MacRumors

Apple VP Craig Federighi has published an op-ed in The Washington Post in which he criticizes the idea of a government backdoor into the company's software and accuses the FBI of wanting to "turn back the clock to a less-secure time".

In the op-ed, published yesterday, Apple's Senior Vice President of Software Engineering writes that Apple must "work tirelessly" to stay one step ahead of criminal attackers who "seek to pry into personal information and even co-opt devices to commit broader assaults that endanger us all".

Federighi notes that in just the past 18 months, hackers have stolen millions of people's credit card information, social security numbers and fingerprint records from retail chains, banks and even the federal government. However, Federighi calls these digital defense breaches "the tip of the iceberg".

Your phone is more than a personal device. In today’s mobile, networked world, it’s part of the security perimeter that protects your family and co-workers. Our nation’s vital infrastructure — such as power grids and transportation hubs — becomes more vulnerable when individual devices get hacked. Criminals and terrorists who want to infiltrate systems and disrupt sensitive networks may start their attacks through access to just one person’s smartphone.

Federighi adds that the encryption technology built into Apple's iPhones doesn't just help keep customers' information secure, but also provides "a critical line of defense against criminals who seek to implant malware or spyware and to use the device of an unsuspecting person to gain access to a business, public utility or government agency." Therefore any attempt to hamper Apple's attempts to plug points of weakness in the company's software would be "a serious mistake".

That’s why it’s so disappointing that the FBI, Justice Department and others in law enforcement are pressing us to turn back the clock to a less-secure time and less-secure technologies. They have suggested that the safeguards of iOS 7 were good enough and that we should simply go back to the security standards of 2013. But the security of iOS 7, while cutting-edge at the time, has since been breached by hackers. What’s worse, some of their methods have been productized and are now available for sale to attackers who are less skilled but often more malicious.

To get around Apple’s safeguards, the FBI wants us to create a backdoor in the form of special software that bypasses passcode protections, intentionally creating a vulnerability that would let the government force its way into an iPhone. Once created, this software — which law enforcement has conceded it wants to apply to many iPhones — would become a weakness that hackers and criminals could use to wreak havoc on the privacy and personal safety of us all.

Last month, FBI director James Comey penned an editorial in which he rejected Apple CEO Tim Cook's assertion that the agency was trying to set a precedent in its attempts to compel the company to create a backdoor into its software, calling the particular legal issue "actually quite narrow".

However, in a U.S. congressional hearing just last week, Comey admitted under oath that the outcome of the dispute would likely "guide how other courts handle similar requests". Additionally, in the same hearing, New York District Attorney Cyrus Vance said New York now has more than a hundred devices it would like to see unlocked, further confirming Apple's point that the argument isn't about just one iPhone.

Apple has officially opposed an order that would require it to help the FBI break into the iPhone used by San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook and will now face off against the government in court on March 22.

Dozens of technology companies, industry trade groups, and encryption experts have submitted documents to support Apple, all catalogued on Apple's website. Five families of San Bernardino victims have filed in support of the FBI.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

This weekend, a notice appeared on Transmissionbt.com warning users that version 2.90 of the popular Mac BitTorrent client downloaded from their site may have been infected with malware. The warning reads:

Everyone running 2.90 on OS X should immediately upgrade to 2.91 or delete their copy of 2.90, as they may have downloaded a malware-infected file.

Using “Activity Monitor” preinstalled in OS X, check whether any process named “kernel_service” is running. If so, double check the process, choose the “Open Files and Ports” and check whether there is a file name like “/Users//Library/kernel_service”. If so, the process is KeRanger’s main process. We suggest terminating it with “Quit -> Force Quit”

Reuters reports that the infected download contained the first "Ransomware" found on the Mac platform. Ransomware is a type of malware that encrypts a user's hard drive and demands payment in order to unencrypt it. This type of attack has been increasingly popular on the PC, but this is the first time it has been seen on the Mac.

According to Reuters, Apple is aware of the issue and has already revoked "a digital certificate from a legitimate Apple developer that enabled the rogue software to install on Macs."

The malware in question is said to delay encrypting the user's hard drive for 3 days, so we may see the first reports of those affected as early as Monday. Transmissionbt.com offers instructions on how to see you are affected (above). If you don't use the Transmission software, there is nothing you need to do at this time.

