{"id":224937,"date":"2016-06-23T14:35:10","date_gmt":"2016-06-23T14:35:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=224937"},"modified":"2016-06-23T14:35:10","modified_gmt":"2016-06-23T14:35:10","slug":"apple-reveals-unencrypted-heart-of-ios-10-code","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/06\/apple-reveals-unencrypted-heart-of-ios-10-code\/","title":{"rendered":"Apple reveals unencrypted heart of iOS 10 code"},"content":{"rendered":"
Apple is letting developers peer into the core of its mobile operating system for the first time – a move that could have major implications for security.<\/p>\n
Last week the tech firm released a preview version of iOS 10.<\/p>\n
Its kernel – the central component that controls how software is processed by a device’s hardware – was unencrypted.<\/p>\n
The move should make it easier for researchers to flag flaws that could otherwise be exploited by hackers.<\/p>\n
However, the BBC understands that was not Apple’s motivation for making the change.<\/p>\n
Even so, experts say it could make it harder for organisations to keep secret techniques they have used to overcome privacy measures on iPhones and iPads.<\/p>\n
In a recent high-profile case, the FBI refused to share an exploit it had used to to crack an iPhone used by a gunman who had killed several people in San Bernardino, California.<\/p>\n
“In general, transparency is good for security,” commented Dr Steven Murdoch from University College London.<\/p>\n
“Well-resourced attackers like government intelligence agencies have always been able to find vulnerabilities.<\/p>\n
“And while Apple’s move will make that job easier, it will also make it easier for less well-resourced security researchers to find the vulnerabilities and get them fixed.”<\/p>\n
Apple has not commented on the matter, and it was a report by MIT Technology Review that made it public.<\/p>\n