

Source: https://www.macrumors.com/2017/03/23...cia-documents/

[Landon]

Source: https://www.macrumors.com/2017/03/23...cia-documents/

Nah, I'm pretty sure this has been copied and pasted everywhere haha.

This is where I actually got it:
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-0...h-iphones-2008

Search the first sentence, it's on multiple sites

[xxMATTGxx]

Nah, I'm pretty sure this has been copied and pasted everywhere haha.

This is where I actually got it:
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-0...h-iphones-2008

Search the first sentence, it's on multiple sites

What? I was linking you back to the site I got the quote from... The text I posted is what Apple have said. MacRumours posted that which is what I'm linking back to because I got it from there. Your link does not mention the quote I even posted.

[scottish]

Nah, I'm pretty sure this has been copied and pasted everywhere haha.

This is where I actually got it:
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-0...h-iphones-2008

Search the first sentence, it's on multiple sites

Wait you mean there's news posted on multiple websites? What the hell.

[Landon]

Wait you mean there's news posted on multiple websites? What the hell.

I know! Funny how that happens right?