Well, perhaps that is a stretch, but Apple’s possible connection with the NSA was revealed in a report dating back to 2008. Reuters explains that the report outlined a system that the NSA was developing, called DROPOUTJEEP, which would be software implanted into an iPhone that allows infiltrators to push and pull and retrieve data from iPhones such as contact lists. The report didn’t actually specify any involvement by or with Apple, although the iPhone is referenced in the report.
Given that in the early days of smartphones around 2008, the iPhone was a pretty revolutionary device, so it shouldn’t be too surprising that an NSA report would use it in their scenario. With regards to general allegations of the NSA researching ways to exploit “backdoor” systems in phones and mobile devices, the NSA issued a statement on Tuesday to respond to the report;
“in any given technology is driven by the use of that technology by foreign intelligence targets.”
“The United States pursues its intelligence mission with care to ensure that innocent users of those same technologies are not affected,”
Apple also issued a statement on the matter, which is kind of rare for them, but it is kind of a touchy subject for a lot of people, so they probably thought it would be a good idea to squash any hints that they, or anyone else, were poking around inside of people’s iDevices;
“Apple has never worked with the NSA to create a backdoor in any of our products, including iPhone. Additionally, we have been unaware of this alleged NSA program targeting our products,”
“We will continue to use our resources to stay ahead of malicious hackers and defend our customers from security attacks, regardless of who’s behind them.”
I’m glad Apple responded although that may not be enough to relieve everyone of their fears that Big Brother is coming. What do you think? Is most of our data already out there on services such as Facebook and Google? Are you worried, or are we just entering an age where privacy means something different? If you have any thoughts, note them in the comments, but we can’t promise that the NSA isn’t reading our blog.