Apple, Now Number One, But Maybe Not in Mobile Security?
January 26, 2024
This essay is the work of a dumb dinobaby. No smart software required.
MIT Professor Stuart E. Madnick allegedly discovered that iPhone data breaches tripled between 2013-2022. Venture Beat explains more in the article “Why Attackers Love To Target Misconfigured Clouds And Phones.”
Hackers use every method to benefit from misconfiguration, but ransomware is their favorite technique. Madnick discovered a near 50% increase in ransomware attacks in organizations in the first six months of 2023 compared to 2022. After finding the breach, hackers then attack organizations’ mobile phone fleets. They freeze all communications until the ransom is paid.
Bad actors want to find the easiest ways into clouds. Unfortunately organizations are unaware that attacks happen when they don’t monitor their networks:
Merritt Baer, Field CISO at Lacework, says that bad actors look first for an easy front door to access misconfigured clouds, the identities and access to entire fleets of mobile devices. “Novel exploits (zero-days) or even new uses of existing exploits are expensive to research and discover. Why burn an expensive zero-day when you don’t need to? Most bad actors can find a way in through the “front door”– that is, using legitimate credentials (in unauthorized ways).”
Baer added, ‘This avenue works because most permissions are overprovisioned (they aren’t pruned down/least privileged as much as they could be), and because with legitimate credentials, it’s hard to tell which calls are authorized/ done by a real user versus malicious/ done by a bad actor.’”
Almost 99% of cloud security breaches are due to incorrectly set manual controls. Also nearly 50% of organizations unintentionally exposed storage, APIs, network scents, and applications. These breaches cost an average of $4 million to solve.
Organizations need to rely on more than encryption to protect their infrastructures. Most attacks occur because bad actors use authenticate credentials. Unified endpoint management, passwordless multi-factor authentication, and mobile device management housed on a single platform is the best defense.
How about these possibly true revelations about Apple?
Whitney Grace, January 26, 2024
The NSO Group Back in the News: Is That a Good Thing?
January 24, 2024
This essay is the work of a dumb dinobaby. No smart software required.
Some outfits struggle to get PR, not the NSO Group. The situation is no “dream.” I spotted this write up in 9 to 5 Mac: “Apple Wins Early Battle against NSO after Suing Spyware Mercenaries for Attacking iPhone Users.” For me, the main point of the article is:
Judge Donato ruled that NSO Group’s request for dismissal in the US in favor of a trial in Israel didn’t meet the bar. Instead, Judge Donato suggested that Apple would face the same challenges in Israel that NSO faces in the US.
A senior manager who is an attorney skilled in government processes looks at the desk in his new office. Wow, that looks untidy. Thanks, MSFT Copilot Bing thing. How’s that email security issue coming along? Ah, good enough, you say?
I think this means that the legal spat will be fought in the US of A. Here’s the sentence quoted by 9 to 5 Mac which allegedly appeared in a court document:
NSO has not demonstrated otherwise. NSO also overlooks the fact that the challenges will be amenable to a number of mitigating practices.
The write up includes this passage:
An Apple spokesperson tells 9to5Mac that the company will continue to protect users against 21st century mercenaries like the NSO Group. Litigation against the Pegasus spyware maker is part of a larger effort to protect users…
From my point of view, the techno feudal outfit has surfed on the PR magnetism of the NSO Group. Furthermore, the management team at NSO Group faces what seems to be a bit of a legal hassle. Some may believe that the often ineffective Israeli cyber security technology which failed to signal, thwart, or disrupt the October 2023 dust up requires more intense scrutiny. NSO Group, therefore, is in the spotlight.
More interesting from my vantage point is the question, “How can NSO Group’s lawyering-savvy senior management not demonstrate its case in such a way to, in effect, kill some of the PR magnetism. Take it from me. This is not a “dream” assignment for NSO Group’s legal eagles. I would also be remiss if I did not mention that Apple has quite a bit of spare cash with which to feather the nest of legal eagles. Apple wants to be perceived as the user’s privacy advocate and BFF. When it comes to spending money and rounding up those who love their Apple devices, the estimable Cupertino outfit may be a bit of a challenge, even to attorneys with NSA and DHS experience.
