This week, the federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), National Security Agency (NSA) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) warned citizens that a threat actor associated with China had compromised the networks of major global telecommunications providers to spy on customers. Jeff Greene, the CISA Executive Assistant Director for Cybersecurity, warned that this "cyber activity poses a serious threat to critical infrastructure, government agencies, and businesses." The hackers are part of a group called Salt Typhoon. According to reporting by Ellen Nakashima of the Washington Post, the Chinese government is behind the attack, and it has been going on for more than a year. The same report quotes Sen. Mark R. Warner, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, as saying that it is the "worst telecom hack in our nation's history—by far." The federal agencies provided information to telecommunication companies such as AT&T and Verizon on what they could do to try to mitigate the threat, but the networks are still compromised because the fix involves replacing "literally thousands and thousands and thousands of pieces of equipment across the country," according to Sen. Warner. In the meantime, what can you as a smartphone user do? The CISA says that you need to ensure that your communications are "end-to-end encrypted to the maximum extent possible." For iPhone users, this is relatively easy to do. The Messages app and FaceTime app use end-to-end encryption, so as long as you have been communicating with another iPhone user—a blue bubble person—using the default apps, you have been safe. But as John Gruber of Daring Fireball notes, Android users need to jump through a bunch of hoops to use end-to-end encryption, and text messages between Android phones and iPhones are not end-to-end encrypted, even if you are using the RCS standard added to the iPhone a few months ago. Apple isn't perfect, but the company's focus on security and privacy for its customers is comforting when we learn about attacks like this. And now, the other news of note from the past week:
- Longtime tech reporter Steven Levy interviewed Apple CEO Tim Cook for the cover story of this month's Wired magazine. It is an interesting and wide-ranging interview, and I encourage you to read it. You can read it on the Wired website, or if you have an app that lets you read magazines from your local library, you can read a digital version of the issue. (I used the Flipster app on my iPad).
- The interview started by discussing AI, and Levy pointed out in the introduction that while some say that Apple is behind other companies on AI, Apple is rarely the first company to make something—others made MP3 players before the iPod; others made smartphones before the iPhone—but Apple often introduces the most significant product. Cook resisted the idea that if you use AI to help you do something like write it means that you are not the author. He likened it to a musician using software like Logic Pro to create music but the artist is still the author.
- When asked in that interview why the Apple Vision Pro hasn't sold as many units as some had predicted, Cook responded that it is an "early adopted product, for people who want tomorrow's technology today." He also said that the key is to have developers start to develop apps to improve the ecosystem, and that is happening. He agreed that over time, this product is likely to evolve into mixed-reality glasses that people will wear continually, like eyeglasses.
- Cook also discussed with Levy Apple's contribution to the field of medical technology, such as the health features of the Apple Watch and the new hearing aid feature for the AirPods Pro. Cook said: "It's clear to me that if you zoom out way into the future, and you look back and ask what Apple's biggest contribution was, it will be in the health area." Cook also admitted that researchers were analyzing the possibility that Apple technology could use AI to diagnose medical conditions long before a doctor could.
- Finally, when Levy asked Cook if the iPhone would still be around years from now—such as a potential "iPhone 30" instead of today's iPhone 16—Cook said that while the product will change due to innovation, he sees the iPhone "lasting a very long time."
- In an article for Forbes, accessibility technology expert Steven Aquino interviewed Sarah Herrlinger of Apple to talk about the new AirPods Pro hearing aid feature. She noted that this feature grew out of three efforts at Apple: the focus on acoustic technology, "the company's institutional ethos on prioritizing accessibility," and Apple's "ever-burgeoning ambitions in healthcare." She also noted that Apple designs products with accessibility in mind right from the start.
- Speaking of using the AirPods Pro as a hearing aid, last week I linked to a moving Apple commercial showing a father using AirPods so that he could hear his daughter play music. An article by Brett Williams of Men's Health reveals that the ad is based on a true story. The protagnist in the commercial is not an actor but a real person—John Pelletreau of Chicago.
- In another article about the ad by Tim Nudd of Ad Age, Pelletreau says: "My wife and I watch TV at two entirely different volumes. That’s been our struggle forever. ... Her level is, like, 4. I’m at like a 10. I have to have the volume way up to understand what they're saying. After getting the AirPods Pro set up with Hearing Aid, well, I'll just say she's a fan. We haven't had a single conversation about the TV volume this week." Pelletreau also explained that in the past "my brain was doing all this 'predictive text'—trying to get the gist even if I couldn’t follow all the words. My brain would try to fill in gaps, and I would just nod and give a more generic answer." But with the AirPods Pro, "I'm not having to actively put effort into understanding what people are saying. I can just hear it." The article also reveals that while the daughter playing the guitar in the commercial is an actress, the home videos of the daughter when she was younger are real home videos.
- In the current version of watchOS, a live activity can show up on your Apple Watch, and when it does, it is what you see when you lift your wrist. So you might see playback controls if media is playing on an Apple TV. Or if the New Orleans Saints are playing football, when I lift my wrist, I see the score. I think it is is a neat feature, but if you want to turn it off and just see your normal watch face, Tim Hardwick of MacRumors explains how to do that.
- Andrew Orr of AppleInsider explains how to get answers to math equations in the Notes app in iOS 18.
- Jackie Snow of the Wall Street Journal explains the ultra-secure Lockdown Mode feature and explains who might want to turn it on. (Apple News link.)
- Very soon—perhaps next week?—Apple will release iOS 18.2. Ryan Christoffel of 9to5Mac discusses some of the upcoming changes to the Photos app. For example, if you don't like the way that all videos automatically loop in iOS 18.1 (I'm not a fan), you will be able to disable that in settings in iOS 18.2.
- A few days ago, I couldn't find my keys. Fortunately, the have an AirTag on them, so I was able to find them in my house—in a location where I had already looked but I somehow missed them the first time. Sigh. But it was yet another example of how much I like Apple's Find My technology. Chance Miller of 9to5Mac recommends some Find My accessories that you might consider buying this holiday season.
- Anthony Breznican of Vanity Fair interviews Ben Stiller and Don Erickson to discuss the upcoming and highly-anticipated Season 2 of Severance.
- And finally, Apple's headquarters in the United Kingdom is in a building called Battersea Power Station, which Wikipedia notes is a decommissioned coal-fired power station on the River Thames in London that is one of the largest brick buildings in the world. To celebrate Christmas, Apple hired the animation studio Aardman to use the iPhone to create stop-motion Wallace & Gromit animations that are projected onto the side of the building including two large wash towers. It looks like it would be impressive to see in person. Here is a page on the Apple website about the project, here is a short video showing how you can make your own stop-motion video using Aardman's app, and here is a fun making-of video:
