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schneierBruce SchneierSCHNEIER:2B13DA4A599751F32BBC82D2B216201D
HistoryFeb 23, 2022 - 12:28 p.m.

Bypassing Apple’s AirTag Security

2022-02-2312:28:52
Bruce Schneier
www.schneier.com
12
apple
airtag
security systems
berlin-based
clone
online available
anti-stalker
iphones
android app
piggyback
alarms
privacy threats

A Berlin-based company has developed an AirTag clone that bypasses Apple's anti-stalker security systems. Source code for these AirTag clones is available online.

So now we have several problems with the system. Apple's anti-stalker security only works with iPhones. (Apple wrote an Android app that can detect AirTags, but how many people are going to download it?) And now non-AirTags can piggyback on Apple's system without triggering the alarms.

Apple didn't think this through nearly as well as it claims to have. I think the general problem is one that I have written about before: designers just don't have intimate threats in mind when building these systems.