Maccast 2016.03.03 - Show #562
Links
V Opening
V Opening Music
* Music is Say Anything by Manda and the Marbles
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V News
V Apple vs. the FBI Updates
* Apple hired Theodore Boutrous and Theodore "Ted" Olson, attorneys who argued and won the Supreme court case fighting California's prop 8 anti-gay marriage law.
V The first amendments role in the case
* Federal courts have previous rules that computer code is "speech"
* Forcing Apple to write code, would therefore be similar to forcing them to basically "speak".
* First Amendment also protects your right "not" to speak.
V Apple's Order to Vacate filed.
V Reiteration of many of the previous arguments
* Apple gave the proposed software re-write of iOS that the government wants a name, "govOS". Some sites though "FBiOS" would have been better.
* Apple wants to compel Apple to make its products more insecure effectively creating a backdoor that would be used not only by the good guys, but by the bad guys as well
* Once done for the US government once they would be asked to do it again in other cases and by other governments.
* Criminals would only be driven further underground using techniques and technologies developed in other counties that the US government could not compel. Used FBI director James Comey's own article on "Going Dark" to support this.
* The government's request has no support in law and violates the Constitution
V Reiterated their strong support for the efforts of law enforcement in pursuing justice against terrorists and other criminals
* Cited giving the FBI the unencrypted data from iCloud.com backups that they did have (through Oct 19th, 2015).
V Apple's Case
V Cited congressional law, Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) which defines when a company would be required to help law enforcement execute electronic surveillance and when not.
* It states a company has no obligation to decrypt data when the company doesn't have the decryption key
* Keep in mind though that the FBI is not asking that specifically in this case, even if to Apple it seems like the same thing.
* There was a proposed, “CALEA II”, that would expanded the law’s scope by mandating that companies install back doors into their products. It did not get support from the president.
* Creating "govtOS" would take six to ten engineers and two to four weeks to develop.
* If a case based on the OS was tried in court the defense would have to get Apple's code and methodology and have it evaluated by a 3rd party
* Destroying and re-creating the govOS each time a request was made would be added burden to Apple.
* Apple says the "All Writs Act" is being applied to broadly in the court order.
* Order would create "undue burden" on developers if they have to keep re-writing the OS or on Apple to protect and defend the code if they keep it "in-house".
V Would violate both the First ands Fifth Amendments
* Code treated as speech and the "can't compel" argument
* The Fifth Amendment argument is based on Apple's begin a private party with a "limited" connection to this case. Under due process a party like that is protected against arbitrary action of government.
V Fallout from the case
* Reports Apple is already working on solutions that would make it impossible for them to bypass the iPhone security in the way the FBI is currently proposing.
* Apple reportedly hired Frederic Jacobs — a developer responsible for the secure chat app Signal — to work on the CoreOS security team
* Just means other ways and techniques will need to be developed in the future. Security is, and always will be, a cat and mouse game.
* There was also a 5-hour congressional hearing with Apple's Chief Counsel Bruce Sewell and FBI director James Comey and others testified
V After the hearing apple filed a two page formal objection to the original court order.
* A hearing for Apple's objection had already been scheduled, but they needed to file a formal objection
* Failing to do so could have interpreted as Apple waiving it's right to appeal.
* iOS 9.3 now has test in the About screen and the lock screen that display, "This iPhone is managed by your organization" if the devices is under Multiple Device Management software.
V Siri coming to OS X
* Finally.
* Siri will live in the menubar and have a customizable keyboard shortcut to activate.
* The UI will be similar to the one on the iPhone and appear in a small window in the upper righthand corner of the screen
* "Hey Siri" will also be an option when the Mac is connected to power.
* Will be part of OS 10.12, currently codenamed "Fuji".
* Possibly be shown off at WWDC in June.
V Photos updates in 10.12
* From a Macotakara report
* Apple will bring back lost iPhoto features to the level of iPhoto 9.6.1, but they don't mention specifics.
* Brush correction, selective brightness adjustments, flagging images, and EXIF data editing
* Also batch filename changes and reverse sorting of photo order.
* Reports says there will NOT be higher end Aperture features coming to the next version of Photos
V Apple TV Updates
* "Not on This Apple TV" category
V Software update 7.2.1 for 3rd gen Apple TV
* Security update patches issue that could expose some iCloud data, or the Wi-Fi networks a person had previously connected to.
* Also stop potential exploits that could allow malicious code execution or reading of an apps' managed preferences.
