Live data from Hacker News

Israeli firm can steal phone data in seconds

phys.org

71–80 of 120 posts

Re: Israeli firm can steal phone data in seconds

#71
post #4

> Among the data the firm claims to be able to access are text messages deleted years previously. Among all the claims this one seems like it might be one that holds up with very recent iOS/Android releases. It would be interesting to find out whether they rely solely on the encryption to protect the deleted messages and whether overwriting the data would be thwarted by flash device wear-leveling indirection.

Cache is not cleaned if the cellphone is on, a reboot would suffice that in most Android. Blackberry is different and I don't know iOS enough to tell, but they do integrate with iCloud.

Re: Israeli firm can steal phone data in seconds

#72
post #65

I mean, with Trump's administration banning cybersecurity and encryption, this company should go out of business soon, right?

it would be somewhat hard to ban math, right?

Take Trump's mouth blast with a grain of salt, as its not what he will end up doing once he learns what he is talking about.

Re: Israeli firm can steal phone data in seconds

#73
post #35

You'd think if they could crack the latest iPhone/iOS they'd crow about it. The article seems to paint it as a "we're confident we could" - which seems bizarrely vague. Why would they do that when they claim they can crack an LG G4 wide open?

This is a good point. But I am not sure they have demonstrated that they can crack a G4 wide open. They were able to access DCIM folder, which is very accessible by design. Even if they were able to bypass whatever protection this folder has ("password was disabled"), it is still far from wide open.

They might be able to do what they claim, but not much was actually presented.

Re: Israeli firm can steal phone data in seconds

#74
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then we just need a phone inside a phone right? Provide them with a fake password that shows no data, has 1 kids game app, and gives you plausible deniability. If coded correctly would be no way to prove if there is or is not a second deeper encrypted device.

Backup your phone. Wipe your phone. Cross the border. Restore your phone.

Or don't take your phone. On the other hand they've asked people to login to their email accounts using laptops they've provided.

Re: Israeli firm can steal phone data in seconds

#75
post #8

"Could you do anything to deprive them from throwing a stone at someone or from driving a car and running over people? "You can't blame the car manufacturer at that point for delivering a car that was utilised to commit that kind of crime," he said. This is specious reasoning. The point of a car is not to run over people; it's to go from point A to point B. This technology, on the other hand, has only one purpose: to…

I think it's an important distinction. The crime is in how it's used, not in the technology itself. Banning the tech outright only affects actors who are willing to follow the law. So banning this tool would mostly limit white hats.

The same principle applies to gun rights for example. The gun itself isn't the problem, it's how someone chooses to use it. (self defense vs crime). Nobody is an absolutist here, everyone draws the line somewhere slightly different.

Outlawing the tech ensures that good guys lose the arms race every time.

When I say good guys I don't necessarily mean the government. I mean anyone out there who is not using the tech for malicious intent. People using guns for self defense, breaking into an encrypted device to solve a crime, or retrieve lost work etc.

This keeps the focus on improving the actual technology (encryption). Rather than just banning law abiding citizens from taking part.

Re: Israeli firm can steal phone data in seconds

#76
post #42
post #2

"But privacy and rights activists worry such powerful technology can wind up in the wrong hands, leading to abuses." Am I to believe that this firm is the right hands? Or government? Please...all hands are the wrong hands. These vulnerabilities need to be closed. I wouldn't be surprised if the NSA or some other government tentacle was paying them not to make whatever they found known. Gee, I sound paranoid. What am I…

You highlight a kind of social disconnect among a segment of the population that are kind of eternal liberal optimist loyalists that have no problem trusting their parent, the government with any and all sorts of individual rights. It is precisely why some people simply cannot look through or past the notion that the government could somehow not be a benevolent parent that only has our best interest in mind and are t…

Liberal segment of the population checking in; that's a complete strawman - we're in favour of gun control because we don't trust our fellow citizens to be responsible with them, NOT because we trust the government.

Regarding state vs federal control; I think you'll be surprised how many liberals are happy with individual states de-criminalizing marihuana and such, there's actually a lot of agreement with libertarians regarding governement power amongst many liberals.

Many of us are concerned about abuses of state power to roll back progress on abortion, teaching evolution, secularism etc. and I don't know your political leanings, but I suspect you'd agree with a lot of these, weren't it coming from the....pfff...liberals - they can never be right, can they?

Re: Israeli firm can steal phone data in seconds

#77

Does anyone track the quantity of U.S. tax dollars which go to such firms?

It's a profitable company. It doesn't need US money. If your government needs to hack a phone that belongs to a terrorist to protect innocent US citizens then what's the problem? Oh, you're an antisemite. Sorry, missed that.

Personal attacks have no place here. Please do this elsewhere.

Re: Israeli firm can steal phone data in seconds

#79
post #63
post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You highlight a kind of social disconnect among a segment of the population that are kind of eternal liberal optimist loyalists that have no problem trusting their parent, the government with any and all sorts of individual rights. It is precisely why some people simply cannot look through or past the notion that the government could somehow not be a benevolent parent that only has our best interest in mind and are t…

People don't favor gun control because they're eternal optimists about the government's benevolence, that is a ridiculous straw man. Generally people favor gun control because -- to use the same language -- they are not eternal optimists about the benevolence of their fellow citizens who sometimes murder large groups of innocents.

If they bothered to crack a history book, of course, they'd come to understand that on a long-enough timeline, they're most likely to be shot by their own government, military, or police forces.

But of course, That Can't Happen Here, because We're Special. (How many times have you heard that schtick lately?)

After that, the person most likely to shoot you is a fellow criminal that you're either associated with or competing with, such as a rival gang member.

Then comes suicide and firearm-related accidents.

Everything else is just so much statistical noise.

Meanwhile, the American left's inexplicable insistence on gun control as a key platform element continues to cost them elections they otherwise could have won handily.

Post reply on HN