WikiLeaks CIA documents are old and vulnerabilities have been fixed: Apple
Apple has dismissed the plausible hacking of its devices posed by freshly released documents by WikiLeaks Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) saying, they are "old" and were "fixed years ago."
Apple claimed the exploits outlined in the CIA’s documents were limited to iPhone 3G and Mac, and were patched back in 2009 and 2013, for the respective devices.
“We have preliminarily assessed the WikiLeaks disclosures from this morning. Based on our initial analysis, the alleged iPhone vulnerability affected iPhone 3G only and was fixed in 2009 when iPhone 3G was released. Additionally, our preliminarily assessment shows the alleged Mac vulnerabilities were previously fixed in all Macs launched after 2013,” Apple told TechCrunch.
“We have not negotiated with WikiLeaks for any information. We have given them instructions to submit any information they wish through our normal process under our standard terms. Thus far, we have not received any information from them that isn’t in the public domain. We are tireless defenders of our users’ security and privacy, but we do not condone theft or coordinate with those that threaten to harm our users,” Apple added.
The release follows an on going “Vault 7” leak, released on March 9 by WikiLeaks, that disclosed a tranche of 8,761 documents demonstrating how the US CIA uses hacking programs to break into apps, smartphones and other e-devices, including that of Apple and Samsung.
New documents from WikiLeaks point to a CIA developed tool called "Sonic Screwdriver" that can hijack an Apple computer's password-protected boot process from peripheral devices like adapters and USB drives.
Another iPhone exploit developed by CIA in 2008 called "NightSkies" has been featured in the documents. The documents provide a glimpse into the workings of the CIA which included urgently trying to adapt NightSkies to a certain Apple laptop.
The implication of “Vault 7” leaks are seen to be more for the technical firms than for the CIA.
As a result, major tech firms are looking at the allegations surfacing with the documents. While Apple had “patched” the vulnerabilities, and promised to “rapidly address any identified vulnerabilities,” Samsung and Microsoft has offered “looking into the matter.”
