Apple's CEO Speaks Out Like Hikvision's CEO Would Never Do

JH
John Honovich
Jan 15, 2016
IPVM

In our recent coverage of Hikvision's government ownership and Communist Party supervision, one rejoinder was that the US government, like the Chinese, pursues / has backdoors in to technology products.

This is a great example of the differences between the 2 countries. "Apple’s Tim Cook Lashes Out at White House Officials" blares a recent US publication. Apple's CEO is publicly fighting against backdoors and the US media is running it.

In China, it's an impossibility for a state owned company like Hikvision to 'lash out' at the Communist Party and the media, sure as hell, would never cover that (or be quickly detained / imprisoned).

Cyber spying and privacy issues are a real concerns for any technology product like networked video surveillance and as Hikvision aims to be the dominant global supplier, the rest of the world needs to watch out for that threat.

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JH
John Honovich
Feb 17, 2016
IPVM

Apple's CEO speaks out against the US Government / FBI wanting a backdoor in iOS.

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KL
Keefe Lovgren
Feb 18, 2016
IPVMU Certified

thank you tim cook...

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UM
Undisclosed Manufacturer #1
Feb 18, 2016

I think this is fantastic by Apple, what a great stance and brave action to take. I liked Apple before but love them now!

U
Undisclosed #2
Feb 18, 2016
IPVMU Certified

It's brave, but honestly I'm not ecstatic about it.

I think that whether we want to believe it or not, the last 15 years of almost no foreign-planned terrorism on us soil is due in large part to massive eavesdropping and cyber-snooping, on foreigners and citizens alike.

It's a damn shame that the government can't have the power to do what they need to do to keep us safe, without going over the line. :(

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JH
John Honovich
Feb 18, 2016
IPVM

Interesting article pointing out that Apple in China has been silent about the Chinese government's requests for similar backdoors.

This underscores how neither Chinese domestic nor international companies cannot challenge the Chinese government without fear of massive retribution.

UM
Undisclosed Manufacturer #1
Feb 18, 2016

But to be fair, perhaps the title of the thread should be

'Apple's CEO Speaks Out Like Hikvision's CEO Could Never Do'

JH
John Honovich
Feb 18, 2016
IPVM

Yes, lol...

Avatar
Oleksiy Zayonchkovskyy
Feb 19, 2016
IPVMU Certified

In my opinion Tim Cook is just creating a vision of honor and justice... As do other companies like Microsoft, Cisco and so on...

His short memo can be overall described as: we are trying to protect your privacy, please don't hesitate to buy... that's it...

The truth is not accessible to anybody except may be several thousand people who must know and work with...

Apple products are very popular in CIS countries and most of all in Russia. Majority there tend to buy iPhone to show social status... Now I think no further comments are needed...

To sum up, the modern trend of dealing with privacy can be described with a single word "control".

Avatar
John Bazyk
Feb 19, 2016
Command Corporation • IPVMU Certified

There's a huge stir about this on social media. A lot of people are calling to break-in to one phone, just one phone! Apples response to these calls, IMO shows how honorable Apple is. I for one am proud to be a fanboy.

In today’s digital world, the “key” to an encrypted system is a piece of information that unlocks the data, and it is only as secure as the protections around it. Once the information is known, or a way to bypass the code is revealed, the encryption can be defeated by anyone with that knowledge.

The government suggests this tool could only be used once, on one phone. But that’s simply not true. Once created, the technique could be used over and over again, on any number of devices. In the physical world, it would be the equivalent of a master key, capable of opening hundreds of millions of locks — from restaurants and banks to stores and homes. No reasonable person would find that acceptable.

Avatar
Oleksiy Zayonchkovskyy
Feb 19, 2016
IPVMU Certified

Just statistics

http://venturebeat.com/2015/12/31/software-with-the-most-vulnerabilities-in-2015-mac-os-x-ios-and-flash/

No offence...

SK
Steven Klapiscak
Feb 20, 2016

Statistics can be used, perhaps inaccurately, to prove anything ....c'mon, 87.6% of people know that. FACT

Avatar
Rian Schermerhorn
Apr 20, 2016

Totally agree. The real problem is that we never know how authentic those stats are.

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JH
John Honovich
Apr 20, 2016
IPVM

"Apple has been asked by Chinese authorities within the last two years to hand over its source code but refused, the company's top lawyer told lawmakers"

The meeting with Hikvision likely went differently....

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Avatar
Jon Dillabaugh
Apr 20, 2016
Pro Focus LLC

The Chinese gov only had to log onto a file sharing service Baidu to find it...

U
Undisclosed #2
Apr 20, 2016
IPVMU Certified

The meeting with Hikvision likely went differently...

Hik: "We are pulling the latest code for you, version 6, should be ready in a couple of hours."

PRC: "Don't bother, here's version 7."

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UM
Undisclosed Manufacturer #3
Apr 20, 2016

Apple isn't being honorable. They are trying to market their product. They are claiming they are secure, while various companies do hack into their products. For this specific request, apple only said the wouldn't bypass the password counter > wipe feature. They did give the FBI info on connecting to an existing network and then allowing icloud to backup the data. From there, they were happy to provide access to the data.

For all of their touted supposed security, it was hacked not by the FBI, but a 3rd party in a short amount of time....

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