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Servers1

We've known for roughly ii years the US authorities has programs devoted to intercepting computer hardware mid-shipment. These programs are used to insert backdoors or spyware deep into a system's firmware before it even arrives at its destination. A new report claims Apple is looking into building its own servers every bit a way to thwart this blazon of insertion.

The Data (currently offline as of this writing) reported yesterday that:

Apple has long suspected that servers information technology ordered from the traditional supply chain were intercepted during shipping, with boosted chips and firmware added to them by unknown third parties in order to brand them vulnerable to infiltration, according to a person familiar with the matter. At one point, Apple tree even assigned people to take photographs of motherboards and annotate the function of each chip, explaining why information technology was supposed to be at that place. Edifice its ain servers with motherboards it designed would be the most surefire way for Apple tree to forestall unauthorized snooping via actress chips.

Security isn't Apple'due south only motivation — the company has expressed unhappiness with Amazon Web Services and, according to VentureBeat, is working on a program to build its own in-house data centers and software to run them. Currently, services like iTunes are by and large outsourced to other providers similar Amazon or Microsoft's competing Azure. Apple is far from the start company to have steps like this; Google publicly appear it would begin encrypting all data that travels through its data centers after information leaked that the NSA had tapped undersea cables to spy on Google'due south information centers from the within, where data was once unencrypted.

Whether or non this approach can actually lock out groups similar the NSA is an incredibly hard question. Apple could contract with companies like Foxconn to build hardware to its own specifications, merely there'due south no guarantee that the NSA wouldn't discover a different method of penetrating Apple's security. A regime agency that's gone to the trouble of building infrastructure to intercept, bug, and re-ship network equipment and servers is obviously i that's willing to spend summit dollar to guarantee results. Apple can make the game more than difficult, certainly, but can it shut the loopholes altogether?

This rumor isn't going to be well-received by the government, which has already indicated it believes Apple's beliefs is merely shy of treasonous in various court filings related to the San Bernardino shooting. Building its own data centers and designing its ain hardware from the ground up, at to the lowest degree partly for the express purpose of locking the authorities out, isn't going to sit well with the folks in Washington.

Up to this point, the battle over encryption has largely been waged behind the scenes. The White House has declined to push for whatsoever legislation that would really ban encryption or formally require companies to cooperate with the regime in turning over keys and admission. I likely reason for this state of affairs is that regime agencies feel reasonably assured that they can get the information they want without the battle public legislation would spark. If regime agencies start feeling less sure of their own ability to hogtie cooperation or access information at will, this fight could become more public than it has to date. The technology sector would ferociously oppose such legislative fiat (assuming Congress was willing to consider it in the kickoff identify), but whether that opposition would exist sufficient to sway the concluding outcome is another unknown.

Both Republicans and Democrats have given swell deference to the NSA, FBI, and their claims that warrantless wiretaps and mass surveillance are required if the American people are to exist kept safe. Apple, all the same, isn't lone in its efforts. Final year, Cisco's security chief announced it purposefully shipped to imitation locations to go on the NSA from targeting and intercepting its hardware.