Apple security issue

I use AirDrop occasionally, to be honest it is usually between family and friends, but I have been known to use it at events and conferences to swap contact details with other attendees – it is very convenient.

Now research is emerging from China that this convenient Apple tool may not be very secure.

China claims it cracked Apple’s AirDrop to find numbers, email addresses (bleepingcomputer.com)

This is not so much a threat as a state-sponsored way of extracting personal data out of an iPhone. AirDrop has been widely used in China for dissidents to spread information as it was harder for the state to monitor this activity. Apple stepped in and helped the Chinese government suppress this with an update to Chinese iPhones limiting the AirDrop to make it harder for dissidents to use it. (This is probably the cost of doing business in China!) Now it looks like the state will be able to check AirDrop activity if they get hold of the iPhone.

Your takeaway from this

We have clients who regularly visit China from business. Over the years we have had to put in place various mechanisms for them to be able to work when travelling there. Top of this list are their “China iPhones” that they only use when there.