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ITACS 5211: Introduction to Ethical Hacking

Wade Mackey

Apple’s New MacBook Disconnects Microphone “Physically” When Lid is Closed

October 31, 2018 by Haitao Huang 5 Comments

Apple introduces a new privacy feature for all new MacBooks that “at some extent” will prevent hackers and malicious applications from eavesdropping on your conversations.

Apple’s custom T2 security chip in the latest MacBooks includes a new hardware feature that physically disconnects the MacBook’s built-in microphone whenever the user closes the lid.

This feature is excellent as it makes impossible for malware to access your built-in microphone when the lid is closed, but honestly, it doesn’t help when you are most vulnerable, i.e. while working.

https://thehackernews.com/2018/10/apple-macbook-microphone.html

 

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized, Week 09: Malware Tagged With:

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Xinteng Chen says

    October 31, 2018 at 4:38 pm

    Hi Haitao

    Thanks for sharing the information to us. It is useful in some scenario, because some application may record the conversation by microphone. However, if users close the lid, that means they are not working. It is hard for attackers to get confidential information at this time. Therefore, Apple should figure out a better way to deal with the attacking by microphone.

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  2. Connor Fairman says

    October 31, 2018 at 6:20 pm

    I once did a project with an arduino where if you unplugged the arduino, it would stop connecting to the localhost on the computer. But, if you plugged it back in, it would automatically reconnect. I wonder if in this situation the same thing could happen; if someone has already gained access to your microphone and leaves the tool that makes that connection running, and you close your laptop lid, will it still remain listening for a connection, like my arduino? When you open it again, will you regain connection?

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  3. Ruby(Qianru) Yang says

    October 31, 2018 at 6:28 pm

    Hi Haitao, interesting news. I agree the author’s opinion that physical hardware disconnect feature would be more helpful if manufacturers could offer a manual switch using which users can turn on or off their device’s microphone or camera, whenever required.

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  4. Brock Donnelly says

    November 5, 2018 at 2:40 pm

    Yet another win for the Apple Inc. company. No matter how many vulnerabilities are found on their systems I would be hard pressed to see another company working so hard to proactively secure their hardware and software. I think this was a solid move on Apple’s part.

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  5. Sev Shirozian says

    November 6, 2018 at 12:00 am

    Here’s a little bit more information about Apple’s T2 security chip. It also gives you a secure enclave co-processor which provides the foundation for APFS encrypted storage, secure boot, and Touch ID on Mac.
    Touch ID on a Mac is the greatest thing ever. I just touch the sensor on my keyboard and I don’t have to enter any kind of password for authentication or even apple pay transactions.

    It will even help security the computer if the MacOS kernel was compromised. You can read more about the T2 chip here:

    https://www.apple.com/mac/docs/Apple_T2_Security_Chip_Overview.pdf

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