A few days back Apple boss Steve Jobs confirmed that there was a backdoor installed on every IPhone, enabling Apple to deinstall unwanted software. When the IPhone connects to the internet, this backdoor transfers information on which programmes are installed on the IPhone to a Website, which contains a list of unwanted software. This website will then deinstall the unwanted software (without, of course, asking the user for permission).
This was not announced by Apple before it was “discovered” by hackers. Why would Apple not announce such a “feature” beforehand?
1) Stop this data sniffing bullshit. Please. A company which produced a product has no right whatsoever to know what the user is doing with it. Otherwise, Apple should be the user, not the other way around.
2) How can a huge company like Apple be so stupid? Either it is a feature, and then you announce it when the product is released, or it is data-sniffing, and then you protect it properly (which is impossible, and everybody knowsthat. Well, everybody except the 10.000 dudes working on the Iphone, apparently).
Epic fail.
Comments
I agree that Apple is going to far in restricting their development environment. I don’t like to be caved in, and I fear a similar process to happen to the Mac.
Regarding the backdoor, however, I disagree with you.
In general, Apple might be analyzing your data. I don’t know, but I highly doubt it. It’s not valuable enough information to risk that kind of thing.
In this case, Apple is not sniffing. Steve Jobs confirmed that there is a mechanism to disable programs, but that does not mean that Apple knows if your specifically are running that program.
Imagine somebody discovers that a program that was sold through the App Store (the only way of legally getting that thing on your iPhone/iPod touch) is doing something nasty, like being a virus or a trojan.
Apple would, as the distributor, be required to have preventative measures to stop that. Having the OS check for a blacklist is a sensible thing to do, in my opinion, since with every networked device it doesn’t only affect you.
On a side note: The whole thing about the purported discovery of the backdoor is that it’s most likely not what Jobs was talking about. It’s another blacklist that can prevent apps from using GPS location services (to spy on you, for instance).
“Imagine somebody discovers that a program that was sold through the App Store (the only way of legally getting that thing on your iPhone/iPod touch) is doing something nasty, like being a virus or a trojan.
Apple would […] be required to have preventative measures to stop that.”
— I couldn’t disagree more. Apple is required to ensure that they don’t sell malware in Applestores, and that’s it. When I buy a new computer, and when I buy software for my computer, the distributors have to ensure that hard- and software are free of malware. But they can’t access my computer *every day* and check what I’m doing.
“In general, Apple might be analyzing your data. I don’t know, but I highly doubt it. It’s not valuable enough information to risk that kind of thing.”
— I heard that line of argumentation quite often before … I simply don’t like it. And I don’t care if it’s risky for them or not (which I cannot judge properly - but the information is de facto transfered to Apple, and putting up a database were you save this info in doesn’t sound like that big a risk to me), I care about privacy.
Anyway, that’s the future we’re heading to. The problem about computer security are the users, not the software. After all, people execute files in Emails, share their account details to stranger et cetera … thus software companies try to avoid that by built-in security which no longer relies on the user. Smart, convenient, but privacy-invasive.
Hrhr - I just imagine the ado if not apple, but some government - or even microsoft^^ - installed that backdoor or something comparable…..
But as long as it’s jobs company, EVERYTHINGs just fine….
Buy now - the brandnew GPhone !!!
It’s produced and published by the German Innenminister Steven Schäuble, and it does clearly NOT *cough* contain any Bundestrojaner whatsoever. Get it now!
“Bundestrojaner” :D
@Eiko
I do see the danger, and I don’t think that it’s the best thing you can do. With a closed platform like the iPhone, however, I don’t see another way.
On a computer, you can delete any software from your harddrive, if something bad is on there. The iPhone: not possible.
The thing is that Apple cannot for sure check what exactly a program does - unless the programmers reveal the source. Take Skype for example: partly encrypted machine code, that is decrypted on runtime, and then encrypted again when you close. Nobody knows what Skype does. There’s interesting presentations from BlackHat etc. out there.
@Joe (first post)
What makes you think there is not already a backdoor in all the other systems? And I don’t mean a “let’s make sure we can disable a program” one.
Do you really think the NSA would allow Microsoft to export their stuff to other countries without a backdoor? Why did the US government lift the export ban on 128bit encryption?
Well: I’m not too informed there, but i haven’t heared of any proof for or against that - contrary to that apple-story. I just fantasized the hue and cry if there was proof and not only dark and gloomy (maybe realistic) assumptions.
@ Basti:
Are you saying that people can install programmes, but they cannot deinstall them again? Or is the problem that they cannot access the harddrive and manually delete stuff that is not registered or shows up in the software options?
That would be a problem, of course, but it could be fixed in a lot more “not-so-privacy-intruding” ways … like … giving people access to the harddrive, perhaps?
“Oh noes, then we cannot easily sell our incredibly expensive software for an already incredibly expensive telephone”
I really don’t understand this … IPhones are so expensive, and the users are all Apple nerds - they WILL buy the software in IStores.
Mr. Jobs, you are casting suspicion on the wrong target group - on your own fanboys!