Apple is angry with Google's report on hacking attacks on iPhone phones

Google revealed last week attempts and large scale hacking attacks targeting Apple device users.

Apple's response was angry, both publicly and privately, as the company viewed Google's revelations as "fabrications," but Google sticks to the findings in its report.

In a statement released Friday, Apple said the results of Google's report suggest that hacking attempts were aimed at all iPhone users.

"What Google has released six months after the release of new versions of the iOS software gives a false impression of the existence of extensive practices to monitor the private activities of all smartphone users at any time, which has caused panic among iPhone phone users, that did not happen. "

The reason for Apple's anger was not what Google researchers reported in the report of the Google Project Zero research team, but the consequences of what Google released were the real reason that Apple was upset.

Apple believes that "Google's interests in China have led him to refrain from describing the attack as targeting the opulent Muslim Uyghur minority in China."

"The attack targeted a limited number of users and was not directed against a large number of iPhone users. The attack hit a few websites focused on the Chinese content Uighur, "said the statement.

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Android is also affected

Apple's view is corroborated by a report from Folicity, an independent cybersecurity agency, according to which the Chinese Uyghur minority was the target of the attack on Apple smartphones. The report also included a list of 11 websites used to carry out the attacks. "

"The attack is not limited to Apple's operating system (iOS). Attempts to intrude into Google's Android devices have been dropped by the research team. Google, "says the report.

But Google insists that he did not know that his Android devices had been compromised, but he is well aware of what he looks like.

"The team has detected attempts to hack iOS phones only through these websites, which were used in January 2019," wrote Tim Willis, of the Google ProjectZero research team, in a tweet. on his Twitter account. Of course, all similar attempts have been sought). "

Independent cybersecurity researchers then joined the Google research team, which claimed that Google did not use its research team as a weapon against its competitors.

In addition, this is not the first time the Project Zero team has discovered a loophole related to Apple products. Yvonne

"Project Zero publishes technical research aimed primarily at increasing understanding of security vulnerabilities and developing better defense strategies," said a spokesman for Google.

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"We support our in-depth research that is designed to focus on the technical aspects of these gaps.We will continue to work with Apple and other large companies to ensure the safety of people using the Internet."

Questions for Google and Apple

However, Google's report raises many questions, which mention neither China nor the fact that Google knows that the Uyghur minority is targeted. When we know that Google's researchers have reached a number of Internet addresses affected by penetration attempts, we realize that it was not difficult for them to know the target of the attack.

For example, a user link on the Internet was intended for an information website intended for readers of the Uighur Chinese minority, or at least those concerned about the oppression of this minority.

Google has precedents in this type of practice, recalling last month the dissemination of misleading information on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to sow discord in Hong Kong, which is suffering from recent political turmoil.

Unlike Facebook and Twitter, who have expressed doubts that China may be behind these attempts, Google has simply announced the removal of content on the protests in Hong Kong.

There are other questions asking Apple to clarify some points: if the giant discovers that there are flaws in the operating system of its smartphones before Google's discovery, why not inform users of their devices? Why did not you warn them that there were booby-trapped sites that were trying to block information about the Uighurs?

Apple, like Google, also did not claim to believe that China was directly responsible for the attack. The most important issue we can solve in this debate is the possibility that big tech companies are resorting to obscuring the practices of Chinese piracy to protect their interests in China.