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FileVault is closed source, so there is no guarantee that Apple doesn't have a backdoor built into it.
by andrewpi 11y ago
FileVault is closed source, so there is no guarantee that Apple doesn't have a backdoor built into it.
- brandon272 11y agoIf there were a backdoor that Apple had built into FileVault, and they gave it to authorities to access your hard drive, wouldn't it make it into the news pretty quickly? (e.g. "Gee, I had my FileVault turned on but somehow the authorities were able to decrypt the whole damn thing!") And wouldn't Apple be destroying the product's reputation and severely harming their own reputation by providing that backdoor access and having it hit the news? I'm not saying it's impossible, it just seems so unlikely as to not even register on the list of concerns for a typical security-minded individual unless that person is storing nuke codes or something.
- tantalor 11y agoYou would get a gag order to prevent disclosing such a vulnerability.
- brandon272 11y agoEven with the possibility of obtaining gag orders, the risk and potential to exposure to Apple would be huge. They'd be in much safer territory to just not include encryption software with their products at all, unless the whole NSA surveillance thing is so complex and intrusive that they force large OS makers to specifically develop backdoored encryption technology for the specific purpose of encouraging people to store sensitive information on FileVault encrypted drives so that the government to access it at it's will. But, that doesn't really stand to reason in my mind.
- CPLX 11y agoPerhaps. The question still stands though. Assuming they don't have an actual purposeful back door is there evidence that they have the ability to crack FileVault level encryption at this point or no?