Federal contractor alters 'thousands' of iPads for secure government use
CACI International Inc., a contractor that delivers various information technology services to the U.S. government, said that it has modified the hardware of thousands of iPads so that the Apple tablets can be used securely by government officials.
The security firm's chief executive officer Dan Allen told Bloomberg that the iPad modifications are an example of a push toward mobile technology, a strategy being implemented as a result of reduced revenue associated with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Unlike conventional security measures that use software to handicap or otherwise alter mobile devices, CACI's solution involves altering the iPad's hardware. According to Allen, the iPad's wireless capabilities and front and rear-facing cameras pose the greatest threat to security in top-secret installations.
?It?s a neutered iPad,? Allen said. ?We?re working on how do we effectively brand it.?
The executive did not specify what techniques are being used to secure the iPad's hardware.
A number of U.S. officials are known to use Apple products, including President Barack Obama, who received a pre-release version of the iPad 2 from late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.
Allen noted that the iPads seen being used by top government officials are, ?Most likely a product that either came from us or came from someone we work with.?
The security firm's chief executive officer Dan Allen told Bloomberg that the iPad modifications are an example of a push toward mobile technology, a strategy being implemented as a result of reduced revenue associated with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Unlike conventional security measures that use software to handicap or otherwise alter mobile devices, CACI's solution involves altering the iPad's hardware. According to Allen, the iPad's wireless capabilities and front and rear-facing cameras pose the greatest threat to security in top-secret installations.
?It?s a neutered iPad,? Allen said. ?We?re working on how do we effectively brand it.?
The executive did not specify what techniques are being used to secure the iPad's hardware.
A number of U.S. officials are known to use Apple products, including President Barack Obama, who received a pre-release version of the iPad 2 from late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.
Allen noted that the iPads seen being used by top government officials are, ?Most likely a product that either came from us or came from someone we work with.?
Comments
Quote:
Originally Posted by AppleInsider
"It's a neutered iPad," Allen said. "We're working on how do we effectively brand it."
Lol.
We're working on how do we effectively brand it?
If it's the cameras being rendered unusable, how about calling them blindPads, no-i-Pads, or i-less-Pads?
...but, but, but, such a thing is unpossible, iOS devices are locked into iTunes and the Apple ecosystem.
I read it on the Internet.
What's more logical is that this company work as a middle man to arrange for Apple to build a guaranteed amount of units that just don't have cameras etc installed.
This is reminiscent of what the Singapore government did - they arranged for the cameras to be removed from iPhones before giving them to their military personnel. There is also a cottage industry providing a service to "neuter" cameras on all varieties of smartphones. Their customers are typically companies which ban camera phones.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hill60
...but, but, but, such a thing is unpossible, iOS devices are locked into iTunes and the Apple ecosystem.
I read it on the Internet.
I wonder if whomever questioned my background on us doing this at NeXT and Apple will realize there is Consumer, Enterprise [business iOS] and then Government and large paying customers. Custom down to what you need.
We are not allowed to take pictures of our federal facility. Even if we are off base and still in an official capacity we cannot take pictures of each other without consent of the person we are photographing. So an iPad with a camera makes the chance of a violation of federal law highly likely.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NeilM
So they can play Angry Birds - Classified Edition.
Ha. Or Angry Birds - Predator Drone Pilot version!
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Companies have been removing or covering cameras on iPhones (and other phones) for years, so they can be used where such things are not allowed (in business or government).
On the CACI website, they write that they "neuter iPads, for example, by physically removing any components that elicit communications, signals, or detectable energy-based output. " Sounds like they make them TEMPEST safe.
For really secure devices, the government tends toward OSes with source code they can review and/or modify. That's why Android is a top choice in that area. For example, last year at this time, NSA released their own security-hardened version, called SE Android. Supposedly, Apple refuses to share their OS code, although this might change under Cook.
Since we are on this subject download a VPN app preferably a paid one and you are ready to go.
No need to figure out as simple as abc.
...
wait for it...
It's going to be called the aye-iPad!!!!
Because the government doesn't generally allow software solutions to problems like that. They assume the worst case that the software can be hacked to re-enable the camera. If you remove the camera, the risk is eliminated.
As to the warranty issue, there are a couple of solutions:
1. The cameras can be removed and stored. If there's a problem, they can replace the camera and still get warranty service (unless they damaged it).
2. Or perhaps they've calculated the risk of failure and simply added a percentage to the government price that's sufficient to allow THEM to replace the defective ones without going through Apple's warranty service.
3. They keep a small stock of spares. If one breaks, they fix it themselves, reinstall the camera, and sell it on eBay. There are service centers that repair iPads and iPhones reasonably inexpensively, so there's no reason they can't do it.
It's not just the cameras according to the both the AI and original Bloomberg article. They're also "neutering" the wireless capabilities. It's not entirely clear from the article if CACI is working with Apple directly on this or not. The way it's worded seems to imply they are.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-08/apple-ipads-neutered-for-u-s-government-as-caci-targets-mobile.html