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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

#271

Post by vinay_ys »

mynameisvlad wrote: post #153
vinay_ys wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, supreme court ordered panel investigation into this spyware scandal didn't find any evidence of actual spyware. So there's that. Also, if government wants to investigate someone, they have so many powerful ways to do that (and they actually do that). So, it's not clear to me what need they have to go spy on people via NSO tools. And surely, if they were building large datacenters to do massive spying like some…

I'm not sure exactly what part of it you're trying to refute since your comment is kind of all over the place, but GP comment is correct. The reason it's called that is literally because of the Indian government. > Apple's removal of the term "state-sponsored" from its description of threat notifications comes after it repeatedly faced pressure from the Indian government on linking such breaches to state actors, said…

I'm clearly refuting this – "because Modi complained" in the GPs post. And your linked article is making an unsubstantiated claim based on "source with direct knowledge". That's just not credible enough.

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

#272

Post by tialaramex »

godelski wrote: post #266
tialaramex wrote: post #264

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Remember, once "you" are data, you can be copied. If you're copied that's what "Hang the DJ" is about, and more darkly the short story "Lena". But San Junipero deliberately doesn't do that. Alas, the thing you claim isn't the same as being is in fact exactly how you work today. Is this an existential nightmare? I got used to it pretty quickly, and in San Junipero you'd have a lot longer to get used to it. Greg Egan…

The Permutation City reference is irrelevant to San Junipero. I never made the claim that the entities in the simulation were not sentient. I made the claim that they aren't "you." These are very different things. I haven't seen the newer seasons. But looking at the synopsis on wiki (Beyond the Sea?), this is a very different scenario. Permutation City might be a better one to look at for what I'm getting at. Remembe…

> I made the claim that they aren't "you." These are very different things.

I understand what you're claiming, as I pointed out under this understanding your current existence is already terrifying. Not just when you fall asleep, but even moment by moment the underpinning compute substrate is repaired and replaced and yet it feels as though this is an ongoing experience, there's no reason Yorkie experiences this any differently even though intellectually she knows the transformation was more... substantial.

It's just Trigger's Broom / the Ship of Theseus, this isn't even a new idea.

> the writers place a lot of not so subtle hints as to the idea that it isn't.

Like the hint where Charlie Brooker specifically said that no it's the Happily Ever After ending ? Maybe he wasn't patting his head like you knew he would be if he was addressing True Fans like you ? Didn't give the secret sign ?

I thought I already spelled this out well enough, that somebody will insist that the heroes are villains, that the bad guys are the good guys and so on. Sometimes they have a point, but more often they just didn't see what was in front of them. I am kinda tangentially interested in the Slash scene (e.g. I know people involved in AO3) and the Slash communities are the same - sometimes you're like sure, this was barely subtext in the movie/ TV show/ novel, in a braver world the writers would have had them kiss on camera, but other times it's like "Where did this even come from? Were you watching the same show?" - and sometimes that's deliberate contrariness but other times it really isn't.

It's not as though I don't have my own divergences from what writers believe about their own works - for example in my opinion Firefly was a TV show about the bad guys (people who lost a civil war and just decide that doesn't count) written by someone who doesn't understand that they're the bad guys. Obvious Whedon doesn't agree and I don't expect him to. Or for example Vinge insisted he doesn't know who/what Rabbit is in "Rainbows End" and in my opinion there's only one option which makes any sense.

But I guess I kinda asked for people to insist their wrong interpretations of San Junipero are the only correct one when I gave the example.

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

#273

Post by CPLX »

Despegar wrote: post #9
bee_rider wrote: post #8

There’s a reddit thread by somebody who got one of these: https://old.reddit.com/r/iphone/comments/1c10jai/i_have_rece... The interesting thing IMO is they claim to just be some random college student. Which seems believable because if they were a real secret squirrel I guess they wouldn’t ask reddit about it, haha. I wonder if the hackers are targeting people based on phone numbers or something. (I could imagine a c…

Well the they might be just a college student, but they could have a relationship with the actual target in some way. And if it's part of a complex operation they could be trying some indirect approaches.

