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China Iphone Security

China Flags 'Security Incidents' With Apple's iPhones (bloomberg.com) 40

China flagged security problems with iPhones while saying it isn't barring purchases, the government's first comments on the topic after news reports that authorities are moving to restrict the use of Apple products in sensitive departments and state-owned companies. From a report: "We noticed that there have been many media reports about security incidents concerning Apple phones," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told a regular press briefing in Beijing on Wednesday, without elaborating. China plans to expand a ban on the use of iPhones to a plethora of state-backed companies and agencies, Bloomberg News has reported, a sign of growing challenges for Apple in its biggest foreign market and global production base. Several agencies have begun instructing staff not to bring their iPhones to work. "China has not issued laws and regulations to ban the purchase of Apple or foreign brands' phones," Mao said, adding that the government attaches "great importance" to security and that all companies operating in China need to abide by its laws and regulations.
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China Flags 'Security Incidents' With Apple's iPhones

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  • >reports about security incidents concerning Apple phones

    I read "security incidents" to mean that users have been able to do things hidden from Big Brother Xi.
    • Re:Security (Score:5, Interesting)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 ) on Wednesday September 13, 2023 @07:43AM (#63844398) Homepage Journal

      Nah, Apple cooperates fully with the Chinese government. All Chinese user's data is stored inside China, where the government can access it any time it likes.

      This is just tit-for-tat retaliation over Huawei. Like the claims about Huawei, it's not based on any actual evidence, just innuendo.

      • by Shakrai ( 717556 )

        Apple cooperates fully with the Chinese government.

        I'm still salty they neutered AirDrop. AirDrop was one of the few off the grid ways for Chinese dissidents to share information and Apple killed it. Now you can only leave it turned on for 10 minutes at a time. Ostensibly this was because of incidents like this [cnn.com], except, that problem could be solved by treating AirDrop like location sharing, e.g., offer "Next Day" as an option instead of (or in addition to) "10 minutes", and surely it was just a coincidence that the change was rolled out in the PRC before

      • Nah, Apple cooperates fully with the Chinese government. All Chinese user's data is stored inside China, where the government can access it any time it likes.

        This is just tit-for-tat retaliation over Huawei. Like the claims about Huawei, it's not based on any actual evidence, just innuendo.

        Besides, Apple is a US company, and would NEVER spy.
        The USA doesn't spy! Unlike China and its Huawei!

        It isn't like one of them is a pot and the other is a kettle and there's so much soot on both of them that you can't even tell which is which!

  • "We noticed that there have been many media reports about security incidents concerning Apple phones," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told a regular press briefing in Beijing on Wednesday, without elaborating.

    China controls the media.
    The media reports that there are unspecified security incidents.
    China reports that the media reports that there are unspecified security incidents.

    Does this remind anyone else of Cruz and Gowdy and McCarthy insisting to their constituents that there was election fraud, then their constituents complaining to them about election fraud, and going on to use that as a mandate to make further false claims about election fraud?

    Authoritarianism does the same things everywhere.

    • by Anonymous Coward

      "We noticed that there have been many media reports about security incidents concerning Apple phones," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told a regular press briefing in Beijing on Wednesday, without elaborating.

      China controls the media. The media reports that there are unspecified security incidents. China reports that the media reports that there are unspecified security incidents.

      Does this remind anyone else of Cruz and Gowdy and McCarthy insisting to their constituents that there was election fraud, then their constituents complaining to them about election fraud, and going on to use that as a mandate to make further false claims about election fraud?

      Authoritarianism does the same things everywhere.

      False claims of election fraud like Hilary Clinton still claims how she lost the 2016 election?

      • False claims of election fraud like Hilary Clinton still claims how she lost the 2016 election?

        Hey look, a conservative liar in the wild. She never claimed she actually won [statesman.com] just that it was fishy because there was a lot of publicly known, easily observed fishy bullshit.

        But I know honesty, good faith, and reading comprehension are difficult for you people.

        • by Anonymous Coward

          False claims of election fraud like Hilary Clinton still claims how she lost the 2016 election?

          Hey look, a conservative liar in the wild. She never claimed she actually won [statesman.com] just that it was fishy because there was a lot of publicly known, easily observed fishy bullshit.

          But I know honesty, good faith, and reading comprehension are difficult for you people.

          Hey look, a plot twist: I'm not a conservative. Not a liberal. Simply can't stand the sight of both of you fucking hypocritical republican and democrat lunatics bent on destroying everything. "You people"... lol

          • Don't parrot republican propaganda if you don't want people to know you're a Republican.

          • False claims of election fraud like Hilary Clinton still claims how she lost the 2016 election?

