Latest news with #backdoor
Phone Arena
22-07-2025
- Business
- Phone Arena
UK might back down from its fight with Apple over iCloud encryption
Anonymous British official, Financial Times, 21 July, 2025 Receive the latest iOS news By subscribing you agree to our terms and conditions and privacy policy Do you use end-to-end encryption for your cloud storage? Yes, all my files are encrypted I don't know No, I don't use encryption Yes, all my files are encrypted 0% I don't know 0% No, I don't use encryption 0% The government of the United Kingdom might be looking for a way out of its battle with Apple to get backdoor access to encrypted iCloud user data. The change of direction might be the result of continuing pressure from the US during the trade talks between the two British officials told the Financial Times that the UK is likely to back off from its demands to avoid a further clash with the Trump administration. The order was a point of contention between the two countries, and one official says that Vice President JD Vance was strongly opposed to the UK's this year, the UK issued a secret order asking Apple to provide it with a backdoor, which would've given it access to the encrypted data and files of users worldwide. The demand was issued under the 2016 Investigatory Powers Act, which is also known as the Snoopers' Charter. Part of the order was that Apple couldn't notify users if their data security was weakened and couldn't publicly talk about Apple disabled the Advanced Data Protection option for users in the UK, effectively removing end-to-end encryption for British users. The company refused to provide the requested backdoor access, challenged the order in a secret hearing , and later won the right to publicly discuss the various reports claimed that the demand sparked bipartisan outrage in the US. The topic was also reportedly brought up during talks between the UK and the Advanced Data Protection feature isn't turned on by default, but it provides extra protection on iCloud-stored data. The feature activates end-to-end encryption, which means that even Apple couldn't access the files.I was never surprised by the UK government's push against Apple, but I am grateful that there is backlash against it, and I hope this issue could unite people across the political spectrum. The UK is certainly not the only country that would like to get rid of end-to-end encryption under the usual pretext of national security, so we'll need to continue pushing against such moves.
CNET
21-07-2025
- Business
- CNET
Apple Encryption Safe After All? UK Reportedly Plans to Backtrack on Backdoor Demands
Apple's reputation for providing a private and secure experience for people who use its products and services is among the highest in the industry. All that has been under threat this year, as the UK government has asked Apple to provide it with backdoor access to the iCloud accounts not only of British citizens, but of people around the world. But it looks like following pressure from the US, the UK might have decided to reverse course. As reported by the Financial Times on Sunday, the Home Office (the UK equivalent to the State Department) will likely have to backtrack on its demands from Apple following intervention from senior US political figures, including Vice President JD Vance. The Home Office declined to comment on the report, which quoted an unnamed source from the government department as saying "messing with their tech companies, was "a big red line in the US." Ensuring people's data and communications are properly encrypted is a key selling point for Apple, which has always prided itself on offering customers a high level of privacy and security. It's long maintained that there is no "backdoor" it could simply provide access to, and that creating one would put the company and its users at risk of exploitation from bad actors. Reports that the UK was seeking backdoor access in order to assist with criminal investigations was first reported by the Washington Post in February of this year. The same month, Apple pulled its Advanced Data Protection (ADP) feature in the UK, providing iCloud users with less protection than they get elsewhere. At the time the company said it was "gravely disappointed" to have to make the move, "especially given "the continuing rise of data breaches and other threats to customer privacy." Apple did not respond to a request for comment on Monday.
Forbes
21-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
U.K. May Drop Plans To Break Apple's Encryption To Please Trump
U.K. government seeks to keep Donald Trump happy over encryption The U.K. government is reportedly backtracking on plans to force Apple to create a backdoor into encrypted communications. In January, the U.K. issued a technical capability notice to Apple, demanding that it create a backdoor in encrypted communication systems that would allow law enforcement and security services to read customers' messages. Apple resisted the move and has launched a legal challenge, as well as removing the Advanced Data Protection encryption from some of its services in the U.K. market. Apple has subsequently been joined in its legal challenge by the Meta-owned WhatsApp. Now, according to a report in the Financial Times, the U.K. government is seeking ways to avoid a confrontation with the tech companies, through fear of upsetting Donald Trump's U.S. administration. 'This is something that the vice-president is very annoyed about and which needs to be resolved,' a 'senior official' in the UK's technology department told the newspaper. 'The Home Office is basically going to have to back down.' Attack On Free Speech? The vice-president has been repeatedly critical of what he views as attacks on free speech by European governments. The officials who spoke to the Financial Times said the U.K. government is keen not to be drawn into anything that the vice-president may regard as a free-speech issue. Donald Trump has also publicly stated his opposition to breaking encrypted communications, publicly urging the prime minister Kier Starmer not to introduce such measures. Aside from being a free speech issue, it's also one of communications security. Apple and other tech companies have long argued that it's not possible to create a backdoor for the security services alone, that once encryption has been compromised it becomes a potential attack vector for anyone. 'Apple has never created a backdoor or master key to any of our products or services,' the company claims in a statement on its website regarding government security requests. 'We have also never allowed any government direct access to Apple servers. And we never will.' The company does co-operate with governments and law-enforcement agencies around the world, when legally required to hand over details of customers' devices or accounts. Apple publishes a transparency report to show how many of these requests it deals with on a country-by-country basis. For example, between January and June 2024, the company dealt with 2,925 device requests in the U.K. and 2,550 requests for details of customers' accounts. In the U.S. those figures are 12,043 and 12,812 respectively for the same period. Apple's transparency data shows that the number of such requests has grown sharply in recent years in both countries. Tech Companies Threaten To Walk It's not only the U.S. administration that the U.K. government might be mindful of upsetting, but the tech companies themselves. Aside from Apple and WhatsApp leading a legal challenge, other communications firms have threatened to leave the U.K. altogether if they are forced to break encryption. Signal president Meredith Walker told the BBC in 2023 that her company 'would absolutely, 100% walk' if it were forced to weaken the privacy of its messaging system in the U.K. Signal is, of course, the encrypted messaging system that was the center of a U.S. government security scandal earlier this year when senior members of the administration were revealed to be discussing battle plans in a conversation in which a journalist was accidentally added to the group.
