Apple agrees to subject products to Chinese government security audits - report
China's State Internet Information Office will reportedly be allowed to conduct network security inspections of Apple products offered for sale in China as the company seeks to assuage fears that its devices can be used for intelligence gathering purposes by foreign governments.
China's State Internet Information Office chief Lu Wei speaks with Apple CEO Tim Cook during a visit to Cupertino
Apple CEO Tim Cook agreed to the inspections during a meeting with State Internet Information Office head Lu Wei last month in Cupertino, according to the Beijing News. The report was first noted by ZDNet.
Cook is said to have assured Lu that while there were "rumors of us keeping backdoors and providing data to third parties," the company has "never had any backdoors and never will."
Lu then told Cook that Apple's "products must pass the inspections done by our network safety officers," who will then "make conclusions and insure our customers." The exchange was recounted to the News by another Chinese official present during the meeting.
Apple has been under fire in China for nearly a year following allegations of the company's complicity in spying by the National Security Agency. Apple has denied those charges, but the Chinese government has continued to paint the company in an unfavorable light.
Last July, China Central Television called iOS location tracking "a national security concern." During the program, the state-owned broadcaster relayed information from Chinese researchers suggesting that the iPhone's "Frequent Locations" functionality could inadvertently reveal sensitive information, and "even state secrets."
Shortly after that report, Apple began storing Chinese users' iCloud data in a datacenter within the People's Republic. In a statement to AppleInsider, the company noted that all data within that datacenter --?operated by state-owned firm China Telecom --?was encrypted, and that "China Telecom does not have access to the content."
Then, in October, the Chinese government was implicated in a series of malicious attacks against iCloud users. The issue was so severe that Cook almost immediately traveled to China and met with Vice Premier Ma Kai, and the two are said to have discussed "protection of users' information," as well as "strengthening cooperation and in information and communication fields."
China's State Internet Information Office chief Lu Wei speaks with Apple CEO Tim Cook during a visit to Cupertino
Apple CEO Tim Cook agreed to the inspections during a meeting with State Internet Information Office head Lu Wei last month in Cupertino, according to the Beijing News. The report was first noted by ZDNet.
Cook is said to have assured Lu that while there were "rumors of us keeping backdoors and providing data to third parties," the company has "never had any backdoors and never will."
Lu then told Cook that Apple's "products must pass the inspections done by our network safety officers," who will then "make conclusions and insure our customers." The exchange was recounted to the News by another Chinese official present during the meeting.
Apple has been under fire in China for nearly a year following allegations of the company's complicity in spying by the National Security Agency. Apple has denied those charges, but the Chinese government has continued to paint the company in an unfavorable light.
Last July, China Central Television called iOS location tracking "a national security concern." During the program, the state-owned broadcaster relayed information from Chinese researchers suggesting that the iPhone's "Frequent Locations" functionality could inadvertently reveal sensitive information, and "even state secrets."
Shortly after that report, Apple began storing Chinese users' iCloud data in a datacenter within the People's Republic. In a statement to AppleInsider, the company noted that all data within that datacenter --?operated by state-owned firm China Telecom --?was encrypted, and that "China Telecom does not have access to the content."
Then, in October, the Chinese government was implicated in a series of malicious attacks against iCloud users. The issue was so severe that Cook almost immediately traveled to China and met with Vice Premier Ma Kai, and the two are said to have discussed "protection of users' information," as well as "strengthening cooperation and in information and communication fields."
Comments
Probably too much in potential profits to just say no.
Way to cave, Cook, way to cave. Not happy about this. What's to stop the US government from demanding access now?
Way to cave, Cook, way to cave. Not happy about this. What's to stop the US government from demanding access now?
I have no idea how an 'inspection' will happen but I cannot imagine Apple will just open the source code to be copied / tampered with. On the face of it this seems like a reasonable request that I would assume every government would insist upon.
That's what I was thinking.
I'm sure all the information gathered in these so called inspections will be passed along to Huawei and Xiaomi.
And Lenovo? They all need inspection and auditing before sale in the U.S.
Obvs!
Let's just cut to the chase and get China kicked out of the WTO.
"We want our 'investigators' to have access to your most sensitive corporate secrets so we can pass them along to our own government, Mr. Cook."
Tim is one smart cookie. There is no way he would be bamboozled into handing the Chinese government anything that they can put into a copy-machine. They may be able to copy power-tools and furniture, but to hack, and maintain a rogue copy of iOS, consistently that will be used by hundreds of millions of tech-savvy Chinese consumers? No way. They just don't have the chops for that.
Let's just cut to the chase and get China kicked out of the WTO.
Best defense is not to buy their homegrown products. Let Apple do the auditing of its own products.
In the industry this kind of audits happen at manufacturer premises, where only authorized people can browse and review code with assistance of local personnel, in a secure environment, for a limited time.
Way to cave, Cook, way to cave. Not happy about this. What's to stop the US government from demanding access now?
I have no idea how an 'inspection' will happen but I cannot imagine Apple will just open the source code to be copied / tampered with. On the face of it this seems like a reasonable request that I would assume every government would insist upon.
Exactly. We essentially do the same with Huawei equipment.
And Lenovo? They all need inspection and auditing before sale in the U.S.
This is a very good point.
So, when Chinese officials examine the iPhones and passes them as secure and without spying software, can we finally put to rest Ed Snowden's paranoid b.s.? Oh, wait, then it will be that Apple sent special phones to China or China is in on it all and passes them while putting their own spy software on the phones, blah blah blah.
I have no idea how an 'inspection' will happen but I cannot imagine Apple will just open the source code to be copied / tampered with. On the face of it this seems like a reasonable request that I would assume every government would insist upon.
A lot of the code security-critical code is open source to begin with. Remember goto fail?
The difference in the US and NATO countries is that the government does not inspect the product/code themselves, but comes out with standards (FIPS 140, Common Criteria, etc.) and companies hire an accredited private company to do the inspection.
Let's just cut to the chase and get China kicked out of the WTO.
Best defense is not to buy their homegrown products. Let Apple do the auditing of its own products.
I try really hard not to buy anything made in China and that is difficult to say the least. Actually, it's frustrating. I can count on one hand the number of times ever I shopped at Walmart. If I go into a store to buy something, I will make an effort to locate a made-in-USA product, even if it means paying more for the product.
I recently watched a documentary "Death by China" documenting what that corrupt government is doing, and how American companies are literally handing the keys to them. The subject matter was spot-on, even though the diatribe could maybe have been toned down a bit. It cements my belief that China has an agenda.
So yes, kick them out of the WTO. They joined, and literally gave everyone the finger while continuing to break every rule the WTO has.