Inside Track
Can the CIA Hack iPhones and Macs?
The WikiLeaks disclosures published March 23 detail hacks developed by the CIA to penetrate iPhones and Mac laptops. The leaks — code-named “Dark Matter” by WikiLeaks — show that the CIA had developed methods for installing surveillance malware on “factory fresh” iPhones as early as 2008.
The recent WikiLeaks dump also pointed to vulnerabilities in the firmware of Mac laptops. By exploiting those vulnerabilities, the CIA discovered ways to inject those devices with surveillance malware that was “persistent” and would remain even if the hard drive was formatted (or even replaced) and the operating system reinstalled (or even replaced).
While this deepens the rabbit hole of the CIA’s hacking program, it is also fairly good news, if you read between the lines: These hacks require physical access to the devices. Also in the good-news column is the fact that this CIA hack, like others, requires unpatched vulnerabilities. While Apple claims that those vulnerabilities have been patched as of 2013, the Vault 7 release indicates that as of 2016, the CIA continued to use and update those hacking systems for Apple products, so it is possible that Apple is not aware of the full scope of vulnerabilities existing in its firmware and other proprietary software.
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