The Mystery of iPhone Crashes That Apple Denies Are Linked to Chinese Hacking

All of that would correspond a superior threat to nationalist security. Except that, strangely, Apple flatly denies it happened. “We powerfully disagree pinch nan claims of a targeted onslaught against our users,” Apple’s caput of information engineering, Ivan Krstić, wrote successful a connection to WIRED. Apple has patched nan rumor that iVerify highlighted successful its report, which caused iPhones to clang successful definite cases erstwhile a connection sender changed their ain nickname and avatar. But it calls those crashes nan consequence of a “conventional package bug,” not grounds of a targeted exploitation. (That broad denial surely isn’t Apple’s accustomed consequence to confirmed iPhone hacking. The institution has, for instance, sued hacking patient NSO group for its targeting of Apple customers.)

The consequence is that what mightiness person been a four-alarm occurrence successful nan counterintelligence world is reduced—for now—to a very troubling enigma.

A 22-Year-Old Is Running a Key US Anti-Terrorism Program

A 22-year-old erstwhile intern astatine nan Heritage Foundation pinch nary nationalist information acquisition has reportedly been appointed to a cardinal Department of Homeland Security domiciled overseeing a awesome programme designed to combat home terrorism.

According to Propublica, Thomas Fugate past period assumed activity of nan Center for Programs and Partnerships (CP3), a DHS agency tasked pinch backing nationwide efforts to forestall politically motivated violence—including schoolhouse shootings and different forms of home terrorism.

Fugate, a 2024 postgraduate of nan University of Texas astatine San Antonio, replaced nan erstwhile CP3 director, Bill Braniff, an Army seasoned pinch 20 years of nationalist information acquisition who resigned successful March pursuing unit cuts ordered by nan Trump administration.

According to CP3’s astir caller study to Congress, nan agency has funded much than 1,100 initiatives aimed astatine disrupting convulsive extremism. In caller months, nan US has seen a drawstring of high-profile targeted attacks, including a car bombing successful California and nan shooting of 2 Israeli Embassy immunodeficiency successful Washington, DC. Its $18 cardinal assistance program, designed to support section prevention efforts, is reportedly now nether Fugate’s supervision.

Threat Intelligence Firms (Finally) Agree to a Glossary of Hacker Group Names

Hacker group names person agelong been an unavoidable absurdity successful nan cybersecurity industry. Every threat intelligence company, successful a scientifically defensible effort to not make immoderate presumption that they’re search nan aforesaid hackers arsenic different firm, comes up pinch their ain codification sanction for immoderate group they observe. The consequence is simply a somewhat silly profusion of overlapping naming systems based connected elements, weather, and zoology: “Fancy Bear” is “Forest Blizzard” is “APT28” is “Strontium.” Now, respective awesome threat intelligence players, including Google, Microsoft, CrowdStrike, and Palo Alto Networks, person yet shared capable of their soul investigation to work together to a glossary that confirms that they’re referring to nan aforesaid entities. The companies did not, however, work together to consolidate their naming systems into a azygous taxonomy. So this statement doesn’t mean nan extremity of sentences successful information reporting specified arsenic “the hacker group Sandworm, besides known arsenic Telebots, Voodoo Bear, Hades, Iron Viking, Electrum, aliases Seashell Blizzard.” It conscionable intends we cybersecurity reporters tin constitute that condemnation pinch a small much confidence.

Phone-Hacking Firm Corellium Acquired for $200 Million—After Trump Pardons Its Founder

Chris Wade, nan laminitis and CTO of mobile instrumentality reverse-engineering institution Corellium, has had a chaotic past fewer decades: In 2005, he was convicted connected criminal charges of enabling spammers by providing them proxy servers, and agreed to activity undercover for rule enforcement while avoiding prison. Then successful 2020, he mysteriously received a pardon from President Donald Trump. He besides settled a awesome copyright suit from Apple. Now his company, which creates virtual images of Android and iOS devices truthful that customers tin find ways to break into them, is being acquired by phone-hacking patient Cellebrite, a awesome rule enforcement contractor, for $200 million—a important payday for a hacker who has recovered himself connected some sides of nan law.