Apple's Iphone 17 Has A Big Anti-spyware Upgrade Built In - Here's What It Can Do

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ZDNET's cardinal takeaways

• iPhone 17 lineup brings important information upgrades.
• MIE focuses connected stopping sophisticated, targeted surveillance.
• Apple unveils Memory Integrity Enforcement (MIE) system.

Apple says its latest iPhone scope will incorporate caller representation information features designed to protect consumers from precocious spyware and surveillance.

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On nan heels of nan tech giant's keynote successful Cupertino this week, successful which Apple debuted nan new iPhone 17, Apple besides revealed that nan latest smartphones successful its merchandise statement will incorporate caller technologies designed to thwart modern cyberthreats.

Apple engineers person been moving connected a measurement to amended nan information of its mobile devices. Specifically, really to combat precocious attacks recovered astatine nan operating strategy and representation levels. The answer? Memory Integrity Enforcement (MIE).

Meet MIE

MIE was not developed to conflict against low-hanging consequence -- nan kinds of opportunistic cyberattackers who create basal malware and trust connected quality error, phishing, and fraud to discuss a system. Instead, nan representation information characteristic intends to break complex, expensive, and targeted onslaught chains connected pinch state-sponsored threat actors and top-tier spyware developers.

If this brings to mind cases including NSO Group's Pegasus, erstwhile malware was utilized to infiltrate phones reportedly belonging to activists and journalists, that's nan aim. According to Apple, MIE is focused connected disrupting "mercenary spyware" that whitethorn costs millions of dollars to target a prime few.

"Known mercenary spyware chains utilized against iOS stock a communal denominator pinch those targeting Windows and Android: they utilization representation information vulnerabilities, which are interchangeable, powerful, and beryllium passim nan industry," nan institution says.

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MIE provides always-on memory-safety protection, shielding nan kernel and complete 70 userland processes. It is built connected nan Enhanced Memory Tagging Extension (EMTE). Secure typed allocators and tag confidentiality protections support nan system.

Apple says that it worked pinch Arm to reside weaknesses successful nan Memory Tagging Extension (MTE) specification, released backmost successful 2019, starring to nan creation of 2022's EMTE done a collaboration betwixt Apple and Arm. (While acknowledging that MIE is apt a awesome protect boost for iPhones, it should beryllium noted that nan mobile information task GrapheneOS has responded to Apple's claims concerning nan wide information of MTE.)

How effective is MIE?

How effective MIE will beryllium successful fighting precocious surveillance and spyware remains to beryllium seen, but keeping successful mind that iOS is little susceptible successful wide to malware owed to nan iPad and iPhone maker's stringent app controls, astatine least, it will hopefully trim nan occurrence complaint -- and summation nan costs -- of launching these types of analyzable attacks.

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"We judge Memory Integrity Enforcement represents nan astir important upgrade to representation information successful nan history of user operating systems," Apple commented. "We judge MIE will make utilization chains importantly much costly and difficult to create and maintain, disrupt galore of nan astir effective exploitation techniques from nan past 25 years, and wholly redefine nan scenery of representation information for Apple products."

If you're willing successful adopting these features for yourself, present is how to preorder nan iPhone 17, iPhone Air, Apple Watch Series 11, and more.