Apple's New Feature Will Protect Journalists, Human Rights Workers From Spyware

Apple's new feature will protect journalists and human rights activists from spyware. The feature will be rolled out for iPhone, Mac, and iPad users over the course of this autumn.

This marks the biggest move by any smartphone maker to protect journalists and human rights workers from increasingly sophisticated spyware like NSO Group's contentious Pegasus, the same spyware used by countries around the world to snoop on citizens.

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What is Apple's upcoming Lockdown Mode?

Apple's new feature is called Lockdown Mode and will effectively shut out parts of the iPhone or other devices from being attacked. This will protect iPhone users' email attachments and prevent unwanted FaceTime calls.

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Also read:?Next Generation Of Apple Watch Will Warn Users Who May Be Developing A Fever

In Lockdown Mode, iPhone owners who switch it on will not be able to use many Apple features like being able to physically connect with other computers, or being able to enroll in mobile device management programmes that are used by employers to observe work phones.

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The feature is aimed at a fraction of iPhone users who may have been targetted by spyware. Apple hasn't specified how many of its billion iPhones have been spied on. Even then, Apple has notified customers in 150 countries that may have been victims of spyware.

Also read:?Apple's Base 13-Inch MacBook Pro With M2 Chip Is 50% Slower Than The M1 Variants

To make sure that Lockdown Down remains robust, Apple will pay security researchers $2 million for reporting vulnerabilities in the new feature.?Last year, Apple released a critical update to iOS after it was revealed that NSO Group's Pegasus was used to spy on a Saudi critic. After this, NSO Group was sued by Apple. On the other hand, NSO claimed that it only sells its spyware to authorised governments.

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What do you think, should tech companies take more responsibility to prevent spyware? Let us know in the comments below. For?more in the world of?technology?and?science, keep reading?Indiatimes.com.

References

Sean Lyngaas, CNN Business. (2022, July 6). Apple plans new feature to protect journalists and human rights workers from spyware. CNN.?