© Toru Hanai / Reuters
WikiLeaks has released the latest batch of documents in its
Vault 7 series of documents related to the CIA’s espionage programs. The
latest release, dubbed ‘Dark Matter,’ reveals the specific techniques
used to target Apple products.
The
release discloses the alleged details of methods employed by the CIA to
compromise devices manufactured by Apple including the iPhone and
Macbook Air.
In a
statement
from WikiLeaks, the whistleblower group said Thursday's ‘Dark Matter’
leak includes details of the ‘Sonic Screwdriver’ project, described by
the CIA as a
"mechanism for executing code on peripheral devices while a Mac laptop or desktop is booting."
Techniques
named in the release detail methods that could allow devices to be
compromised between the manufacturing line and the end user or by a CIA
asset in close proximity to a target.
The projects, developed by the CIA's Embedded Development Branch
(EDB), attack Apple’s firmware meaning that any infections are
persistent regardless of efforts to remove them, including if the
operating system is reinstalled.
WikiLeaks said this allows an
attacker to boot its attack software from a USB stick on to a device
even when a firmware password is enabled on the device, meaning the
read-only memory of a device can be modified using ‘Sonic Screwdriver’.
The infector is stored in the Apple Thunderbolt-to-Ethernet adapter, claim WikiLeaks.
The
latest leak consists of five documents, ‘Sonic Screwdriver’, ‘DerStarke
v1.4’, DetStarke v1.4 RC1 - IVVRR CHecklist’, ‘Triton v1.3’ and
DarkSeaSkies v1.0 - URDSee more’.
Julian Assange © Axel Schmidt / Reuters
Within the released tranche is a tool known as NightSkies, which
allows the CIA to infiltrate factory fresh iPhones and track and control
them remotely, granting
“full remote command and control,” to the CIA.
NightSkies allows the CIA to take files from iPhones, including details from the owner’s phonebook, text messages and call logs.
The
revelation that the CIA is physically infiltrating factory fresh phones
suggests it has accessed an organization's supply chain, meaning they
may be intercepting the phones as they are shipped to targets, with CIA
agents or assets tampering with suspects’ phones before they have even
been received.
Also included in the documents are details about a
number of other tools employed by the CIA to infiltrate Apple products,
affording the CIA a variety of command and control capabilities.
DarkSeaSkies
is an implant that is found in the firmware of an Apple MacBook Air
that runs in the background and allows the CIA command and control
capabilities over a targeted device . A 2009 ‘user requirements’
document on DarkSeaSkies details how assets should install DarkSeaSkies.
The
second data dump comes two weeks after Assange said WikiLeaks will give
tech companies exclusive access to leaked information they obtained
from the CIA in the first part of ‘Vault 7’, known as ‘Zero Days’.
Assange said WikiLeaks did not publish all details of the hacking
techniques revealed in the leaks as it would result in both the
“good guys” and the
“bad guys” getting them at the same time.
The
second release in the series details the techniques that WikiLeaks
claims are employed by CIA assets to compromise Apple devices between
the manufacturing line and the end user.
On the alleged demands,
Assange said a standard industry 90-day timeframe was given to tech
companies for them to provide encryption keys to WikiLeaks in order for
them to communicate details of the exploits.
Assange said Microsoft contacted WikiLeaks on March 20 without
“agreeing to the standard terms.”
On the same day, Google also contacted the whistleblower group,
refusing to agree to WikiLeaks’ terms, which Assange claims are
standard, instead providing their own terms and a
PGP-encrypted email.
He did not give details on Microsoft and Google's requested terms but alluded to their
“revolving door” relationship with military and security contractors as reasons for their reluctance.
Assange
said any fixes required by tech companies should take a few weeks and
that the 90 day timeframe is sufficient. He added that if a company
contacted them requesting more time, they’d be open to discussion.
#DarkMatter: Apple’s fix for CIA hacks disputed by WikiLeaks
© Lucy Nicholson/ / Reuters
Following WikiLeaks’ latest revelation that the CIA has been
infiltrating Apple products for years, the technology giant released a
statement saying all vulnerabilities have since been fixed, prompting
WikiLeaks and others to dispute the claim.
“We
have preliminarily assessed the WikiLeaks disclosures from this
morning. Based on our initial analysis, the alleged iPhone vulnerability
affected iPhone 3G only and was fixed in 2009 when iPhone 3GS was
released,” Apple said in a statement.
“Additionally, our
preliminary assessment shows the alleged Mac vulnerabilities were
previously fixed in all Macs launched after 2013.”
Apple was referring to CIA tools such as NightSkies, DarkSeaSkies, Triton and Sonic Screwdriver used to infiltrate the iPhone, MacBooks and desktops.
“Apple's claim that it has ‘fixed’ all ‘vulnerabilities’ described in DARKMATTER is duplicitous,” WikiLeaks tweeted in response.
“EFI [Extensible Firmware Interface] is a systemic problem, not a
zero-day [vulnerability in software or hardware that can be exploited to
hack systems and is often later patched.]”
EFI loads a computer’s operating system and is behind the boot sequence of a computer.
“If you change something before that [booting], you’re controlling everything,” firmware hacker Karsten Nohl
told Wired.
“It becomes part of your computer. There’s no way of knowing that it’s there, and also hardly any way to get rid of it.”
“Darkmatter+Triton can be remotely installed. CIA has 2016 version: DerStake2.0. EFI is not fixable ‘vulnerability’,” WikiLeaks said.
WikiLeaks’ Dark Matter release Thursday
explained that while many of the documents are from up to 2013,
“other Vault 7 documents show that as of 2016 the CIA continues to rely
on and update these systems and is working on the production of
DerStarke2.0.”
Whether Apple has fixed all the vulnerabilities featured in Dark
Matter, the documents show CIA’s capabilities and suggest it has likely
continued to attempt to infiltrate newer Apple products.
The
company responded to the first batch of documents released by WikiLeaks
as part of its massive #Vault7 earlier this month. It said
“many” of the exploits featured in the documents had already been patched in the latest iOS update and that it was working to
“rapidly address any identified vulnerabilities.”