Philip Houska For Apple, user security is one of the principles on which it bases its operation. It's not that long since it happened he was going to put on trial. However, with the introduction of the new iOS 10, the Californian company took a rather unexpected step when, for the first time ever, it did not encrypt the core of the operating system, completely voluntarily. However, according to an Apple spokesperson, it's not a big deal and it can only help.
Security experts from the magazine came across this fact MIT Technology Review. They discovered that the core of the operating system ("kernel"), i.e. the heart of the system, which coordinates the activities of all running processes on a given device, is not encrypted in the first beta version of iOS 10, and everyone has the opportunity to examine the implemented codes. This happened for the first time ever. Previous kernels were always encrypted within iOS without exception.
After this discovery, the tech world began to speculate whether Cook's company did this on purpose or not. "The kernel cache does not contain any user information, and by not encrypting it, it opens up opportunities for us to optimize the performance of the operating system without compromising security," an Apple spokesperson explained to the magazine TechCrunch.
An unencrypted kernel undoubtedly has some advantages. At first, it is important to note that encryption and security are two different words in this regard. Just because iOS 10's core isn't encrypted doesn't mean it loses its already comprehensive security. Instead, it uploads it to developers and researchers, who will have the opportunity to look into internal codes that have been secret until now.
It is this kind of interaction that can prove to be effective. The persons in question can discover possible security errors in the system and then report them to Apple, which would solve them. Even so, it is not 100% excluded that the information obtained will not be misused in some way.
The whole situation regarding the opening of the "kernel" to the public could have something to do with the recent one by the Apple vs. FBI. Among other things, Jonathan Zdziarski, an expert on the security of the iOS platform, writes about this, who explained that once the wider community has an insight into these codes, potential security flaws would be discovered faster and by more people, so it would not be necessary hire groups of hackers, but "ordinary" developers or experts would suffice. In addition, the costs of legal interventions would be reduced.
Even though the company from Cupertino publicly admitted that it opened the core of the new iOS on purpose, even after a more detailed explanation, it raises certain doubts. As Zdziarski put it, "It's like forgetting to install a door in an elevator."
