NEW YORK — iOS forensic examiner
Jonathan Zdziarski may know more about iPhones than any other non-Apple
employee. Yet even he can't find a reason for some of the mystery
features buried within the iOS operating system, which look an awful lot
like security backdoors that bypass user-designated data protections.
MORE: 5 Essential iPhone Security Tips
In
a presentation Friday (July 18) at the HOPE X hacker conference here,
Zdziarksi detailed his discoveries about the data-collection tools
hidden on iOS devices. Some tools are listed by name, yet not explained,
in the Apple developer manual and do far more than advertised. Others
are undocumented and buried deep within the iOS code.
The
hidden features may partly explain allegations, based on documents
leaked in the Snowden archive, in the German newsmagazine Der Spiegel
that the NSA has had the ability to access data on BlackBerrys and
Android and iOS devices. Der Spiegel did not detail how the NSA would do
so.
The undocumented
features can be accessed by any PC or Mac to which a targeted iOS device
has been connected via USB, Zdziarski says. Some hidden features can
also be accessed via Wi-Fi while the phone is at rest, or even while the
owner is using it.
Zdziarksi is certain that these mechanisms, whatever their purpose, are no accidenthttp://news.yahoo.com/iphone-may-rigged-spy-183943399.html
