Apple’s Tim Cook Heads To China Looking For ‘Man In The Middle’ That Hacked iCloud
Apple recently posted a security bulletin alerting iCloud users to the presence of "intermittent organized network attacks using insecure certificates to obtain user information," and though the company didn't publicly point a finger at China, several reports suggested that's where they're coming from. In response to the attacks, Apple CEO Tim Cook booked a flight to China today to try and resolve the issue.
Citing China's state-run Xinhua News Agency, PCWorld says that Cook met with Chinese Vice Premier Ma Kai in Beijing to talk about improving cooperation in the telecommunication industry, as well as to discuss security related topics, protecting users' privacy, and other issues.
It's not all that unusual for Cook to visit China. Many of Apple's parts suppliers are located there, and it also happens to be an enormous market for the company's products. However, this particular visit wasn't to check in on its own operations. Apple's iCloud service has been suffering "man-in-the-middle" attacks that security researchers are fairly certain are from China.
The attacks began shortly after Apple launched its iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in the region. There have been reports that the Chinese government is behind the attacks, as opposed to a rogue group of hackers, though obviously Chinese officials are denying any involvement.
While it's not known for sure who is responsible for the attacks, there has been concerns in China regarding the security of Apple's products, as well as those of other vendors (Microsoft's Windows 8 was banned from government use earlier this year). Prior to the iPhone 6 being released in China, officials wanted Apple to address what they perceived as security flaws in iOS.
Citing China's state-run Xinhua News Agency, PCWorld says that Cook met with Chinese Vice Premier Ma Kai in Beijing to talk about improving cooperation in the telecommunication industry, as well as to discuss security related topics, protecting users' privacy, and other issues.
It's not all that unusual for Cook to visit China. Many of Apple's parts suppliers are located there, and it also happens to be an enormous market for the company's products. However, this particular visit wasn't to check in on its own operations. Apple's iCloud service has been suffering "man-in-the-middle" attacks that security researchers are fairly certain are from China.
The attacks began shortly after Apple launched its iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in the region. There have been reports that the Chinese government is behind the attacks, as opposed to a rogue group of hackers, though obviously Chinese officials are denying any involvement.
While it's not known for sure who is responsible for the attacks, there has been concerns in China regarding the security of Apple's products, as well as those of other vendors (Microsoft's Windows 8 was banned from government use earlier this year). Prior to the iPhone 6 being released in China, officials wanted Apple to address what they perceived as security flaws in iOS.