V iPhone SE and 9.7-inch iPad Pro
V iPhone SE
V They are apparently dropping the "5"
* Smart to drop the association to a specific generation
V Still expected internally to line up mostly with the specs of the iPhone 6s, without the 3D touch.
* A9X with M9 co-processor
V 8MP iSight camera
* Ming-Chi Kou, says it's actually a 12-megapixel rear-facing camera
* NFC with Apple Pay support
* 16GB and 64GB capacities and priced at USD $400-500
* Some reports say it will be announced later than first reported, March 22nd instead of the 15th. But others still claim the original date with sales starting on the 18th.
V Design is a cross between the 6s and the 5s.
* More flat on the edges, similar back and front
* Bottom ports and speaker/mic holes same design and configuration as the 5s
* Sleep/wake button moved to the side, like on the 6 and 6s designs
V 9.7-inch iPad Pro
* So it's not an iPad Air 3, but a smaller iPad Pro and will be branded as such according to recent rumors
* Almost identical specs to the iPad Pro, but in the 9.7-inch size
* A9X with 4GB RAM, updated display technology
* Apple Pencil support, but not 3D Touch
* Quad stereo speakers
* New rumor of it too possible getting the 12MP iSight camera
* Same colors and storage capacities, 32GB, 128GB wi-fi and 128GB cellular
* Prices closer to that of the iPad Air.
* Smart Connector with smaller Keyboard Cover
V Line up to become simplified to iPad Mini 4 and 9.7 and 12.9-inch iPad Pro, with the iPad Air 2 as the entry 9.7-inch iPad.
* The iPad mini 2 and original iPad Air are reportedly being phased out.
V Leaked iPhone 7 frame
* French blog NowhereElse.fr claims to have the part
* 5.2 inches and has a 3.5mm headphone jack hole
* Size and the headphone hole raise suspicion.
V Other iPhone 7 Rumors
* 1mm thinner than the iPhone 6s, same thickness as an iPod touch
* Will NOT be waterproof
* Have a flush mounted camera
* Stereo speakers
* Thinner lightning port (smaller cutout)
* TSMC is reportedly doubling it's 16-nanometer production in advance of iPhone 7 production.
V iPhone Pro?
* According to Chinese website MyDrivers
* The one with the dual-camera lens system
* Interesting thought. iPhone SE, iPhone, iPhone Pro?
V Apple, "Sorry we broke your Ethernet"
* Apple pushed out an update that broke the Ethernet connectivity on some users Macs
V To see if you're impacted check the version number of the Incompatible Kernel Extension Configuration file
* Go to Apple menu > About this Mac
* Click on the 'System Report'
* Find the Software section and select Installations.
* Search the list for ‘Incompatible Kernel Extension Configuration Data’ and check the version number
* If it's "3.28.1" you'll need to update to 3.28.2
* The update should have already been automatically applied, but in case not:
* If you need to update there is a Terminal command and the process is detailed in this Apple Support article
V Feedback, commentary, opinions
V Correction
* Jill wrote to point out some confusion I might have caused about John McAfee
* I referred to him as "of McAfee Antivirus", meaning that he was the creator of the original app.
* I could have been interpreted as he is stall part of the company, which he is not.
* He left the company in 1994 and the company was sold to Intel in 2010.
* The product is now marketed as Intel Security
V I also mentioned that we did not know if the iPhone in the FBI case was locked with a 4-digit passcode, a 6-digit one, or a longer random password
* While the FBI has not disclosed that info, as far as I know, Carlos pointed out that they would know.
* If you have a 4 or 6 digit numeric code the lock screen only presents a number pad
* With a more complex alphanumeric passcode you get a full keyboard displayed.
V Apple has iCloud keys
* Why was Apple able to give the iCloud data from the San Bernardino iPhone over to the FBI? Is that data encrypted?
* How is the data on the iPhone itself different?
* iCloud data is encrypted in transit and when stored on Apple's servers, yes.
* When you set a passcode lock on your iPhone all the data on the device is also encrypted
* The difference is where the "keys" are.
V On the iPhone the keys are made by mixing the passcode data with data from the phones UniqeID (UUID). A process called "salting". It's also then "hashed" mixed up and encrypted and stored only on the device.
* The iPhones UID is permanently assigned to that one device during the manufacturing process.
* Outside the encryption process the UID is not available to the OS and Apple doesn't know the ID
V For iCloud it's different.
* The data in a backup is protected in transit by 128-bit SSL encryption.
* The same kind of "green lock" encryption that you would use when say accessing your banking system in Safari.
