Apple Appeals Against Security Research Firm That Helps Examine Programs Such as Detecting Child Abuse Images 6v5v5w Technology News

Apple makes its software hard to examine, and the specialised research phones it offers to pre-selected experts come with a host of restrictions. 723126

By Reuters | Updated: 18 August 2021 11:52 IST

Apple Appeals Against Security Research Firm That Helps Examine Programs Such as Detecting Child Abuse Images

Under Apple's plan announced earlier this month, software will automatically check photos 4s2r3m

Highlights

Security experts are among Corellium's core customers
Apple makes its software hard to examine
Experts said they were also surprised that Apple revived a fight

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Apple on Tuesday appealed a copyright case it lost against security startup Corellium, which helps researchers examine programs like Apple's planned new method for detecting child sex abuse images.

A federal judge last year rejected iPhone that researchers use to examine how the tightly restricted devices function.

Security experts are among Corellium's core customers, and the flaws they uncovered have been reported to Apple for cash bounties and used elsewhere, including by the FBI in cracking the phone of a mass shooter who killed several people in San Bernardino, California.

Apple's Child Protection Features Said to Spark Concern Within Its Own Ranks

Apple makes its software hard to examine, and the specialised research phones it offers to pre-selected experts come with a host of restrictions. The company declined to comment.

The appeal came as a surprise because Apple had just settled other claims with Corellium relating to the Digitial Milennium Copyright Act, avoiding a trial.

Experts said they were also surprised that Apple revived a fight against a major research tool provider just after arguing that researchers would provide a check on its controversial plan to scan customer devices.

Apple to Roll Out Child Abuse Photo-Check System on Country-by-Country Basis

"Enough is enough," said Corellium Chief Executive Amanda Gorton. "Apple can't pretend to hold itself able to the security research community while simultaneously trying to make that research illegal."

Under Apple's plan iCloud online storage to see if they match digital identifiers of known child abuse images. If enough matches are found, Apple employees will look to make sure the images are illegal, then cancel the and refer the to law enforcement.

"We'll prevent abuse of these child safety mechanisms by relying on people bying our copy protection mechanisms,' is a pretty internally incoherent argument," tweeted David Thiel of the Stanford Internet Observatory.

Because Apple has marketed itself as devoted to privacy and other companies only scan content after it is stored online or shared, digital rights groups have objected to the plan.

One of their main arguments has been that governments theoretically could force Apple to scan for prohibited political material as well, or to target a single .

In defending the program, Apple executives said researchers could the list of banned images and examine what data was sent to the company in order to keep it honest about what it was seeking and from whom.

One executive said that such reviews made it better for privacy overall than would have been possible if the scanning occurred in Apple's storage, where it keep the coding secret.

It's a John Cena double-header this week on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast, as we discuss The Suicide Squad, and later, Fast & Furious 9 (from 28:03). Orbital is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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