As someone said about publicity, any publicity is good publicity. I am not sure the categorical affirmative is shared by everyone involved with NSO Group. And where is Hulio? He’s down by the school yard. He doesn’t know where he’s going, but Hulio is going the other way. (A tip of the hat to Paul Simon and his 1972 hit.)
Stephen E Arnold, January 24, 2024
An Astounding Finding! Who Knew This about Mobile Phone Usage by Kids?
January 22, 2024
This essay is the work of a dumb dinobaby. No smart software required.
Let me answer the question, please. Every parent with a clue.
Why is anyone surprised that yet another round of research demonstrates that too much screen time is bad for kids? ABC News shares the not-so-resounding discovery in: “Screen Time For Kids Under 2 Linked To Sensory Differences In Toddlerhood: Study.” Kids under the age of two exhibit sensory differences when they are exposed to a lot of screen time.
JAMA Pediatrics published a study from Drexel University that analyzed 1500 surveys from parents and caregivers. The surveys asked about kids’ sensory preferences, including questions about preference or avoidance to textures, noises, and lights. The survey only focused on television and not mobile devices because the data was gathered before 2014. The survey results showed that kids who watched TV at 12 months were twice as a likely to develop “atypical sensory processing” by the time they were 3 years old. The more kids were exposed to the boob tube after 1.5 years had a 20% greater chance of having sensory processing differences.
Drexel University’s study augments previous research that found more screen time impacted how kids communicated and felt. Screen time exposure in young kids is linked to developmental delays in problem-solving, critical thinking, and other communication. Sensory processing disordered are linked to other mental aliments, such as autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and obsessive compulsive disorder. The study didn’t examine if the kids were diagnosed with these issues.
Johns Hopkins pediatrician and neonatal hospitalist Dr. Jade Cobern encourages parents and caregivers to be mindful of screen time. She notes it is impossible to avoid screens in modern society:
“Cobern also recommends tailoring approaches to the specific family and patient, and collaboratively brainstorming accessible ways to decrease non-interactive screen time and increase healthy developmental activities, such as reading, playing with objects, and socializing with other children, even if those activities might entail screens. “ ‘Everyone has to be realistic when we’re talking about how parents can support their children’s development,’ Cobern said, adding of research like the Drexel study, ‘It’s not to shame screentime exposure because the reality is we live in a world where screens are part of our daily lives.’
She continued,
‘It really is inevitable that most kids will see some screen time even early in life, but it is something I encourage families to be mindful of.’”
Why not pick up a picture book and read to the kid? Or play a game with the kid? Or take the kid outside? Or play an interactive screen game with the kid? It’s hard to find the time but other generations did it.
Whitney Grace, January 22, 2024
No Digital Map and Doomed to Wander Clueless
January 4, 2024
This essay is the work of a dumb dinobaby. No smart software required.
I am not sure if my memory is correct. I believe that some people have found themselves in a pickle when the world’s largest online advertising outfit produces “free” maps. The idea is that cost cutting, indifferent Googlers, and high school science club management methods cause a “free” map to provide information which may not match reality. I do recall on the way to the home of the fellow responsible for WordStar (a word processing program), an online search system, and other gems from the early days of personal computers. Google Maps suggested I drive off the highway, a cliff, and into the San Francisco Bay. I did not follow the directions from the “do no evil” outfit. I drove down the road, spotted a human, and asked for directions. But some people do not follow my method.
No digital maps. No clue. Thanks, MSFT Copilot Bing thing.
“Quairading Shire Erects Signs Telling Travelers to Ignore GPS Maps Including Google” includes a great photo of what appears to be a large sign. The sign says:
Your GPS Is Wrong. This is Not the Best Route to Perth. Turn Around and Travel via the Quairading-York Road.
