An Israeli Company That Sells Hacking Services To Governments Figured Out How To Hack Every iPhone

Apple

Gizmodo: Israeli Cyber Weapon Dealers Figured Out How to Hack Every iPhone

NSO Group, a company that sells hacking services to governments so they can spy on journalists and dissidents, exploited gaping security holes in iPhone software, according to a report byLookout Security and Citizen Lab. But don’t worry: Apple just pushed a fix.

The New York Times reports:

The NSO Group’s software can read text messages and emails and track calls and contacts. It can even record sounds, collect passwords and trace the whereabouts of the phone user.

This is about as bad as it gets. Apple released a patch yesterday to fix these massive security problems, and you should download it immediately.

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WNU Editor: This is as bad as it can get.

iPhones A Military Threat?

Darpa Warns: Your iPhone Is a Military Threat -- The Danger Room

There’s a growing threat to the U.S. military, according to the Pentagon’s premier research wing. No, it’s not Iran’s nukes or China’s missiles. It’s the iPads, Android phones and other gadgets we all carry around with us every day.

“Commercial consumer electronics has created vulnerabilities by enabling sensors, computing, imaging, and communications capabilities that as recently as 15 years ago, were the exclusive domain of military systems,” Darpa deputy director Kaigham “Ken” Gabriel tells the House Armed Services Committee’s panel on emerging threats. “These capabilities now are in the hands of hundreds of millions of people around the world and in use every day.”

“This is not an abstract vulnerability. We have not enjoyed spectrum dominance since about 1997,” he adds.

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Update: The Military Is Afraid of Your iPhone -- The Atlantic

My Comment: The military can gripe all that they want, but Pandora's Box has been opening, and this technology cannot be put away.

How iPhone Apps Are Targeting The Taliban

U.S. Army Capt. Jonathan J. Springer tests his new smartphone app in eastern Afghanistan's Pech River Valley Jan. 17. The navigation application displays a Military Grid Reference System, plots waypoints, and gives directions in Mils. U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Paul Shoemaker, 3rd Battalion, 321st Field Artillery Regiment

Targeting the Taliban? There's an iPhone App For That -- FOX News

An iPhone app that tracks down the Taliban has been developed by a U.S. soldier -- who put $26,000 of his own money into the project.

The idea for a smartphone application to assist soldiers in combat came to Capt. Jonathan J. Springer in a dream last July, he said Monday. The 31-year-old, from Fort Wayne, Ind., has worked with programmers ever since to make the idea a reality.

Tactical Nav, which is expected to be available through Apple’s App Store next month, assists soldiers in mapping, plotting and photographing waypoints on a battleground and conveying coordinates to supporting units.

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More News On An iPhone App That Tracks Down The Taliban

iPhones Help U.S. Troops Target Afghan Attackers -- CBS News
US soldier develops iPhone app to target the Taliban -- Heraldsun.com.au
New iPhone App to Combat Taliban -- The Street
Close combat: there’s now an iPhone app for that -- Smart Planet
Soldier’s ingenuity makes his dream a reality -- Clarksville Online

'Apps For Army' Will Shape A Future Military

Photo: Lt. Gen. Jeff Sorenson will discuss the Apps for the Army contest on a DoD Bloggers Roundtable, Aug 4, 2010, at 10:30am eastern. (Image: US Army)

Androids, iPhones Prepped for Battle in Army’s First-Ever App Contest -- The Danger Room

Unleash the iPhones of war! The Army’s announced the winners of their first-ever mobile phone app development contest. And the general behind the program says some of the applications will be in the field “within a year.”

A total of 141 soldiers and Army civilians participated in the contest, called Apps for the Army (A4A), which launched on March 1st. Participants designed a total of 53 applications, mostly for Androids and iPhones, in five different categories. Twenty-five apps were short-listed and cleared for deployment, with first-prize winners in each category taking home $3,000.

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More News On The U.S. Army's App Contest

'Apps for Army' to shape future software acquisition -- Army.Mil
Army Names App Winners -- Information Week
Apps for the Army Wraps Up, Android Comes Out on Top -- Android Community
US Army Holds an App Challenge (A4A), Four Out of Five Winners Are Android -- Phandroid
‘Apps for Army’ Shapes Way Army Does Business -- Executive Gov
Will Apps for the Army pave the way? -- Armed With Science

There Is An App For Everything

The Patriot Missile System Has an App Because you don't want to forget a step when firing this bad boy.

Raytheon Creates Patriot Missile System iPhone App to Keep Launch Crews' Skills Sharp -- Popular Science

There’s an app for everything, Apple says, and apparently that rule does not exclude "the operation ofadvanced missile defenses." Raytheon has developed an app for the Patriot anti-missile system that helps troops stay sharp on the weapons platform even when they are called away from their primary peacetime duties for combat tours.

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My Comment: I would love to know how long did it take for Apple to approve this app.

Military Could Use iPhones To Track Friends, Enemies in War

From The Gadget Lab:

What if the iPhone could be used in war? True, it’s primarily a consumer product, but it’s versatile and always connected to the internet (assuming you have network reception) — so why not?

That’s the idea behind new iPhone apps being showcased by Raytheon, a military contractor, at the Intelligence Warfighting Summit in Tucson. One app called the One Force Tracker will provide live data tracking the location of friends and foes on real-time maps. The app will also be used to communicate with other units.

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My Comment: This is just another example on the revolution that is occurring in the intelligence community. The key is to know who are foes and who are not .... and provide this information to the men and women in the field. What was science fiction a few years ago .... is rapidly becoming reality today.

Apple's iPhone and Afghanistan's Taliban

Mullah Zaif and his iPhone

From Cellular-News:

It has been reported that Mullah Zaif, the Taliban's former ambassador to Pakistan is using an Apple iPhone in Afghanistan. Hamish Macdonald, a reporter for the Al Jazeera TV channel is spending a month in Afghanistan reporting on life for people in the country - and reported on the unlikely development in Afghanistan's mobile phone market.

Interviewing him, Macdonald asked Zaif about his ga­dget. His response was pretty much the same as everyone who owns an iPhone. "I'm addicted," he said, "the internet is great on this, very fast."

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My Comment: I am speechless. These individuals love to preach against the evils of western civilization, but they love to have our toys and inventions.