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Apple alerts users in 92 nations to mercenary spyware attacks

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Re: Apple alerts users in 92 nations to mercenary spyware attacks

#231

Post by nojs »

tialaramex wrote: post #126
jsheard wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sci-Fi Author: In my book I invented the Torment Nexus as a cautionary tale Tech Company: At long last, we have created the Torment Nexus from classic sci-fi novel Don't Create The Torment Nexus https://twitter.com/AlexBlechman/status/1457842724128833538

To be fair, somebody will always decide what you wrote was a warning and they should fear it, even if you specifically intended a utopia, just as people insist on rooting for and even imitating the bad guys from stories because they misunderstood "cool" as "good". Example: Some people think San Junipero, the one positive Black Mirror episode with an actual Happily Ever After romantic ending is a dystopian vision. Som…

> San Junipero, the one positive Black Mirror episode with an actual Happily Ever After romantic ending

You forgot Hang the DJ :)

Re: Apple alerts users in 92 nations to mercenary spyware attacks

#232

Post by shepherdjerred »

cute_boi wrote: post #222
onedognight wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple specifically acknowledges this and has Lockdown Mode to address it. If you care about security you should enable it. Of course you’ll not be able to watch YouTube videos, but you’ll be safer.

whats the point of carrying phone that doesn't even play youtube videos? If security is so important then they should probably carry nokia style 2000's phone where there is no chance of malaware?

I don't have YouTube on my phone and I have Safari disabled. I use my iPhone for:

* Controlling smart home devices

* Messaging and phone calls

* Checking the weather

* Recording data with Apple Health

* Uploading runs to Strava

* Setting wakeup alarms

* Listening to Apple Music

* Using Apple Maps to get around

* Connecting with CarPlay

Re: Apple alerts users in 92 nations to mercenary spyware attacks

#233

Post by 616c »

TheGuyWhoCodes wrote: post #227
EasyMark wrote: post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

The only one stirring up a regional war is Iran, arming terrorist groups around Israel as a proxy war. The fact they can act with impunity is a stain on the west just like the war in Ukraine that still rages on. This might not have been a bin laden level assassination but it was not that far and any other country that faces the same threat would do the same.

There is always someone on each of N sides of these longstanding conflicts in the region saying "Y is really the problem (because I support X; all who support X know Y is the real problem)."

That foreign powers abuse that to their own advantage worse than even the local factions do is the true stain on humanity. Why support this?

Re: Apple alerts users in 92 nations to mercenary spyware attacks

#234

Post by kibwen »

tialaramex wrote: post #126
jsheard wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sci-Fi Author: In my book I invented the Torment Nexus as a cautionary tale Tech Company: At long last, we have created the Torment Nexus from classic sci-fi novel Don't Create The Torment Nexus https://twitter.com/AlexBlechman/status/1457842724128833538

To be fair, somebody will always decide what you wrote was a warning and they should fear it, even if you specifically intended a utopia, just as people insist on rooting for and even imitating the bad guys from stories because they misunderstood "cool" as "good". Example: Some people think San Junipero, the one positive Black Mirror episode with an actual Happily Ever After romantic ending is a dystopian vision. Som…

> Some people think San Junipero, the one positive Black Mirror episode with an actual Happily Ever After romantic ending is a dystopian vision.

IIRC, after the couple prances away hand-in-hand into the sunset, the camera pulls back through the fourth wall to reveal the darkened server room in which their minds are being emulated, blinkenlights glittering in the darkness among the monotone drone of case fans, zooming out to reveal an endless row of servers receding into the distant blackness in a scene reminiscent of The Matrix. If the showrunners intended it to be unambiguously happy, I feel like they would have omitted that part... Or maybe I'm hallucinating, because I found the implications utterly horrifying, much to my partner's consternation.

Re: Apple alerts users in 92 nations to mercenary spyware attacks

#235

Post by dqv »

rootusrootus wrote: post #156
w0m wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unless things have changed since I last looked, if those you talk to aren't also on iMessage, it feels like a net negative to use as you get inconsistent/negative behavior between contacts. From that end, it becomes sort of a moral issue with the clearly arbitrarily locked gates and poor experiences. So you disable and use a non-malicious and cross platform solution.

Apple is malicious, but Facebook is totally okay?

> Apple is malicious, but Facebook is totally okay?

This is such a bizarre comment to make, because OP never suggested that Facebook is "totally okay". You replied to them after their edit window passed, so they didn't say that and then edit it out either.

Re: Apple alerts users in 92 nations to mercenary spyware attacks

#236

Post by tptacek »

mardifoufs wrote: post #191

How can Pegasus and NSO still be allowed to exist? I know they are an Israeli corporation, but even then has there been action against them from the Israeli government? This is basically rogue state behavior

There are plenty of companies like these that you haven't heard of. I don't think Israel has much to do with the situation.

Re: Apple alerts users in 92 nations to mercenary spyware attacks

#237

Post by comex »

cute_boi wrote: post #222
onedognight wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple specifically acknowledges this and has Lockdown Mode to address it. If you care about security you should enable it. Of course you’ll not be able to watch YouTube videos, but you’ll be safer.

whats the point of carrying phone that doesn't even play youtube videos? If security is so important then they should probably carry nokia style 2000's phone where there is no chance of malaware?

I don’t think Lockdown Mode actually prevents you from watching YouTube videos. Some googling suggests that there might be issues when using the YouTube website in Safari – which makes sense, since Lockdown Mode disables a bunch of Safari features. But the YouTube app probably still works. (I haven’t tried though.)

Re: Apple alerts users in 92 nations to mercenary spyware attacks

#238

Post by Cyphase »

nextaccountic wrote: post #218
AnotherGoodName wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Everyone's thinking academic secrets but have they engaged in activism in any way shape or form? Being able to take activists and discredit them is an amazing ability. I would not at all be surprised if the xz compression backdoor was an attempt by a certain government to gain the ability to discredit anyone that is against them in anyway.

what activists are running sshd?

Many software freedom and tech privacy activists.

Re: Apple alerts users in 92 nations to mercenary spyware attacks

#239

Post by wepple »

amelius wrote: post #219
wepple wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Technically, yes? But there has never ever been non-trivial software that has been completely free of such defects. In other words (in my opinion), iOS is probably better than most other platforms against this type of attack.

"In other words" doesn't make sense here.

Why

Re: Apple alerts users in 92 nations to mercenary spyware attacks

#240

Post by bdd8f1df777b »

the_mar wrote: post #37
__jonas wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the Apple Support page here: https://support.apple.com/en-in/102174 In the screenshot it says the threat notification was sent "via email and iMessage", so it would not be displayed in any different way on your phone, which I also find surprising. I definitely wouldn't expect to receive something like this as an Email, and I have turned off iMessage.

Just out of curiosity why would you have imessage turned off?

Several CVEs in the past related to iMessage. And it has surprisingly high privilege. Since I seldom need it, turning it off is better for my security.
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