That’s clear and good advice. As I recall, I learned on one of my visits to Australia that most insects, reptiles, mammals, and fish can kill. Even the red kangaroo can become a problem, which is — I assume — that some in Australia gun them down. Stay on the highway and in your car. That’s my learning from my first visit.
The write up says:
The issue has frustrated the Quairading shire for the past eight years.
Hey, the Google folks are busy. There are law suits, the Red Alert thing, and the need to find a team which is going nowhere fast like the dual Alphabet online map services, Maps and Waze.
Net net: Buy a printed book of road maps and ask for directions. The problem is that those under the age of 25 may not be able to read or do what’s called orienteering. The French Foreign Legion runs a thorough program, and it is available for those who have not committed murder, can pass a physical test, and enjoy meeting people from other countries. Oh, legionnaires do not need a mobile phone to find their way to a target or the local pizza joint.
Stephen E Arnold, January 2024
Is Your Phone Secure? Think Before Answering, Please
November 21, 2023
This essay is the work of a dumb dinobaby. No smart software required.
I am not going to offer my observations and comments. The article, its information, and the list of companies from The Times of India’s “11 Dangerous Spywares Used Globally: Pegasus, Hermit, FinFisher and More” speaks for itself. The main point of the write up is that mobile phone security should be considered in the harsh light of digital reality. The write up provides a list of outfits and components which can be used to listen to conversations, intercept text and online activity, as well as exfiltrate geolocation data, contact lists, logfiles, and imagery. Some will say, “This type of software should be outlawed.” I have no comment.
Are there bugs waiting to compromise your mobile device? Yep. Thanks, MSFT Copilot. You have a knack for capturing the type of bugs with which many are familiar.
Here’s the list. I have alphabetized by the name of the malware and provided a possible entity name for the owner:
- Candid. Maybe a Verint product? (Believed to be another product developed by former Israeli cyber warfare professionals)
- Chrysaor. (Some believe it was created by NSO Group or NSO Group former employees)
- Dark Tequila. (Requires access to the targeted device or for the user to perform an action. More advanced methods require no access to the device nor for the user to click)
- FinFisher. Gamma Group (The code is “in the wild” and the the German unit may be on vacation or working under a different name in the UK)
- Hawkeye, Predator, or Predator Pain (Organization owning the software is not known to this dinobaby)
- Hermit. RCS Lab (Does RCS mean “remote control service”?)
- Pegasus. NSO Group Pegasus (now with a new president who worked at NSA and Homeland Security)
- RATs (Remote Access Trojans) This is a general class of malware. Many variants.
- Sofacy. APT28 (allegedly)
- XKeyscore (allegedly developed by a US government agency)
Is the list complete? No.
Stephen E Arnold, November 21, 2023
Telegram: A Super App with Features Al Capone Might Have Liked
November 1, 2023
When I mention in my law enforcement lectures that Telegram, a frisky encrypted super app for thumb typers, is “off the radar” for some analysts, I get more than a few blank looks. Consider this: The “special conflict” or whatever some in the Land of Tolstoy call it, pivots on Telegram. And why not? It allows encrypted messages, both public and private. A safety conscious user can include an image or a video snippet and post it to the Musky service with a couple of taps. Those under attack can disseminate location data to a mailing list of Telegram contacts. The app makes it possible to pay for “stuff,” often that stuff is CSAM or information about where to pick up an order containing contraband.
The soldier with the mobile phone says, “Hey, this hot content video content is great on Telegram.” The other soldier says, “Jump to the Spies-R-Us service. I will give you the coordinates for the drone assault. Also, order some noodle latkes to Checkpoint Grhriba at 1800 hours.” Thanks, MidJourney. WW2 cartoonists would be proud of you.
Pivot to the Israel Hamas war. Yep, Telegram is in use. Civilians, war fighters, even those in prison with mobile devices are Telegramming away. The Russian brothers who created the original app may not have anticipated its utility in war zones.
