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I think this touches upon one of the most important things Apple has done for its users: a convenient way to encrypt things. In every iPhone shipped today is a
by davisr 9y ago
I think this touches upon one of the most important things Apple has done for its users: a convenient way to encrypt things. In every iPhone shipped today is a key and hardware to perform en/decryption. It's the dream that was never consumer-viable with smart cards. Shipping medical records to users is only one application.
- jrs95 9y agoSmart cards made for a cool plot device in 24 though.
- gcbw2 9y agoit is the same as having an all powerful application with saved credentials on your 90's PC, protected by a BIOS password. All fine and convenient until it is compromised by some other application.
- gruez 9y agoiOS has a sandbox. my 90s PC doesn't.
- fooker 9y agoJVM?
- ams6110 9y agoIt's not iOS that has the sandbox it's the iPhone hardware. The encryption key management is performed in a hardware sandbox. iOS and apps running on the phone cannot access it. I think that's the gist of it anyway. I'm too frugal for an iPhone so I haven't read up on it in detail.
- ggg9990 9y agoiPhones are perfect for the frugal. They are usable and get security updates for about 5 years rather than the ~2 of most Android devices.
- bnjms 9y agoThey also have a model in size small that doesn't skimp on camera quality. I'll be trying a switch when my phone finally dies.
- Symbiote 9y agoThe Sony Xperia Compact phones are also small but still powerful. I'm not sure why only Apple and Sony make decent, smaller phones.
- pbhjpbhj 9y agoBut the android phones are from 5% of the price and up to about 85% without being locked to a particular network. So you pay your money for an iPhone and get Pegasus malware anyway ... or get a far cheaper device and use reasonable, sensible, security practices (no 3rd party, don't view unexpected payloads, etc.) and get a similar level of probability of infection.
- saagarjha 9y ago> no 3rd party, don't view unexpected payloads, etc. I take it you don't browse the web or use apps at all?
- pbhjpbhj 9y agoYes, but that's the same in the Apple world. There seems no reason to believe mainstream apps are less vulnerable on Apple's or Google's app store. Nor that Firefox, say, is less likely to be exploited on one or the other. Though granted the underlying OS might be more vulnerable once FF had been exploited. The homogeneity of Apple surely makes a greater target though, which I'd expect to balance it out. Presumably you and the GP have done prior to the frugality claim - like people who don't just install any old shit get exploited in a financially more costly way on Android.
- nothrabannosir 9y agoiPhone SE is the model for you. Top quality, small form, half price. Best value / £ on the market when it came out. However: It’s dated now, almost two years, so keep an eye out for a potential successor. If they don’t release a successor, then they played their cards very well and roped tons of us into their system with a too-good-to-be-true model. There’s probably a name for this play in economy text books :p
- fooker 9y agoWhy is it automatically better to do this on hardware?
- saagarjha 9y agoBecause it cannot be tampered with without modifying the hardware. There's no "hack" that could compromise it.
- lederhosen 9y agoIf the hardware is done correctly, and used correctly. Previous Secure Enclave on iphones did not work even though Apple and its user said it was secure. Why trust them now?
- lern_too_spel 9y agoMy 90s PC ran Linux, which had the exact same sandboxing that iOS has, with a slightly different API. If you run each application with a different uid, you get the same result.
- space_fountain 9y agoNot quite. You actually have proper hardware security with Apple's implementation. Assuming no flaw is found in the silicon it doesn't mater what's going on on the CPU
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- mankash666 9y agoHold that P.R. there. Apple will sell your data out when compelled [1]. This is NOT a technology problem, it's a policy issue. And Apple isn't immune to governments & greed. [1]: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/23/opinion/apple-china-data.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/23/opinion/apple-china-data....
- Frondo 9y agoAnd, frankly speaking, we don't want them to refuse lawful orders to hand over data. We might not have a well-functioning justice system, but the alternative--when corporations could feel empowered to ignore it because they themselves are big and powerful--is much, much, much worse.