            Hey look, a conservative liar in the wild. She never claimed she actually won [statesman.com] just that it was fishy because there was a lot of publicly known, easily observed fishy bullshit.

            But I know honesty, good faith, and reading comprehension are difficult for you people.

            Hey look, a plot twist: I'm not a conservative. Not a liberal. Simply can't stand the sight of both of you fucking hypocritical republican and democrat lunatics bent on destroying everything. "You people"... lol

            How can you be neither Conservative or Liberal?? The entire political world depends on there being only two options, it's a one-dimensional space!

            • Just like you can tell what a congresscreep believes by the way he votes... same for everyone else.

              If you vote R you're a R. D, D. Don't vote, you are satisfied with the status quo. Pretty simple.

              • Just like you can tell what a congresscreep believes by the way he votes... same for everyone else.

                If you vote R you're a R. D, D. Don't vote, you are satisfied with the status quo. Pretty simple.

                What I mean is, politics is more complicated than right vs left, conservative vs progressive, authoritarian vs liberal.
                I mean, I just listed 3 different dimensions and all you have to choose between are two political parties. And there are more dimensions than that as well.
                That's just ridiculous to call a 'democracy'.

                For example, an American Conservative and a Chinese Conservative have a lot in common in that dimension.
                Outside of economic policy, the American Conservative might have more in common with the

                • Yeah, there's a bunch of layers of bullshit on top of our alleged democracy, no argument there. The electoral college, gerrymandering, voter disqualification on the usual evil bases...

        • by guruevi ( 827432 )

          Neither did Cruz, Gowdy or McCarthy say that they won, unlike a certain person in Georgia that actually pretended to be the governor.

          Both parties have done this over the decades, Al Gore was the first one to actually make a big stink about it.

          • by Shakrai ( 717556 )

            Yeah, I remember when Al Gore incited a riot after exhausting all legal options for judicial intervention. Oh wait..

            Will concede that Democratic objections to Ohio's electoral votes in 2004 haven't aged well. I said at the time it was a terrible idea, there was no outcome determinative fraud there, GWB's margin was decisive. Another difference, it got shot down by a much larger margin of Democrats than the GOP's attempt to do the same in 2020, where a majority of their House caucus went along with it, e

            • by guruevi ( 827432 )

              Hillary Clinton was claiming fraud in the 2016 elections just last year and said that in 2024 Republicans may do the same. Stacey Abrams did as well. Plenty of Dems continue to claim that Reps commit fraud, just as much as Reps claim the Dems do. Watch CSPAN for a change, in Congress, Dems just a few weeks ago claimed 2016 and 2024 elections and various state and senate elections, whenever they go in favor of the 'enemy' are illegitimate.

              • by Shakrai ( 717556 ) on Wednesday September 13, 2023 @01:43PM (#63845552) Journal

                I'm no fan of Stacey Abrams, in part because of her refusal to concede, and also because she's a two time loser and (insert Trump voice here) I like winners. I respect her more than this three time loser [wikipedia.org], unlike him, she actually did the fucking work to build a GOTV operation, and unlike him, she stuck around to expand that operation and help likeminded people win. Beto looked at his failure to win a statewide race and bizarrely concluded that he could succeed in a national one. Pro-tip to the social media obsessed idiots in both parties: followers != votes

                Regardless, don't mistake me as some staunch Democratic partisan, because I'm not. I lean towards them but I call them out all the time. Until the GOP decided democracy was optional, I had occasionally voted for their candidates all the way up to POTUS (Romney).

                What I am, if you care, is a lifelong elections worker in multiple States, every single one I've called home since turning 18. I take these claims of fraud rather personally. I've been on the receiving end of death threats because of them. I'm now dealing with a huge manpower shortage because for some weird reason most people aren't willing to endure death threats for a $15/hr gig that happens twice a year. I wish Democrats would shout 'fraud' and 'suppression' less often than they do, but there's no comparison between what they do and what Trump and his ilk continue to do to this day. No Democratic partisan has ever threatened my safety or the safety of my people. I've run elections where the result was determined by single digits and BOTH sides were throwing temper tantrums about the canvass, but nobody ever threatened us with violence or death until Trump slithered his way into our body politic.

                I can also tell you that Democrats aren't always wrong when they shout 'suppression'. I'll give you one example, Voter ID laws, they're fucking useless and do nothing to stop fraud. If you care, I can tell you all the reasons why they're useless and redundant of all the other protections built into the process. Some systems (Louisiana) aren't suppressive, they're annoying and useless, but not suppressive. Others (Mississippi) are surgically aimed at suppressing the minority and poor vote. If you can't see this you haven't researched the history of voter suppression in this country and the processes these jurisdictions have put into place.