My research team has noted that some Clear Web sites discuss slippery subjects like carding. Then the “buy now” or similar action points to a Telegram “location.” What about the Dark Web? Telegram makes it possible to do “Dark Web things” without the risk and hassle of operating a Dark Web site or service. Pretty innovative, right? And what about that Dark Web traffic? Our analysis suggests that one will find Dark Web bots, law enforcement from numerous countries, and a modest number of human bad actors who cannot or have not embraced Telegram.
Now the super app is getting some enhancements, if the information in Gadgets360 article is accurate. “Telegram Update Brings Advanced Reply Options, Link Preview Customizations, Account Colors, More.” Enhancements include:
Replying to a message from one chat to another. Will this be useful for certain extremist users doing fund raising or recruiting?
- Customize shared links. Will this be useful to CSAM purveyors?
- Fast forward and rewind videos in Telegram messages. Winner for some video content vendors.
- Telegram also has a special feature. Some Telegram users pay for these services. Yep, money. Subscription money.
And the encryption thing? Reasonably good. Possibly less open than the UK Covid information allegedly from WhatsApp.
Stephen E Arnold, November 1, 2023
Those Mobile Phones Are Something, Are They Not?
May 23, 2023
Note: This essay is the work of a real and still-alive dinobaby. No smart software involved, just a dumb humanoid.
Apple, Google, Samsung, and a covey of Chinese mobile phone innovators have improved modern life. Imagine. People have a phone. No sharing one telephone in a fraternity house, a cheap flat, or at an airport, just call, text, vlog, or swipe.
Are their downsides? For a quarter century the American Psychological Association was not sure. Now an outfit called Sapien Labs provides additional information about mobile phone usage.
For me, there were several highlights in the article “Kids Who Get Smartphones Earlier Become Adults With Worse Mental Health.”
First, the idea that young people who tap, swipe, and suck down digital information are unlikely to emulate Jonathan Edwards, Mother Teresa, or the ambiguous St. Thomas of Aquinas. The article states:
the younger the age of getting the first smartphone, the worse the mental health that the young adult reports today.
Obvious to some, but a scientific study adds more credence to the parent who says no to a child’s demand for a mobile phone or tablet.
Second, women (females) are more affected by the mobile phone. The study points out six categories of impact. Please, consult the article and the full study for the academic details. Again. No big surprise, but I wouldn’t ignore the fact that in some male cohorts, suicides are increasing. Regardless of gender, mobile phones appear to nudge some into wackiness or the ultimate solution to having friends make fun of one’s sneakers.
Third, I was surprised to learn that some young people get phones when they are five years old. I have seen very young children poking at an iPad in a restaurant or playing games on the parental unit’s mobile phones in an airport. I did not know the child had a phone to call his own. Good marketing by Apple, Google, Samsung, and Chinese outfits!
The study identifies a number of implications. Again, I am okay with those identified, but the cyber crime crowd was not discussed. My own perception is that mobile devices are the catalyst for a wide range of cyber crime. Once again, the unintended consequences of a mobile device have the capacity to enable some societal modifications that may be impossible to remediate.
Again: Nice work!
Stephen E Arnold, May 23, 2023
Divorcing the Google: Legal Eagles Experience a Frisson of Anticipation
April 24, 2023
No smart software has been used to create this dinobaby’s blog post.
I have poked around looking for a version or copy of the contract Samsung signed with Google for the firms’ mobile phone tie up. Based on what I have heard at conferences and read on the Internet (of course, I believe everything I read on the Internet, don’t you?), it appears that there are several major deals.
The first is the use of and access to the mindlessly fragmented Android mobile phone software. Samsung can do some innovating, but the Google is into providing “great experiences.” Why would a mobile phone maker like Samsung allow a user to manage contacts and block mobile calls without implementing a modern day hunt for gold near Placer.
The second is the “suggestion” — mind you, the suggestion is nothing more than a gentle nudge — to keep that largely-malware-free Google Play Store front and center.
The third is the default search engine. Buy a Samsung get Google Search.