Update: Technical details about the malware.

Update 2: Transmissionbt.com says version 2.92 of Transmission will actively remove the malware.

Apple's new support account on Twitter has quickly gained momentum after launching on Thursday morning, surpassing 125,000 followers in just over 24 hours. The account has over 2,750 tweets as of writing, meaning that Apple's support team has responded to nearly 100 customer tweets per hour so far.

Keyhole, a real-time social media analytics website, provides a closer look at the Apple Support account. The data shows that the account, and related tweets, have already generated over 124 million impressions, with 44.6% of users viewing the tweets from an iPhone. 77% of the account's followers are male.

Apple joins a growing number of companies, ranging from retailers to banks, that provide customer service on Twitter in 140 characters or less. A customer can send a tweet to @AppleSupport, and an Apple Advisor will typically reply with a generic message that requests the user send more details via Direct Message.

The account will respond to customer inquiries every day between 5 a.m. and 8 p.m. Pacific, and it will also share tips, tricks, and tutorials related to Apple products and services. Apple support continues to be available on the web, or by phone, email, or scheduling a Genius Bar appointment.

CLSA Securities analyst Srini Pajjuri has corroborated multiple reports claiming that Intel will supply LTE modems for the iPhone 7, according to a research note obtained by NDTV.

Pajjuri said that Intel has secured a "significant portion" of the LTE chips, likely in the range of 30 to 40 percent of production. Qualcomm will likely be tasked with the remaining orders.

While Apple is looking to cut some reliance on Qualcomm, the company doesn't plan to completely turn away from the chipmaker. On the contrary, the analyst believes that the company will "share shift back" to Qualcomm in 2017.

Intel reportedly has 1,000 or more employees working on preparing the Intel 7360 LTE modem for the iPhone 7 lineup. The 7360 LTE modem chip [PDF] from Intel features faster theoretical downlink speeds up to 450 Mbps, uplink speeds up to 100 Mbps, and support for LTE category 10 and 29 LTE bands overall.

In layman's terms, that means the iPhone 7 could have even faster LTE speeds for browsing the web, downloading apps, streaming video, and other data-related tasks. Apple already improved LTE speeds on the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus by adopting LTE-Advanced, which pushed downlink speeds up to a theoretical max of 300 Mbps.

Apple currently sources all of its LTE modems for iPhones from Qualcomm, including the MDM9635 chipset in the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, which offers theoretical downlink speeds up to 300 Mbps and uplink speeds up to 50 Mbps. Qualcomm has been Apple's exclusive supplier of LTE modems for over three years.

In the future, Apple may create a system-on-a-chip that includes both an A-series processor and an LTE modem chip for improved speed and power management. Apple could license LTE modem intellectual property from Intel to achieve that goal, and the chip maker could also be tasked with fabricating the chipset based on its advanced 14-nanometer process.

Apple has decided it won't bid on the digital rights to stream the NFL's "Thursday Night Football" package next season, according to Re/code.

The streaming rights to the NFL's Thursday evening games could have helped set the Apple TV apart from competing streaming boxes, but Apple reportedly felt the package "isn't enough to pull that off."

Amazon, Facebook, Verizon, and Yahoo remain candidates in the bidding war to stream the Thursday evening games online, the report claims.

Yahoo could be a frontrunner to secure the digital rights, after paying an estimated $15 million to exclusively live stream a 2015 regular season game between the Buffalo Bills and Jacksonville Jaguars at London's Wembley Stadium.

The NFL currently offers a live streaming service called Game Pass, but the app does not include "Thursday Night Football," and its selection of games is limited compared to rival platforms MLB At Bat, NBA League Pass, and NHL GameCenter.

In February, the NFL announced that "Thursday Night Football" will air on CBS, NBC, and NFL Network in 2016 and 2017. CBS and NFL Network will televise the first half of the schedule, with NBC and NFL Network televising the second half.

The iPhone at the center of the ongoing encryption dispute between Apple and the FBI may contain a "dormant cyber pathogen", according to the San Bernardino county District Attorney.

