“The national security implications of forced sideloading are front and center.” — Statement signed officials from CIA, NSA, Pentagon
From Brian Fung’s “Former top national security officials side with Apple in app store antitrust case” posted Thursday:
Former senior national security officials, including two ex-CIA directors and a past NSA director, are backing Apple (AAPL)’s app store practices as the iPhone maker fights a critical antitrust case.
The nearly two-dozen security experts and former US officials argued Thursday in a court filing that proposals to force open Apple’s mobile ecosystem — such as requirements that iPhones be able to install apps from outside the official app store — would harm user and national security.
The star-studded list of signatories includes Gen. Michael Hayden and John Brennan, the former CIA directors, along with Mike McConnell, the former director of national intelligence and NSA director. Others signing onto the friend-of-the-court submission include William Evanina, former director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center; the longtime national security expert Richard Clarke; and various others with past roles at the Pentagon, the White House and the Department of Homeland Security.
“Requiring Apple devices to accept third-party apps and app stores necessarily increases the risk of malware on iOS devices, which directly correlates to an increased risk to national security,” the former officials wrote.
My take: The three-letter agencies were singing a different tune in San Bernardino.
See the San Bernardino archives
They’re all retired today and engaged in private sector work; so, they now can speak to the truth.
At Ma Bell we offered little sympathy to those who called us after encountering issues jailbreaking their iPhones. Those devices were not eligible for warranty replacement or trade-in, the user chose to trash them. Hard Reset rarely worked and we didn’t want those nodes back on our network anyway.
(p.s. I always loved Spy vs Spy!)
Actually, it was just Comey – working in his capacity as director of the FBI that was demanding a “backdoor”. Not the CIA, etc.- who were essentially neutral back then.
General Hayden at that time appeared on Tv very skeptical of Comey’s statement that the FBI couldn’t open the San Bernadino iPhones. I recall very clearly that he stated that he was surprised that the FBI couldn’t do it.
Hayden said that there were in fact ways to open locked iPhones, which he wouldn’t say exactly how for security reasons. Nonetheless, it turned out it was an Israeli software company that the CIA, etc were already using for that purpose.
I believe Comey was using the San Bernadino iPhone case and siting others like child pornographers, etc., and grandstanding in front of Congress, saying that the FBI was unable to open those iPhones, to get more funding for the FBI.
He was feigning ignorance, AKA: lying.
Later, Comey became the celebrity law enforcement official for his testifying about Trump, etc.,. But back then, he was just soliciting Congress for more powers and funding. He had a reputation for grandstanding in front of Congress. I believe the facts bear this out.
Interesting that the agencies supporting Apple now – do not include the FBI.