Now you know why the legal eagles a shivering when they think of litigation to redo the Google – Samsun deal. For those who think the misinformation zipping around about Microsoft Bing displacing Google Search, my thought would be to ask yourself, “Who gains by pumping out this type of disinformation?” One answer is big Chinese mobile phone manufacturers. This is Art of War stuff, and I won’t dwell on this. What about Microsoft? Maybe but I like to think happy thoughts about Microsoft. I say, “No one at Microsoft would engage in disinformation intended to make life difficult for the online advertising king. Another possibility is Silicon Valley type journalists who pick up rumors, amplify them, and then comment that Samsung is kicking the tires of Bing with ChatGPT. Suddenly a “real” news outfit emits the Samsung rumor. Exciting for the legal eagles.
The write up “Samsung Can’t Dump Google for Bing As the Default Search Engine on Its Phones” does a good job of explaining the contours of a Google – Samsung tie up.
Several observations:
First, the alleged Samsung search replacement provides a glimpse of how certain information can move from whispers at conferences to headlines.
Second, I would not bet against lawyers. With enough money, contracts can be nullified, transformed, or left alone. The only option which disappoints attorneys is the one that lets sleeping dogs lie.
Third, the growing upswell of anti-Google sentiment is noticeable. That may be a far larger problem for Googzilla than rumors about Samsung. Perceptions can be quite real, and they translate into impacts. I am tempted to quote William James, but I won’t.
Net net: If Samsung wants to swizzle a deal with an entity other than the Google, the lawyers may vibrate with such frequency that a feather or two may fall off.
Stephen E Arnold, April 24, 2023
Social Unhappiness, Disruption, and the Crime Explosions
March 9, 2023
Note: No smart software on earth writes like a dinobaby channeling his inner Jonathan Swift.
The mobile phones are responsible for: [a] fights on Carnival Cruise ships, [b] teens killing themselves, [c] stupid committee decisions that make the camel analogy comparatively harmless, and [d] an efflorescence of cyber crime.
How do I know this?
I read an essay called “Honestly, It’s Probably the Phones.” I admit I took the main argument of the essay and extended it. That argument proved stretchy, and I think the write up is on to something.
I noted this passage:
The first reason smartphones should be our prior is that the timing just lines up really well. The smartphone was invented in 2007, but it didn’t really become commonplace until the 2010s, exactly when teen happiness fell off a cliff…. First, they’re a distraction — the rise of smartphones was also the rise of “phubbing”, i.e. when people go on their phones instead of paying attention to the people around them. Second, phones provide a behavioral “nudge”, like a pantry stocked with junk food — when your phone is right there in your pocket, it’s easier to just text a friend instead of going and hanging out, even if the latter would be less fulfilling. And third, in-person interaction is a network effect. If 20% of people would rather be on their phones, that reduces everyone else’s options for in-person hangouts by 20%.
Okay, I am sold.
I want to shift gears and switch to a write up which purports to present facts. For the purposes of this blog post, I want to assume that the information in The US Sun (an estimable news source) article “Google Issues Six Major Alerts to Billions – You Face Bank Wipeout If You Ignore Them” is correct.
The article identifies a lottery scam, a tech support scam, fake jobs and invoices scams, Google account recovery scams, gift card scams, and blackmail and extortion scams. The idea seems to be that Google has created a massive ecosystem of crime. With most Google interactions taking place on mobile phones, it seems as if Google and its fellow traveler Apple are making clear that more than teen self-harm is a consequence of these gizmos.
Now what’s the fix? Perhaps a variation of “first, let’s kill all the lawyers” is a step too far. What about a driver’s license approach? No mobile and no phone until one reaches a certain age? What about a variation of the ever popular Chinese social credit system? Trouble in high school? No mobile for you.
I prefer that parents and guardians play a major role. I think smart software might be worth considering as a method for filtering to certain demographics some content. Why not ask the Dilbert cartoonist for some ideas.