The curious claim appears in an amicus brief filed by Michael Ramos with a California court on Thursday. In the document, Ramos speculates that the iPhone used by terror suspect Syed Rizwan Farook "may contain evidence that can only be found on the seized phone that it was used as a weapon to introduce a lying dormant cyber pathogen that endangers San Bernardino's infrastructure."

The apparent threat is cited as a violation of California Penal Code Section §502, covering protections against tampering, interference, damage and unauthorized access to computer systems. The reference suggests Ramos believes that some sort of malware may be contained on the iPhone, but offers no justification for the claim, nor the odd nature of its wording.

"It sounds like he's making up these terms as he goes," said iPhone forensics expert Jonathan Zdziarski, speaking to Ars Technica about the filing. "We've never used these terms in computer science." Zdziarski believes that the amicus is simply designed to mislead the courts and manipulate a decision in the FBI's favor. "It offers no evidence whatsoever that the device has, or even might have, malware on it. It offers no evidence that their network was ever compromised."

The claim in the court filing is the first time that a law enforcement agency has alluded to what may be contained on the iPhone at the center of the federal investigation. It also runs counter to the FBI's main dispute with Apple that it requires assistance from the company precisely in order to ascertain its content.

Separately, a number of amicus briefs were filed on Thursday in support of Apple's stance in the dispute. The full list of submitted documents have been catalogued on Apple's website. Additionally, five families of San Bernardino victims have filed in support of the FBI.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Sixteen technology companies today teamed up to officially support Apple in its ongoing encryption dispute with the FBI, a copy of which has been shared by Apple. Twitter, Airbnb, eBay, LinkedIn, Square, Atlassian, Automattic, Cloudflare, GitHub, Kickstarter, Mapbox, Meetup, Reddit, Squarespace, Twilio, and Wickr filed an amicus brief [PDF] backing Apple's assertion that the FBI's use of the All Writs Act to force Apple to help the government unlock the iPhone used by San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook is both unprecedented and dangerous.

The government's demand here, at its core, is unbound by any legal limits. It would set a dangerous precedent, in which the government could sidestep established legal procedures authorized by thorough, nuanced statutes to obtain users' data in ways not contemplated by lawmakers."

The filing, which urges the court to vacate the government's motion to compel Apple to unlock the phone, argues that handling user data in a "safe, secure, and transparent manner" that protects privacy is of the "utmost importance" to protect consumers from hackers and other wrongdoers, while also recognizing the government's "important work" in law enforcement and national security. It says the companies oppose forced backdoors, but will continue to comply with "proper and reasonable" requests for data.

Dozens of technology companies, industry trade groups, and encryption experts have been submitting documents to support Apple, all catalogued on Apple's website. AT&T, Intel, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation filed separate amicus briefs this morning, as did the Consumer Technology Association in partnership with the Business Software Alliance [PDF], a group that includes Microsoft, Salesforce, Oracle, IBM, and Autodesk.

Other amicus briefs have come from Access Now and the Wickr Foundation, ACT/The App Association, the American Civil Liberties Union, and a group of cryptography experts including Jonathan Zdziarski.

More amicus briefs are expected to be filed throughout the day, including one from a consortium that includes Google, Nest Labs, Facebook, WhatsApp, Evernote, Snapchat, and Mozilla.

All "Friend of the court" or amicus briefs supporting Apple are due by Thursday evening to give Sheri Pym, the judge presiding over the case, time to read through them before a court hearing. Apple is set to face off against the FBI in court on Tuesday, March 22.

Update: As expected, another consortium of technology companies that includes Google, Amazon, Box, Cisco, Dropbox, Evernote, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Mozilla, Nest, Pinterest, Slack, Snapchat, Whatsapp, and Yahoo has submitted an amicus brief in support of Apple.

Additional amicus briefs have been filed by the Center for Democracy & Technology, The Media Institute, Privacy International and Human Rights Watch, a group of 32 law professors, and a consortium including AVG Technologies, Data Foundry, Golden Frog, the Computer & Communications Industry Association, the Internet Association, and the Internet Infrastructure Coalition.

Five families of San Bernardino victims have filed in support of the FBI.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

During a recent Xbox press event, ShackNews had an opportunity to speak with Oculus VR founder Palmer Luckey and asked him whether the company plans to implement Mac support for the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset.

