What happens
Apple is developing a new “Lock Mode” for its iPhones, iPads and Mac computers. It is designed to combat industrial-strength hacking, such as NSO Group’s Pegasus.
Because it matters
Although these attacks happen to a small group of people, the threat is growing. Pegasus was used to spy on human rights activists, lawyers, politicians and journalists around the world. Apple says it has detected similar attacks on people in 150 countries over the past eight months.
What’s next
Apple will release Lockdown Mode for free later this year and says it plans regular updates and improvements. The company has also expanded its bug subsidies and established a grant to encourage further research on this issue. Apple has for years marketed its iPhones, iPads, and Macs as the most secure and privacy-focused devices on the market. Last week, it bolstered that effort with a new feature coming this fall called Lockdown Mode, designed to combat targeted hacking efforts like the Pegasus malware, which some governments have reportedly used on human rights workers, lawyers, politicians and journalists around the world. Apple also announced a $10 million grant and bug bounty of up to $2 million to encourage further research into this growing threat. The tech giant said Lockdown Mode is designed to enable “extreme” protections on its phones, such as blocking attachments and link previews in messages, hackable web browsing technologies and incoming FaceTime calls from unknown numbers. Apple devices also won’t accept accessory connections unless the device is unlocked, and users can’t install new remote management software on the devices while they’re also in locked mode. The new feature is already available in beta software used by developers this summer and will be released publicly for free in the fall as part of iOS 16, iPadOS 16 and MacOS Ventura. Here’s how to use Apple’s Lock feature on an iPhone. “While the vast majority of users will never fall victim to highly targeted cyber attacks, we will work tirelessly to protect the small number of users,” Ivan Krstić, Apple’s head of security engineering and architecture, said in a statement. “Lockdown mode is a groundbreaking capability that reflects our unwavering commitment to protecting users from even the rarest, most sophisticated attacks.” Apple designed Lockdown Mode to be easy to enable, through the settings app on its devices. apple Along with the new Lockdown Mode, which Apple calls an “extreme” measure, the company announced a $10 million grant to the Dignity and Justice Fund, established by the Ford Foundation, to help support human rights and fight against social repression. The company’s efforts to bolster the security of its devices come at a time when the tech industry is facing increasingly targeted cyberattacks from repressive governments around the world. Unlike widespread ransomware or virus campaigns, which are often designed to spread indiscriminately farther and faster across homes and corporate networks, attacks like those using Pegasus are designed to silently gather information. Read more: Why Apple is developing a new level of security for your iPhone Users must restart their devices before the lock feature will be activated. apple Last September, Apple sent out a free software update targeting Pegasus and then sued NSO Group in an attempt to stop the company from developing or selling other hacking tools. It also started sending “Threat Alerts” to potential victims of these hacking tools, which Apple calls “spyware for hire.” The company said that while the number of people targeted in these campaigns is very small, it has notified people in about 150 countries since November. Other tech companies have also expanded their approach to security in recent years. Google has an initiative called Advanced Account Protection, which is designed for “anyone at increased risk of targeted online attacks” by adding extra layers of security to logins and downloads. Microsoft is increasingly working on deprecating passwords. Apple said it plans to expand the Lockdown feature over time and announced a bug bounty of up to $2 million for people who find security holes in the new feature. For now, it’s primarily designed to disable computer features that might be useful but open people up to potential attacks. This includes disabling certain fonts, link previews, and incoming FaceTime calls from unknown accounts. Read more: How to use Apple’s lock feature to protect yourself from an iPhone industry hack Apple representatives said the company tried to find a balance between usability and extreme protections, adding that the company is publicly committed to strengthening and improving the feature. In the latest iteration of Lockdown Mode, which is being sent to developers in an upcoming test software update, apps that display web pages will follow the same restrictions as Apple apps, although users can pre-authorize certain websites to bypass the lock function if needed. People in lock mode will also need to unlock their device before it can connect to accessories.
Encourage more research
In addition, Apple said it hopes a planned $10 million grant to the Dignity and Justice Fund will help encourage more research into these issues and expand training and safety checks for people who may be targeted. “Every day we see these threats broaden and deepen,” said Lori McGlinchey, director of the Ford Foundation’s Technology and Society program, who works with technical advisers, including Apple’s Krstić, to help direct the fund. “In recent years, state and non-state actors have used spyware to monitor and intimidate human rights defenders, environmental activists and political dissidents in nearly every region of the world.” Ron Deibert, political science professor and director of the Citizen Lab cybersecurity researchers at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto, said he expects Apple’s Lockdown feature to be a “big blow” to spyware companies and the governments that rely on their products’. “We’re doing what we can, along with a number of investigative journalists working at this rate, but that was, and that’s a huge asymmetry,” he said, adding that Apple’s $10 million grant will help attract more work to it issue. “You have a huge industry that is very lucrative and almost entirely lawless, profiting from huge contracts from governments that have an appetite to engage in this kind of espionage.”