If you want to get someone to click a link or open a photo/video having it sent to them by their nanny for example would seem pretty effective.

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

#274

Post by realusername »

saagarjha wrote: post #268
realusername wrote: post #262

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's highly relevant, if you breach the Message app on Android... well it's the same as breaching any other app. That's why most of the exploits are targeting imessage

No. Most exploits target iMessage because everyone has it installed.

There's plenty of normal apps built-in, iOS isn't very modular. But none of those are not as deeply integrated as imessage.

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

#275

Post by CPLX »

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

Your theory is that the Israeli government doesn’t approve of what they are doing?

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

#276

Post by TheGuyWhoCodes »

mardifoufs wrote: post #252
TheGuyWhoCodes wrote: post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Israel has literally targeted Iranian territory. How is that better than arming Israel's opponents? And Israel is the country with not only a nuclear capability but also invented the "samson option", which is basically threatening the region to nuke everyone if they have to. Israel and Iran really deserve each other.

If you mean the "embassy" building it's not Iranian territory. They are not defined as such, it's false information from movies and did you forget the bombing of the Israeli embassy in Argentina? They sure didn't have an issue then.

If you mean assassinations of nuclear scientists in Iran then sure you are correct but then what do you expect when Iran's leaders again and again say they are going to wipe Israel off the map?

"How is that better than arming Israel's opponents?" - Got me there buddy, how is it better than targeting military targets who fund and direct terror vs aiming blindly 100k rockets into population centers.. gee they are so equivalent

When all your neighbors wants to murder you and throw you to the sea you tend to be a bit overly defensive, why is it any different than the US/Russia/China nuclear arsenal as a deterrent?

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

#277

Post by realusername »

joe_guy wrote: post #245
realusername wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The big difference here is the Message app on Android is just a normal app whereas imessage is bundled deep in the OS with tons of private apis

> The big difference here is the Message app on Android is just a normal app whereas imessage is bundled deep in the OS with tons of private apis I'm replying to someone who said the important factor is android is open sourced. I pointed out the relevant android program is not open sourced.

That's a half truth as well because the APIs that Message is using are open source and documented. You can recreate a third-party Message app and that's what is used in some of the android distributions.

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

#278

Post by [deleted] »

dragonwriter wrote: post #41
Lendal wrote: post #30

Pet peeve: This story alternates between "nations" and "countries" as if they were synonyms. A nation is a group of people sharing cultural, ethnic, and historical ties. There are many more nations than there are countries, especially within the US. A country has a political boundary, a flag and an anthem. It's one thing to use a word in the wrong way, because maybe you don't know the other word exists, and that's ok…

Pet peeve: Misguided pedantry Both “country” and “nation” have a wide variety of definitions, and several of them overlap. The definition you give for “nation” is a particular technical one used in certain contexts, but the word used for the way you define “country” in the context where that kind of technical definition is being used for “nation” is “state”, not “country”. (And even “state” may be used with additiona…

[deleted]

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

#279

Post by quesera »

pmontra wrote: post #260
quesera wrote: post #254

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a story told to first-year law students: Look to your left, look to your right, only one of you three will become a lawyer.

The first day at university in the 80s, Computer Science, the head of faculty told us that stats were that only 30% made it to graduation and started walking in front of the first row of the hall. “You will graduate, you won't, you won't. You will graduate, you won't, you won't." Motivational speech or not, at least half of the students dropped out in the first two years. The goal of those two years seemed to be righ…

Similar experience in EE, the first year requirements were full of "filter" or "weed-out" courses in math and physics.

The generous argument is that it's only fair to the student that they should know quickly whether they'll be able to get through the material. Failing fast can be merciful.

The truth is probably more complicated. Let's just say that the student population ended up looking a lot like the TA and professor population. Lather, rinse, repeat.

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

#280

Post by resource_waste »

rootusrootus wrote: post #164
resource_waste wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Supply and demand.

The bounties look like they have fairly comparable distribution, and just knowing the dollar figures doesn't really tell much about either supply or demand. Your inference requires that knowledge.

>just knowing the dollar figures doesn't really tell much about either supply or demand.

Well we just broke econ

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