In response to the question, Luckey said Oculus Rift support for the Mac was "up to Apple," and that the company needed to "prioritize higher-end GPUs." If Apple builds a machine that can handle the hardware, Oculus VR would "love to support Mac."

That is up to Apple and if they ever release a good computer we will do it. It just boils down to the fact that Apple doesn't prioritize high-end GPUs. You can a buy $6,000 Mac Pro with the top of the line AMD FirePro D700s and it still doesn't match our recommended spec. If they prioritize higher-end GPUs like they used to for awhile back in the day I think we'd love to support Mac.

Right now there's just not a single machine out there that supports it so even if we can support it on the software side there's just no audience of people that can run the vast majority of software out there.

The Oculus Rift, which is available for pre-order, will begin shipping out later this month to PC users. While Mac support was planned early on, work on a Mac version was halted once it became clear Mac machines would not have the graphics capabilities to power the headset.

As Luckey mentions, the Oculus Rift requires a computer with a powerful GPU. Oculus VR's recommended specs for the Rift include an NVIDIA GTX 970, AMD 290, or equivalent, because the Oculus Rift needs to render approximately 400 million shaded pixels per second. Mac machines, even the high-end ones, don't have the graphics power to handle that kind of system load.

On the raw rendering costs: a traditional 1080p game at 60Hz requires 124 million shaded pixels per second. In contrast, the Rift runs at 2160x1200 at 90Hz split over dual displays, consuming 233 million pixels per second. At the default eye-target scale, the Rift's rendering requirements go much higher: around 400 million shaded pixels per second. This means that by raw rendering costs alone, a VR game will require approximately 3x the GPU power of 1080p rendering.

With interest in virtual reality devices like the Oculus Rift picking up, Apple will need to focus more heavily on the graphics capabilities with Macs if it hopes to keep up with PC makers and avoid disappointing customers who want to use the latest technology and gaming peripherals. Rumors suggest Apple is even developing its own virtual reality headset, so there's a good chance the company is already well aware of the need for improved GPUs and working towards improvements.

Construction on Apple's second campus in Cupertino, California continues to progress as its completion date looms, and this month, further work has been done on the main ring-shaped building that spans 2.8 million square feet. Structural framing is nearing completion, and construction workers are preparing the solar panels that will be installed on the roof. More glass window panels have gone up, along with window canopies in some spots.

The large, curved sheets of glass that surround the building are designed to let employees look out over the campus, which will be covered in greenery. Apple is planning to include 80 percent green space on the campus, with a central garden, orchards, and several outdoor dining areas.

Apple CEO Tim Cook recently said the large mound of dirt in the center of the campus will not be removed, instead going towards landscaping that will support more than 7,000 trees. "Hard to know which is more beautiful, the building or that pile of dirt," he said.

The roof of the underground auditorium, where Apple will host events, is now in place, and work on a 100,000 square foot fitness center is underway. Solar panels are being added to the second of two parking garages, which will provide parking for more than 10,000 employees. Underground tunnels are in place for access to underground parking and other campus areas.

Construction on the campus is scheduled to be completed at the end of 2016, and Cook believes Apple will begin occupying the building at the beginning of 2017.

Last week, we saw some conflicting designs for what the upcoming 4-inch iPhone 5se or SE might look like, based on information obtained from case manufacturers. With less than three weeks to go before the device's introduction, we're now seeing the first actual "iPhone SE" cases surface online, although it's clear these companies have yet to nail down just what the phone will look like.

As revealed in images obtained by MacRumors, distributors offering "iPhone 5se" cases for bulk purchase are carrying cases of both rumored designs, which include one very similar to the iPhone 5 or 5s design with the power button on the top and another more like the iPhone 6 design with rounded edges and the power button on the side.

Early case leaks have historically been fairly accurate indicators of new iPhone designs, though there have been a few notable exceptions. With two distinct case designs still floating around this close to the iPhone SE's launch, it's clear there is still confusion over just what Apple intends to release.

Yesterday, we published our own take on one way to reconcile the conflicting rumors, combining a curved-edge front glass panel that has been a consistent feature of iPhone 5se/SE rumors with a metal chassis that has a bit of the iPhone 5s design aesthetic including glass antenna windows at the top and bottom of the device's back.