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Tim Cook agreed to allow Chinese government to conduct security audits on Apple devices – local media

iphone-6-plus-ifixit-teardown-1

Beijing News reports that Tim Cook has agreed to allow China’s State Internet Information Office to carry out security audits of Apple products sold in the country. Cook reportedly made the offer during his meeting with China’s Cyberspace Administration minister Lu Wei in December.

China has long expressed suspicion over the security of Apple products, seemingly resulting from frosty relations with the U.S. Government. A state-run TV station in China described the iPhone as a “national security concern” last July due to its location-tracking capabilities. Apple responded by pointing out that location data is stored on the phone, not on Apple’s servers, and is encrypted … 

China was also claimed to have banned government purchasing of Apple products last summer, though this was later explained as merely a temporary administrative matter.

The Chinese government was said to have been behind a phishing attack on iCloud, the government firewall redirecting all iCloud.com traffic to a fake server. This is believed to be one of the topics discussed in a meeting Tim Cook had in October with the Chinese Vice Premier Ma Kai.

No details were given regarding the nature of the security audits; reports state simply that Apple will cooperate with checks by Chinese officials.

Via Business Insider. Photo: ifixit.com.

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Comments

  1. My Thoughts (@_8978) - 9 years ago

    This is a great move for iOS security. As long as we get the same software that China gets on their devices (we currently do), this move will make it impossible for Apple to be forced to include back doors in the future by the NSA.

    • 89p13 - 9 years ago

      I’ll take the opposite stand – the headline could read “US Officials Demand Access TO iPhone Security Audits” – and figure out how to “implant” an NSA back door!

      This could be a very slippery slope that Apple is starting down.

      • robertsm76 - 9 years ago

        I’m sure there’s already a Back door

      • Rich Davis (@RichDavis9) - 9 years ago

        Here’s what I crack up about. How many users of smartphones are there? essentially over a billion. How many people would it take the NSA to monitor and sift through every single smartphone and all of the data and communications that are going through each device on a continual basis? A lot more people than they have. They are targeting people that are terrorists, belong to terrorist groups, high profile criminals. They aren’t trying to examine every single persons’ communications, they simply do NOT have the man power to do so even if they did have a back door. If you aren’t a terrorist/criminal, or plan on being one, then you probably have no reason to get paranoid about it.

        Apple, just like all other companies have to hand over information if they are handed a court order. That seems to be what Apple knows about. If they want to see if there are backdoors and Apple needs to plug them up, then people have to prove there is a back door. But as it stands now, the NSA, FBI, etc. have to get a court order to get information from Apple and others. Obviously Apple’s OS is more secure than Android based on the history of malware attacks on Android vs iOS. I would be 1000x more worried if I had an Android phone than a iPhone, that’s for damn sure, especially since Google takes a long time to fix their security problems and they aren’t fixing known problems in older versions of Android that makes up about 60% of the Android install base.

  2. Jonny - 9 years ago

    Can’t wait for the information gained here to end up benefiting Xiaomi…

  3. RP - 9 years ago

    I totally get it. We here are worried about our personal information, why wouldn’t foreign countries that by and large depend on computers and devices from a foreign nation not be at least a little cautious.. We sure as hell would if the shoe was on the other foot,

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Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Ben Lovejoy

Ben Lovejoy is a British technology writer and EU Editor for 9to5Mac. He’s known for his op-eds and diary pieces, exploring his experience of Apple products over time, for a more rounded review. He also writes fiction, with two technothriller novels, a couple of SF shorts and a rom-com!


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