'Karma': A hack used by the UAE to break into iPhones of foes

Post by alasdair_ » Thu, Jan 31, 2019, 5:52 AM UTC

saagarjha wrote: post #156

alasdair_ wrote: post #144

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>Especially if they claim a vulnerability that's exploitable by only sending a text. For some time, it was possible to crash some iPhones by texting them a Taiwanese flag emoji (which was censored by mainland China). https://www.cultofmac.com/561635/apples-taiwanese-flag-ban-l... I don't know offhand if this was a buffer overflow or something else, but if you can crash the OS with a text, you . could likely exploit i…

> I don't know offhand if this was a buffer overflow or something else It was an issue when the device's local was set incorrectly and would return NULL, leading to a crash in CFStringCompare.

Post by intertextuality » Thu, Jan 31, 2019, 6:07 AM UTC

mlindner wrote: post #199

zaroth wrote: post #84

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I was not trying to suggest that, I was trying to convey that once a spy agency has remote access (sanctioned or otherwise) we can see by this example how it is proliferated and abused.

> I was not trying to suggest that You were by simply stating it. It's the same type of saying-but-not-saying lines that the media uses like "if this allegation proves to be true" or similar such phrases. The fact that you state it suggests to the reader that people think it. If it was an honest mistake in wording on your part that's one thing, but you should probably avoid using such phrasing. Look at all the people…

Post by jeroenhd » Thu, Jan 31, 2019, 12:14 PM UTC

brobinson wrote: post #67

zaroth wrote: post #10

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TFA says they need to send the target a text message. The exploit must be something like a buffer overflow in iMessage. Which we know bugs like this have been fixed. Remember the text of death which could crash any iPhone from a couple years ago?

Are you thinking of the "Stagefright" bug that did RCE via SMS on Android devices? Or maybe the Chinese censorship code that crashed iOS when people sent the Taiwanese flag emoji? 🇹🇼

Post by RankingMember » Thu, Jan 31, 2019, 1:52 PM UTC

ryanlol wrote: post #154

RankingMember wrote: post #115

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I can imagine there's plenty of "between the lines" stuff you learn as a CIA agent that, while not specifically classified, wouldn't be something you want going to other nations.

I think maybe your opinions on this are largely influenced by movies and not materials the government actually releases. Can you give me an example of the kind of unclassified information these people should be prevented from sharing?

Post by bb88 » Thu, Jan 31, 2019, 4:24 PM UTC

TimTheTinker wrote: post #207

bb88 wrote: post #191

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So, "provably secure" is a catch-22. If something can be created to be provably secure, then it can be an argument for government legislating a back door. "You said it's provably secure. Now you can give us provably secure access too without hurting your customer's privacy or security, because they're protected by the 4th amendment." I don't think this can be solved by technology, I think this comes down to politics…

The goal of probably secure computing would be merely to (hopefully) extend the mathematical certainties of cryptography to computers and software. The politics of cryptography wouldn’t change, they would only be broadened. Intentional back doors would still be possible, and the ramifications of building them would be just as dire. So the best provable security could do would be to eliminate security holes like buffe…