* Once on Apple's servers the backup are encrypted and stored on the server using keys that Apple generates and Stores
V They have the keys so they CAN decrypt the most of the data
* They can't decrypt Wi-Fi passwords, Apple Keychains (encrypted collections of passwords) and passwords for third-party services.
* They can and do when presented with a valid court order. They don't ALWAYS do it. In some cases, like the recent NYC case, contest the order.
V Why doesn't Apple encrypt iCloud backups locally with the same key they use for local encryption before they upload it to their servers?
* The simple answer is they see the two reasons for encrypting differently.
* The local encryption is to protect you in case your device is lost or stolen. So a criminal can't physically access your data.
* With a backup, Apple's role is to assist you in recovering your data that they are storing on your behalf.
* Seems like a small distinction, but also seems reasonable.
V If you lose your device, part of the reason you have a backup is to get your data back. If Apple doesn't have the key, because you lost it, you won't be able to get your data back.
* This would happen to me for example if I forgot my 1Password password.
V There are reports that Apple is considering changing iCloud encryption, so that the key is kept with you. Meaning if you lose it they can't reset it for you.
* Services like CrashPlan give customers the option to use server stored keys or local keys (even custom keys).
* Chance of recovery if you lose the keys is the issue.
V You can always backup and encrypt locally
* Connect to iTunes
* Open iTunes and go to the Device
* Under 'Backups' in the 'Summary' tab choose the 'To this computer' option
* Then check 'encrypt iPhone backup' and choose a password. Don't forget it.
* Click 'Backup Now'. Also when you connect your device will be backed up.
* You can also pull local backups this way manually even if you are already backing up to iCloud.com
V Apple TV 'Top Shelf'
V Tony emailed me about a new Apple TV app that said in it's description that if you placed it in the "top" row it's functionality would change.
* More accurately, be enhanced.
V What it's talking about is what Apple calls the "Top Shelf"
* The area above the top row of app icons
* Movies and Tv shows lists things like recent purchases and top shows
* But 3rd party apps can also take advantage of that space, it's just that most don't for some reason
* Netflix will show trending and new shows for example and you can navigate up and select items to just directly to them in the App.
* HBO lets you jump to categories like Comedy, Documentaries, Series, etc.
V To re-arrange icons on Apple TV
* Press and hold the play/pause button until the icon wiggles
* Then move the icon around with the track pad or directional controls
* Press play/pause again to drop it into place.
* While it's wiggling a second tap in play/pause will delete the app.
V What is Safari 'Local Storage'
* Rick emailed me to ask what this is and if it could be safely deleted.
* He noticed the files in '~/Library/Safari/LocalStorage'
V It's a feature that allows a website to store (cache) some data locally.
* Typically more complex than basic 'cookies'
* It's actually more like a local database file.
V You can safely remove that data, but the best way to do it is from inside Safari Preferences.
* Safari > Preferences > Privacy
* Wait for a second and then under the 'Remove All Website Data…' button you should see a smaller button called 'Details…' appear.
* Click that and then search for the site who's data you want to remove, so in this case ' nytimes.com'. Then select the item from the results and click the 'Remove' button. Then 'Done'
V Also if you're interested, you can use Apple's Safari Developer tools to actually look at the locally store data. It's a bit geeky, but:
* 1) Open Safari
* 2) Open Safari > Preferences and click on the 'Advanced' tab.
* 3) Check on the 'Show Develop menu in menu bar' option, then close the preferences window.
* 4) Go to the site you want to see the data for. In this case, http://www.nytimes.com
* 5) Once the site is loaded, click on the 'Develop' menu and choose 'Show Web Inspector'
* 6) When the inspector opens click on the 'Storage' tab
* 7) Expand the 'Local Storage' section on the left and then click the ' www.nytimes.com' item
* 8) Now in the right-hand panel you can see all the data from that site that is loaded into local storage.
V Thing of the moment: Spigen Style Ring
* I discovered this though a sale they had on Amazon.
* It's a small ring that attaches to the back of your iPhone with a reusable gel pad
* It looks in some ways like a little like bathtub stopper.
* Slide your finger through it to get a more secure grip.
* Also allows you to extend your reach with one hand operations.
* It rotates and can be flipped out to use a stand in portrait or landscape.
* Has a dash mount adapter.
V It's removable and works with smooth cases, including Apple's leather case.
* So far I have had no issues with residue or marks after removal.
* Retail price is USD$24.99, but It's half that price on Amazon.
* Comes in White, Black, or Rose Gold
V Closing
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* Smile
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