Privacy

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AirDrop cracked by China, revealing phone number & email (9to5mac.com)

submitted 10 months ago by KarnaSubarna@lemmy.ml to c/privacy@lemmy.ml

26 comments fedilink hide all child comments

The Beijing institute developed the technique to crack an iPhone’s encrypted device log to identify the numbers and emails of senders who share AirDrop content, the city’s judicial bureau said in an online post. Police have identified multiple suspects via that method, the agency said, without disclosing if anyone was arrested. “It improves the efficiency and accuracy of case-solving and prevents the spread of inappropriate remarks as well as potential bad influences,” the bureau said.

Further read: https://sfj.beijing.gov.cn/sfj/sfdt/ywdt82/flfw93/436331732/index.html

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[–] beta_tester@lemmy.ml 20 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (3 children)

It would be easy for apple to debunk this if it wasn't true. I'd stay away from it and use proven secure means.

[–] TaviRider@reddthat.com 6 points 10 months ago (2 children)

There’s no way to prove that something is secure. (It reduces to the halting problem.)

[–] EngineerGaming@feddit.nl 5 points 10 months ago

You can still have more certainty or less. If it's open-source - it doesn't guarantee safety by any means, sure, but if it's proprietary like this one - you don't even get a chance to check what's going on.

[–] pearsaltchocolatebar@discuss.online 1 points 10 months ago

Nothing is ever completely secure if it's connected to the internet. It just likely isn't worth it to hack into. That's why macs used to be "virus proof".

Well, yes, because Windows was a much more lucrative target.

[–] Aatube@kbin.social 3 points 10 months ago

Why would they? They have all their production logistics in China.

[–] Ferk@kbin.social 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

How can Apple debunk it?

If I told you I know of a way by which I can "hack" the lock of your house to enter it, how can you prove whether I'm lying or not? Specially if I'm not willing to show you how I do it, and I haven't given you any proof of having actually done it that you can try to dispute.

[–] beta_tester@lemmy.ml 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

sending email and phone number with each airdrop doesn't sound right. Apple isn't a good company but they aren't dumb. Why would you send that info?

[–] Ferk@kbin.social 1 points 10 months ago

They aren't saying that the email/number is part of the message. What the are saying is that they are able to decrypt the logs in order to identify the senders .

It could be they cross-reference matching some internal ids / tokens / physical addresses of the devices together with all the data the Chinese government already has (or can obtain) ...or it could be a bluff.. who knows... there's not enough information, and what we know is probably distorted.