I would suggest that the confluence of mobile phones and outfits like Google may have been like a lab experiment gone wrong. A clueless high school student (not in the science club, of course) mixes two apparently harmless household substances and makes the entire class sick. How does that get fixed? The answer, “Not easily.”
Stephen E Arnold, March 9, 2023
Apple Think: Characteristics of Working in a Ring with Echoes
December 30, 2022
Have you been reminded to think in 360 degrees. The idea, as I recall, is to look at a problem, opportunity, or action from different angles. Instead of screwing up because a decider verifies a preconceived idea, the 360 method is supposed to avoid overlooking the obvious.
What about those Apple AirTags? Was 360 degree think in operation when the idea of finding a lost phone was hatched? In my opinion, an Apple AirTag is useful for many good news use cases. iPhone users will want several, maybe six, maybe a dozen. Just clip one on a key ring, and in theory one can locate those keys. Find your luggage. Keep an eye on the cat. The trick is to sign up for the assorted Apple services which make the AirTag function.
Many Apple employees work in a circular structure which looks like a hula hoop. Could the building be a concretization of the metaphor for 360 degree thinking? If so, I cannot understand why the AirTag application for stalking was not identified as a use case? What about tracking an expensive auto so a car thief can drive off after the owner leaves the vehicle at the mall? Could an assassin use the AirTag to verify the target was at a location without having to use other means to achieve the kind of future Mr. Putin envisions for Mr. Volodymyr Zelenskyy?
Did the Apple professionals doing 360 degree thinking in the circular building consider these applications of the AirTag? My hunch is that Apple does Ring Think. It makes money, but the unforeseen consequences appear to be mere downstream details.
What about iPhone’s ability to detect a user who is in a car crash. The idea is that an accident is detected by the iPhone. Authorities are notified. Help is dispatched. Perfect. Has something been overlooked by Ring Think via the 360 degree analysis.
You decide.
“Apple Watch and iPhone Crash Detection Software an Issue for Search and Rescue Crews” reports:
One of the new features on the iPhone and Apple Watch is crash detection. It is designed to detect car crashes and if needed, alert the local authorities.
Perfect. Car crash. Alert authorities. What did the Apple wizards overlook? Here’s a quote from the write up:
“It’s quite sophisticated,” Dwight Yochim, a senior manager with the B.C. Search and Rescue Association told Global News. “It [the crash detection in an iPhone] recognizes a sudden change in speed, sound of crunching metal and glass and even the airbag deploying. But for whatever reason, people in the backcountry and maybe it’s just our B.C. backcountry enthusiasts, they’re just hardcore, and the falling and the kind of crashing through the woods literally is setting it off.”
Apple allegedly has issued software to help address the accidental alert. These unintentional, accidental alerts have consequences. The write up reports that Mr. Yochim said:
“We do 2,000 calls a year now. And we did a report a couple of years ago that showed that we’re probably going to hit 3,000 in about 10 years. So the more of these false calls we have, the more time it takes away from our members,” Yochim said. “They’re putting in 400,000 hours now in training, administration and incidents. And so every one of these calls is four or five hours for a dozen people to respond. Then you find out there’s some puzzled subject at the end going, ‘I didn’t even realize I activated it’.”
I am not all that interested in AirTags and automatic alerts. The issue is that these are two specific examples of functionality that has a number of applications. Some good and some bad.
However, what less visible, more subtle examples of failed 360 analysis and Ring Think are in the Apple ecosystem? What if some of the flubs and ignored applications have far greater consequences. Instead of knowing a human trafficker will target an individual for abduction, the latent use case is invisible and will emerge without warning?
What’s the responsibility of a company which relies on Ring Think to minimize the impact of their innovations?
Here’s a thought for the New Year: There is no remediation. Society has to live with technical activities. Therefore, why should an Apple type of organization leave its spaceship shaped structure and worry about a kidnapped child?
Why bother? Or, it’s not our problem because we are only human. And, my fave, we’re not able to predict the future. But the big reason is look at the good our work does.
Yep, I got it.
Stephen E Arnold, December 30, 2022
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