Apple has responded to a series of CIA documents published by WikiLeaks this week that lists exploits used by the government to gain access to Mac and iOS devices. Apple furnished a statement to TechCrunch that states the listed exploits are old, and the security flaws have been long since patched.
Apple’s full statement reads:
We have preliminarily assessed the Wikileaks disclosures from this morning. Based on our initial analysis, the alleged iPhone vulnerability affected iPhone 3G only and was fixed in 2009 when iPhone 3GS was released. Additionally, our preliminary assessment shows the alleged Mac vulnerabilities were previously fixed in all Macs launched after 2013.
We have not negotiated with Wikileaks for any information. We have given them instructions to submit any information they wish through our normal process under our standard terms. Thus far, we have not received any information from them that isn’t in the public domain. We are tireless defenders of our users’ security and privacy, but we do not condone theft or coordinate with those that threaten to harm our users.
The new documents were released by WikiLeaks on Thursday morning, and are part of an ongoing “Vault 7” series of leaks that focuses on the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. The “Dark Matter” CIA documents mostly focused on techniques used to exploit and access a Mac via a USB stick or other peripheral. Also shared was an iPhone exploit called Night Skies 1.2.”
We’ll keep you posted on any other Apple-related developments as the “Vault 7” releases continue to surface.
