On Wednesday, Apple unveiled Lockdown Mode, a new iPhone feature. It is designed for prominent users who could be targeted by state-sponsored hackers, such as politicians and activists.
By drastically decreasing the amount of functionalities that attackers may access and potentially compromise, Lockdown Mode disables numerous capabilities on the iPhone to make it less susceptible to malware.
On Wednesday, Apple unveiled Lockdown Mode, a new iPhone feature designed to defend prominent users against state-sponsored hackers. These users include politicians and activists.
By drastically decreasing the amount of functionalities that attackers may access and potentially compromise, Lockdown Mode disables numerous capabilities on the iPhone to make it less susceptible to malware.
It specifically disables several preview capabilities in iMessage, restricts JavaScript in Safari, hinders the installation of new configuration profiles, disables wired connections (thus limiting data copying), and shuts off incoming FaceTime and Apple services requests.
Researchers who discover a security hole in Lockdown Mode will receive up to $2 million from the tech giant.
The discovery comes months after it was made public that state-sponsored hackers could hack iPhones of current models using “zero-click” assaults that were disseminated via text messages. Even if the victim doesn’t click on a link, these assaults may still be successful.
Governments have been pressuring the iPhone manufacturer to resolve the problem more often. U.S. legislators questioned Apple in March about attack specifics, such as whether it could identify them, how many had been found, when and where they happened, and how many.
Most malware is created with the intention of forcing a victim to divulge sensitive information like a password or giving the attacker access to bank accounts, and the majority of hackers are driven by financial gain.
Lockdown Mode is targeting state-sponsored assaults, however these attacks are different: They use incredibly expensive tools that are supplied directly to law enforcement or sovereign governments, as well as previously unreported flaws, to penetrate the iPhone operating system. The attackers may then take over the device’s microphone and camera, as well as steal the user’s browsing and conversation logs.
Lockdown Mode is designed for the tiny percentage of users that require the highest level of protection because they believe they might be the target of a state-sponsored hacker. According to The Washington Post, corporate leaders, human rights advocates, and journalists have all been the targets of military-grade malware. A French minister and leaders of the Catalan separatist movement in Spain were reportedly targeted by spyware.
Ivan Krsti, Apple’s head of security engineering and architecture, said in a statement: “While the great majority of users will never be the victims of highly targeted cyberattacks, we will work hard to defend the tiny number of people who are.”
There are various varieties of mercenary spyware, but Pegasus, created by Israel’s NSO Group, is the most well-known form. Versions of this type of malware that target iPhones have recently been found and verified by researchers from the University of Toronto and Amnesty International.
NSO Group has previously claimed that governments utilise its technologies in a legal manner to combat terrorists and paedophiles.
Big tech firms, notably Apple, which positions its products as safer than those of rivals, despise NSO Group. Apple filed a lawsuit against NSO Group last year, alleging that it was malicious and had harmed Apple’s operations. Additionally, NSO Group is being sued by Facebook parent Meta for allegedly attempting to hack WhatsApp.
One of the toughest actions the U.S. government may take to target foreign corporations was the blacklisting of NSO Group by the U.S. Commerce Department in November.
According to Apple, none of the 1 billion iPhone users will ever be specifically targeted. The tools are valuable and are only used to target a tiny number of people, according to Apple, who claims that mercenary malware like Pegasus may cost hundreds of millions of dollars. When new malware is found, Apple fixes the flaws that it uses, rendering the original exploits useless and requiring tool providers like NSO Group to change how their products operate.
According to Apple, Lockdown Mode won’t be activated by default but may be done so with a simple touch from the iPhone’s settings. It will be accessible on Macs and iPads as well.
This week, an iOS beta will be made available for testing the new functionality before it is made generally available in the autumn.
