iOS

The implications of the FBI forcing Apple to create a compromised version of iOS to break into an iPhone could be profound, argues Lavabit – an encrypted email company that closed its service rather than comply with an FBI demand to hand over its encryption key. Company founder Ladar Levison (above) was found to be in contempt of court when he refused to hand over the key in 2013.

Lavabit is the latest of more than 40 companies and organizations to file an amicus brief in support of Apple, reports TechCrunch.

It warns that iPhone and iPad users may reject future iOS updates, which would leave security holes unplugged.

If the government is successful, however, many consumers may not be as trustful of these updates because of a fear (actual or imagined) that the updates will contain malware to provide a backdoor into the data on their iPhones. The result is that fewer people will automatically accept the automatic updates and the overall security of iPhones across the country will suffer.

But the effects of a ruling against Apple could go even further, the company suggests …

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Not long after Apple fixed one 1970-related iPhone glitch, a second one appears to be at work. A number of iPhone and iPad owners are tweeting screengrabs of ghost emails arriving from 1st January 1970. The emails have no sender, subject or content, and cannot be deleted, reports the Telegraph.

The good news is that this glitch doesn’t do any harm. The date is simply the Unix equivalent of zero, so the iOS Mail app would default to this if for some reason the correct date and time were missing, as one Reddit user explained …

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As part of Apple’s continuing quest to raise support for its side of the Apple/FBI iPhone encryption backdoor debate, Craig Federighi has written an opinion piece in The Washington Post. Unsurprisingly, the Apple executive repeats much of the arguments Apple has already made, indicating that hampering security efforts in technology is counterproductive:

To get around Apple’s safeguards, the FBI wants us to create a backdoor in the form of special software that bypasses passcode protections, intentionally creating a vulnerability that would let the government force its way into an iPhone. Once created, this software — which law enforcement has conceded it wants to apply to many iPhones — would become a weakness that hackers and criminals could use to wreak havoc on the privacy and personal safety of us all.

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Update: Version 2.92 of Transmission has now been released. This claims to actively remove the ‘KeyRanger’ malware files from the infected Mac.

OS X users have today been hit with the first known case of Mac ‘ransomware’ malware, found in the Transmission BitTorrent client released last week. Infected versions of the app include ‘KeyRanger’ malware that will maliciously encrypt the user’s hard drive after three days of being installed. The malware then asks for payment to allow the user to decrypt the disk and access their data — the ‘ransom’.

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Although tech companies are joining Apple’s camp en masse for the Apple/FBI court battle due to commence on March 22nd, there are many amicus briefs being posted in favour of the FBI’s argument. One of these was filed last Thursday night by the San Bernardino District Attorney, Michael Ramos. In the document, he claims that the shooter’s iPhone (which the FBI wants Apple to make a backdoor unlock for) could contain evidence that it is a digital weapon — containing a ‘cyber pathogen’ that would exploit San Bernardino infrastructure.

It’s the first time someone has implied what might actually be of interest on the phone. However, whilst the idea of a ‘cyber pathogen’ sounds scary, it really doesn’t make any sense. On his blog, iPhone forensics expert Jonathan Zdziarski explains these terms have no technical substance and even if you read between the lines to decipher the comment, it is very difficult to get any sensible meaning whatsoever.

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The Amazon Echo has become somewhat of a hit success, with many users preferring Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant to Apple’s Siri because of faster speech recognition speed, reliability and overall better performance. Amazon is continuing to compete in the voice assistant space with the release of two new products today: the Amazon Tap and Echo Dot.

The new products focus on expanding Amazon’s voice assistant into more rooms of your house as well as on-the-go. It’s an interesting strategy to make Alexa-dedicated devices, whereas Apple currently offers Siri only as a feature of its existing iOS, Apple Watch and Apple TV products.

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Since watchOS 2.0’s announcement I’ve known that I would want to use the Photo Album watch face. The ability to have my favorite photos display every time I looked at my Apple Watch’s display made me think the device was about to get more personal. Facer’s launch today takes that personality one step further.

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Apple has today launched a company Twitter account for help, customer support and iOS tips. Although Apple manages some support accounts for parts of its business, like Apple Music, this is the first time Apple has launched an account that covers its entire product range. @AppleSupport is already verified, confirming its validity as an official Apple support avenue.

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Apple and the FBI are set to start its court battle for the San Bernardino case in a couple of weeks, March 22nd. In support for Apple’s position, over 40 companies, organizations and individuals will file amicus briefs later today to rally against the government order for Apple to compromise its own iPhone security measures. Facebook, Google, Dropbox, Microsoft, Snapchat and more will sign on to briefs in the case, according to sources.

Via The New York Times, support was not immediate. Company execs were initially worried about the consequences on the industry if Apple lost out to the FBI. Bloomberg reports Samsung supports the idea of encryption but will not commit to file an amicus brief for its smartphone rival, the Samsung statement said it remains undecided on its court position …

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According to a new report Chinese news organization Nikkei, Apple is currently planning to introduce the first iPhone with an OLED display in 2017. In the past, it has been rumored that Apple was aiming to use OLED technology by 2018 or 2019, but today’s report claims that Apple is ahead of schedule and plans to ship an OLED iPhone next year.

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Bloomberg hosted a lengthy interview with Apple head lawyer Theodore Olson, to discuss the ongoing FBI vs Apple case in light of the congressional hearing from yesterday. Bloomberg’s Emily Chang quizzes Olson on various aspects of the case and although much of what is said is merely a repeat of what Tim Cook and other Apple representatives have said before, there are a few new tidbits. Olson says there isn’t a middle ground he can foresee between Apple’s staunch privacy position and the data collection wishes of the FBI. Olson was last quoted saying that if the FBI got their way, it would lead to an Orwellian society.

Watch the full fifteen-minute interview below …

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Apple is ramping up security and privacy efforts on all fronts right now, although most attention is currently directed towards the ongoing Apple FBI iPhone backdoor case. Reddit user MaGNeTiX has found that Apple is taking a big step in iOS 9.3 (currently on beta 5) towards transparency when an iOS device is being managed by an institution or enterprise through MDM. If your iPhone is being tracked by the company, it is now clearly marked in the About page of Settings and the Lock Screen. It’s hard to get more clear than a permanent ‘This iPhone is managed by your organisation’ message at the bottom of the screen.

Apple lets companies track and manage iPhones through an MDM deployment program. iOS 9.3 will remove any ambiguity as to whether the company is tracking the device …

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Hound, a voice search application from the creators behind SoundHound, has been released today for iOS. Hound’s application focuses on bringing users quick, accurate voice driven search results in a way I only wish Siri could. Implementing Google Now-style cards, Hound’s interface is direct and to the point. Users are presented with a list of similar topics they can search for, and even given examples of the complex queries Hound can handle.

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Just nine days after the last developer beta, Apple has released iOS 9.3 beta 5 to registered developers and public beta users for testing. This beta version is expected to restore full Apple Pencil support for scrolling and navigation on iPad Pros after earlier betas removed that function. We’ll check out the latest release and update below with changes.

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Image Credit: Christina Samuelson

Last week, the Silicon Valley Forum held a Visionary Salon Dinner event with Tony Fadell. Kevin Surace, Appvance’s CEO, interviewed Fadell on his past accomplishments and journey through technology. An edited transcript of the conversation shows just how in-depth the conversation went. Fadell’s interview is a personal look at what drove the creator forward while building the iPod, the iPhone, and the Nest Thermostat.

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