[Chaebixi]

>> Also included in this release is the manual for the CIA's "NightSkies 1.2" a "beacon/loader/implant tool" for the Apple iPhone. Noteworthy is that NightSkies had reached 1.2 by 2008, and is expressly designed to be physically installed onto factory fresh iPhones. i.e the CIA has been infecting the iPhone supply chain of its targets since at least 2008.

> Apple portrayed itself as a guardian angel for keeping the FBI of our devices for the past two years, while conveniently forgetting to mention that it has been installing iPhone backdoors for the CIA since 2008 [emphasis mine].

I think that's a misreading. The article only mentions "factory fresh" iPhones, which probably means ones that have not yet been unboxed, not necessarily ones still in the factory. IIRC, the NSA was intercepting packages in transit to install implants, and I'd imagine the CIA followed a similar process. So they had the cooperation of the shipping companies (e.g. USPS or UPS), not the manufactures like Apple or Dell.

I mean, it might be possible that manufactures were working with them as well (or perhaps just individual employees), but I haven't seen the evidence. Keeping some distance from the manufacturer would make some sense, if they wanted to keep the vulnerabilities secret.

[sanityUnbounded]

Yes you are right. My mistake, although I'd be very interested for wikileaks to reveal which shipping companies are complicit, whether it be USPS, UPS, or the packages are intercepted in China before they even reach the states.

[Chaebixi]

Now that I think of it, it might not even be the shippers doing the diversion, but Customs and Boarder Patrol:

http://www.joc.com/regulation-policy/customs-regulations/us-...:

> Tarek Morsi can almost set his calendar by the notices he gets from Customs when the agency selects a couple of his export containers for what it calls random inspections of their contents.

> HTS [Morsi's company] itself can’t perform the unpacking and repacking of its customers’ containers for inspections, because Customs picks the bonded warehouses it uses for its Customs Examination Stations.

> Another Los Angeles broker who asked not to be identified said Customs has confirmed to him that it is targeting export containers containing household goods, computers and peripherals, and used vehicles. “They are looking for illegal arms exports,” he said. Customs also may be targeting containers bound for Africa and the Middle East;