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FBI investigating possible Chinese hack of U.S. presidential campaign officials’ iPhones

MacDailyNews

Nov 8

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Lockdown Mode is the first major capability of its kind designed to offer an extreme, optional protection for the very small number of users who face grave, targeted threats to their digital security.

The FBI has been notified of evidence of hacking on the iPhones of two senior officials at one of the presidential campaigns. Sources say the agency is pursuing a lead related to a Chinese hacking group.

Thomas Brewster for Forbes:
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Rocky Cole, the founder of mobile security startup iVerify, told Forbes his company’s software flagged anomalous behavior on two iPhones that belonged to senior officials for one of the presidential campaigns. He declined to specify which one.
Cole, a former NSA analyst and Google employee, said iVerify detected settings on staff iPhones were changed “in patterns that are not observed on healthy devices.”
Previously, mobile malware developed by government hacking groups have changed settings in the same manner, he said. “That does not mean the devices were definitively compromised, but this information combined with who owned the devices and the timelines of the events were enough to merit a robust investigation, which is ongoing,” Cole told Forbes.
The FBI confirmed to Cole that one of the impacted iPhones belonged to a target of a Chinese cyber espionage group referred to as Salt Typhoon, he said. According to reports in the Wall Street Journal, a number of telecoms giants including AT&T and Verizon had their networks breached by Salt Typhoon, a unit believed to work on behalf of China’s state security service. The paper cited various sources with knowledge of the matter, who claimed the attackers targeted the communications of President Trump, his running mate JD Vance and individuals working on the Kamala Harris campaign.

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MacDailyNews Take: Apple’s Lockdown Mode offers specialized additional protection to users who may be at risk of highly targeted cyberattacks from private companies developing state-sponsored mercenary spyware. It’ll stop you from doing things, but if you’re a potential target of state-sponsored mercenary spyware, it’s better to be safe than sorry. More info here.

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