Forbes
08-07-2025
- Forbes
New Apple macOS Backdoor Warning As Hackers Threaten 100 Million Users
New macOS backdoor confirmed. While there are fewer active security threats facing users who have adopted an Apple ecosystem rather than a Windows one, that does not mean there are none. The Mac user base has grown to over 100 million, making it an attractive target for hackers. Indeed, this year I have reported on the Banshee Stealer hack attack, the FrigidStealer fake updates threat, and a surge in password infostealer attacks targeting macOS users in general. The latest threat, however, is particularly dangerous: a macOS backdoor that is persistent, can issue remote attack commands and is found in malware being deployed right now. Here's what you need to know about the latest Atomic macOS Stealer Malware-as-a-Service evolution. Atomic macOS Stealer Introduces Dangerous Apple Backdoor Threat According to the Moonlock lab team, the Atomic macOS Stealer, also known as AMOS, has just experienced a decisive and dangerous upgrade. 'For the first time,' the security researchers said, 'it's being deployed with an embedded backdoor.' The evolutionary step has led the Moonlock team to apply the highest level of risk for the AMOS threat to date. And that is hardly surprising, seeing as the backdoor now means that a successful attacker can not only maintain ongoing access to the victim's Apple Mac, with the backdoor surviving system reboots, but they can also gain 'extended control over compromised machines,' and execute arbitrary and dangerous commands from remote attack servers. This isn't the first macOS backdoor, it has to be said, but it's of critical importance nonetheless. And be in no doubt, given that AMOS attackers, thanks to its nature of being operated as a Malware-as-a-Service platform, has already hit more than 120 countries, with the U.S. and U.K at the top of the attack list. This latest addition to the AMOS attack arsenal represents what the Moonlock researchers referred to as a 'significant escalation in both capability and intent,' which means that the threat it represents to Apple users is 'longer limited to stolen credentials or documents,' but rather it 'opens the door to full system compromise.' How To Mitigate The AMOS Apple Mac Backdoor Threat Describing, rather aptly if chirpily, the AMOS backdoor as being like 'a burglar who doesn't leave after the theft but moves in and waits for the victim to buy more stuff so they can strike again,' Moonlock said it's more important than ever to reduce your digital footprint to help mitigate these attacks. That might sound odd, but given that AMOS attacks rely upon sourcing intelligence from social media postings so as to research targets before hitting them with a phishing campaign to gain initial account access, it's good advice. 'The more they know,' the Moonlock security team said, 'the more convincing their phishing attempts become and the more widespread AMOS gets.' Do not take this warning lightly; it's as serious as it gets. Bear in mind that such a backdoor, embedded into your Apple Mac, brings with it the ability to employ surveillance over weeks, months and even years. 'The AMOS threat group already has a large infection base,' Moonlock warned, 'and an active campaign underway.'
CNA
07-05-2025
- Politics
- CNA
US lawmakers criticise UK backdoor order to Apple, warn of cybercriminal risks
BRUSSELS :U.S. House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan and Foreign Affairs Chair Brian Mast warned Britain on Wednesday that its order to Apple to create a backdoor to its encrypted user data could be exploited by cybercriminals and authoritarian regimes. Apple, which has said it would never build a so-called back door into its encrypted services or devices, has challenged the order at the UK's Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT). The iPhone maker withdrew its Advanced Data Protection feature for UK users in February following the UK order. Users of Apple's iPhones, Macs and other devices can enable the feature to ensure that only they — and not even Apple — can unlock data stored on its cloud. "Creating a backdoor into end-to-end encrypted systems, as the TCN does, introduces systemic vulnerabilities that can be exploited by malicious actors, including cybercriminals and authoritarian regimes," Jordan and Mast wrote in a joint letter to Britain's Home Secretary Yvette Cooper. TCN (Technical Capability Notice) refers to the UK order. "These vulnerabilities would not only affect UK users but also American citizens and others worldwide, given the global nature of Apple's services," they said. They urged Cooper to allow Apple to disclose the existence of the order to the U.S. Department of Justice so it can evaluate whether it complies with the U.S.-UK agreement made under the CLOUD Act which prohibits orders requiring companies to decrypt data. Under UK laws, American companies would commit a criminal offence if they disclose or confirm such an order, even to their home government. "We urge the Home Office to reconsider the issuance of TCNs that require the weakening of encryption, as such measures conflict with international human rights standards, including the European Court of Human Rights' ruling that undermining encryption violates privacy rights," the lawmakers said.