- wyager 9y ago> And, frankly speaking, we don't want them to refuse lawful orders to hand over data. I actually do, but this would be quite unreasonable to ask. A practical middle-ground is making it so that any data they are forced to hand over is useless.
- siquick 9y agoAs a non-US citizen, I trust Apple and Google far more than the US Government.
- stouset 9y agoApple is storing the data in China, but it's completely unclear if they're just storing opaque encrypted blobs (which would be my guess). Further, it makes complete sense to store Chinese user data in China, where it's subject to Chinese law and not American law.
- pbhjpbhj 9y agoIs the data transmitted from the phone in a format that Apple has the means (without grabbing further keys) to decrypt? Is there any reason, except commercial exploitation of the data, one would do that? So, ... I'd guess if the data never leaves your device unencrypted then Apple are clean, otherwise ...
- ecesena 9y agoI fully agree. My biggest regret today is that there’s not a 2nd device that I almost always have with me for doing 2FA. Watch may become that, or maybe there’s a future for jewelry.
- redwall_hp 9y agoI think Authy has a version of their app for the Apple Watch. Not sure how it works in practice, but you should be able to use it for 2FA on websites as you'd expect. Of course, it probably still depends on your phone, like most Apple Watch stuff seems to. Speaking of authentication and watches, I like the approach Apple uses, where it stays unlocked until it stops sensing a pulse, and then requires the passcode again. So it's convenient as long as you're wearing it, but it locks up when it's taken off.
- seawlf 9y agoI use Authy and LastPass all the time on my Apple Watch. It's really an incredible experience to have all of my digital identity on my wrist.
- ecesena 9y agoI use Authy, but the same exact app is running also on my phone (and it's needed to sync the accounts). This means that it's not really another device. Also, totp can be phished in principle. I'd very much like a fido/u2f device.
- h4waii 9y agoQuickAuth [0] is one of the primary reasons I use a Pebble, though Android Wear and Apple Watch are good devices you can use T/HOTP generators on too. 0. https://github.com/JumpMaster/QuickAuth https://github.com/JumpMaster/QuickAuth
- ecesena 9y agoIt'd be great to see fido/u2f implementations or devices.
- 9y ago
- revelation 9y agoThe system decides when and what to encrypt and decrypt on it's own, how is any of that related to the user? If the software can't be trusted it's not encryption, it's pointless. If you are going to pick a trust anchor, choose something that isn't also doing wireless updates, running third party apps, has a colorful interface that can trivially trick you into doing unintentional things..
- aluhut 9y agoThat blind trust in Apple on this board is frightening.
- NicoJuicy 9y agoWhat dream? I think cloud providers should stay away from my data concerning health. I trust my doctors and Belgium if something should happen, Apple should back off. If i want them to know my health, i'll install a heart monitor with bluetooth. Encrypted data is only one software update away from being unencrypted.
- saagarjha 9y ago> I trust my doctors and Belgium if something should happen, Apple should back off. Just curious, what makes you put your trust in doctors instead of Apple? What's stopping your doctors from leaking your health data as well?
- tyfon 9y agoIf a doctor is leaking data about their patients they will lose their license extremely fast, at least in Europe. Also, the doctor is one office with maybe 1000 patients. A cloud provider will store data for millions making it much more of a target to hack. I'm not saying we are completely safe, there was a hospital here in Norway that used a foreign company to process health records and it was and still is a big scandal as data like that is is not allowed to leave the country.
- andrepd 9y agoA doctor and a government are subject to intense public scrutiny; they have duties towards you they must respect. Also, there is no incentive for then to leak anything. Apple on the other hand, is an organisation devoted to the sole purpose of making as much money as possible. Anything else is secondary. I think this is reason enough to be wary.
- NicoJuicy 9y agoThey don't do IT ( not big scale information gathering) and they could lose their license. Which is what they studied for, during 7-9 years