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 Germany's Der Spiegel reported this week that a secretive unit of
the NSA, which is under fire for the extent and depth of its spying
programs around the world, makes specialized gear and software to
infiltrate and monitor a plethora of computing devices, including
mobile phones.
(http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/
a-941262.html)
The report included an NSA graphic dated 2008 that outlined a system
in development called DROPOUTJEEP, described as a "software implant"
that allows infiltrators to push and pull and retrieve data from
iPhones such as contact lists. Der Spiegel referred to it as a "trojan,"
or malware that helps hackers get into protected systems.
The report, which surfaced on Sunday, did not suggest that Apple had
cooperated with the U.S. spying agency on so-called backdoors.
In a statement issued Tuesday, the NSA did not comment on any
specific allegations but said that its interest "in any given
technology is driven by the use of that technology by foreign
intelligence targets."
"The United States pursues its intelligence mission with care to
ensure that innocent users of those same technologies are not
affected," the agency added.
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The iPhone was a relatively innovative gadget in 2008. It hit the
market in 2007 and proceeded to help revolutionize the mobile phone
industry.
"Apple has never worked with the NSA to create a backdoor in any of
our products, including iPhone. Additionally, we have been unaware
of this alleged NSA program targeting our products," the company
said in a statement.
"We will continue to use our resources to stay ahead of malicious
hackers and defend our customers from security attacks, regardless
of who's behind them."
(Reporting by Edwin Chan; editing by
Cynthia Osterman)
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