                • by guruevi ( 827432 )

                  So basically you agree with what I said, the rest of your comment is political viewpoint. As an anarchist, I support your goals to remove government IDs from the purchase of alcohol, voting, driving etc, as the meme says, you don't want government ID because your party may lose, I don't want government ID because I don't like the government, we're not the same.

                  • by Shakrai ( 717556 )

                    Being unhappy with finding myself on the receiving end of death threats is a "political viewpoint"?

                    For the record, I don't agree with a damn thing you said. The comment I replied to was nothing more than standard issue whataboutism, trying to make a false comparison between occasional stupidity and blatant criminal behavior. You can say whatever you want. The MAGAites can say whatever they want. It crosses the line when it escalates from shouting "fraud!" into death threats. Let me know when Stacey Ab

                    • by guruevi ( 827432 )

                      I'll ignore the entire 'summer of love' BLM/Antifa protests then.

                    • I'll ignore the entire 'summer of love' BLM/Antifa protests then.

                      You mean when the anti-fascists came out in black uniforms and committed acts of violence, making them look just like fascists?

                    • by Shakrai ( 717556 )

                      Heh, more whataboutism. I've got lots of issues with Antifa, however, I have yet to receive a death threat from a real or claimed Antifa member in my role as an election worker, or, for that matter, in any other context. I live in Portland OR and have lived through actual Antifa protests in my literal backyard. I've annoyed them by filming them, they really don't like that, and yet, no death threats have come my way. Weird, eh?

                      You claim to be an anarchist but your comments strongly imply you're just an

                    • by guruevi ( 827432 )

                      Off course YOU don't get death threats from Antifa because you are a left-wing government stooge. But there is plenty of evidence of Antifa threatening and actually attempting to murder or committing actual murder. So your claims whataboutism is entirely reflected.

                      I did not vote for Trump, I did not vote for Biden, don't blame me. I am a child of one of the poorer countries in the EU you idiot.

    • by gtall ( 79522 )

      It wasn't just the congress guys who performed that little two-step. The former alleged president's administration would "leak" information and then that doofus would get up in front of camera and say, "well, many people are saying X", when X was what they leaked precisely so that doofus could get up and say that.

    • It's also the circlejerk that Trump and Newsmax partook in regularly. Where Trump would said some stupid lie, then Newsmax would cite Trump's lie as evidence of something, then Trump would cite Newsmax to reinforce that lie.
    • by Wuhao ( 471511 )

      Just this past week, Apple patched a zero-click exploit in iMessage, which was discovered because it was actively being exploited by NSO Group.

      https://www.bleepingcomputer.c... [bleepingcomputer.com]

      • Just this past week, Apple patched a zero-click exploit in iMessage, which was discovered because it was actively being exploited by NSO Group.

        Exploits happen. That one could even have happened on purpose, while we're wildly speculating. But that still doesn't speak to the relative security of Apple devices vs. Huawei or whoever, and pretending it does is a lot of nationalistic bullshit.

    • Yes, except the comparison of media control really doesn't go with Cruz and Gowdy and McCarty. I'm older than three, so I clearly remember "That laptop is fake".
      if you're going to make comparisons , at least make them apples to apples.
    • Authoritarianism does the same things everywhere.

      Just try using the wrong pronouns in America. Then you'll see Authoritarianism in action.

  • Translation (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Viol8 ( 599362 ) on Wednesday September 13, 2023 @09:15AM (#63844592) Homepage

    "They're much harder to hack and install malware on in order to spy on our citizens than Android so we want to discourage use of them. Then eventually they'll be banned altogether"

    • Re:Translation (Score:4, Insightful)

      by drinkypoo ( 153816 ) <drink@hyperlogos.org> on Wednesday September 13, 2023 @09:53AM (#63844716) Homepage Journal

      Apple has publicly demonstrated willingness to do whatever China wants. They modified the app store in the ways China wanted, and they also put all of their servers for Chinese users in China where they are subject to Chinese snooping. This makes business sense since Apple can't currently exist without China, but it still demonstrates their willingness to enable government spying. This is also not a surprise (even in the USA, Apple is a known part of PRISM) but equally should not be forgotten when speculating.

  • Better stop using Android OS, Windows OS, Linux distros, Chrome, Firefox, Safari, etc. They all get patched with lots of security important vulnerabilities just about every month. Just unplug it all is the safe bet.

  • by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Wednesday September 13, 2023 @01:50PM (#63845592)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • share with CCP. There's a law in China that ALL carriers must share all data with government.

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