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WikiLeaks Dump Indicates That the CIA Intercepted the iPhone Supply Chain

March 30, 2017

Last week, Threatpost reported that the second Vault 7 Dark Matter release shows the CIA has an unsurprising interest in tracking iPhone users, as well as having capabilities developing implants and exploits targeting Mac firmware running on MacBooks.

The iPhone attack documentation for the CIA's NightSkies tools describes a beacon dating back to 2008, purpose-built for factory iPhones, indicating the CIA's ability to interdict the Apple supply chain and install this tool.

"Intelligence agencies used to put these beacons in someone's car and track its radio signals. Modern beacons infest iPhones and report over the internet the location of an iPhone and other information from the phone," said WikiLeaks founder, exiled publisher Julian Assange, during a press conference aired over the WikiLeaks Periscope account. "Noteworthy is that NightSkies reached version 1.2 in 2008, indicating that it was in the process of being developed for some time," Assange said. "It is expressly designed to be physically installed on factory-fresh iPhones, not phones that are stolen and then have the malware implanted, but in an iPhone before you get it."

Other information in the dump manifests how the CIA concentrated on developing malware and exploits that would attack the firmware running on Macs and iPhones, specifically EFI and UEFI firmware

I have no doubt that the folks in Cupertino are looking carefully at the security of Apple's supply chain.

Hat tip to Dave Ries.

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