- The AirDrop data transfer service has lost its impenetrability
- A Chinese company with ties to the government can remotely block anyone
- Apple remains silent on the matter for now
Apple has long focused on the protection of user privacy and the security of their data within its products. It is not at all easy to break the security of an iPhone, and even such large organizations as, for example, the American NSA, do not know how to deal with it very well. Apple has always responded negatively to requests for data disclosure, thus earning considerable trust from a section of the public. AirDrop has long been considered a very secure way to transfer data. However, he has now lost his status.
AirDrop is no longer unbreakable
The Chinese government has announced that it has managed to crack Apple’s AirDrop to prevent “malicious people” from “transferring illegal images, videos, audio and other files.” The information was first reported by the agency Bloomberg. In practice, this information can be read as the fact that the Chinese government has another tool at its disposal to fight the opponents of its regime – it is hard to believe that the communist leaders would miss the opportunity to abuse this tool at will.
In an online post, China’s state-backed institution hailed the technological breakthrough as it can now identify people sending files via AirDrop in public places by their emails and phone numbers and block their devices. This discovery will further tighten the screws within Chinese society. Apple already restricted the use of AirDrop in China in November 2022 because anti-government activists were spreading political information during the unrest. Back then, the ability to send to everyone was limited to just 10 minutes.
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According to the government, it was able to obtain and analyze AirDrop records. Specifically, they found that fields related to the sender’s device name, email address, and mobile phone number are recorded as hashes, with some hidden. The technical team behind the discovery has created a tool that can convert encrypted text to plain text and quickly block the sender’s mobile phone number and email account. Apple itself has not commented on the matter, and it is not yet clear whether this security flaw can be fixed. Since China plays a significant role in the company’s supply chain, it is more likely to be “forgotten” in Cupertino, as well as Chinese censorship of apps, movies or books.
Author of the article
Dominik Vlasak
Editor, traveler, fan of technology, Star Wars and good coffee.
2024-01-09 16:59:00
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