Category: Apple Insider

By AppleInsider Staff
Thursday, January 30, 2020, 06:43 pm PT (09:43 pm ET)

Apple’s WebKit engineers are working on a standardized format for SMS messages containing one-time passcodes, an initiative that could one day better protect users by streamlining two-step authentication logins.

Apple previously relied on two-step verification for Apple ID.

Posted to GitHub on Thursday, the proposal from Apple seeks to simplify the OTP SMS mechanism commonly used by websites, businesses and other entities to confirm login credentials as part of two-step authentication systems, reports ZDNet.

Two-step solutions require a user’s password and another element, in this case a one-time code sent over SMS, to gain access to a target account. Currently, it is difficult to impossible for software to automatically extract the necessary information from an OTP SMS message, as they can arrive in a range of text formats. This means users must manually enter the provided code into an input box.

Apple’s proposal seeks to eliminate user intervention in the OTP SMS process, namely copy-and-pasting one-time codes from messages into a browser. It also states that a more refined solution would ensure that one-time codes sent over SMS are used only on originating sites.

Using a “lightweight text format,” the proposed format embeds an actionable one-time code in an SMS message and links that code to a particular originating URL. Doing so allows recipient systems to automatically extract the code and log in to an associated website.

Apple provides an example SMS:

747723 is your [website] authentication code.
@website.com #747723

The first line in the message above is optional human-readable text to explain the incoming message, while the second line contains information for programmatic use. Special characters are employed to denote the one-time code and originating URL, which in this case is “747723” and “website.com,” respectively.

Apple and Google have signed on to the proposal, while Mozilla has not made an official statement on the standard, the report said.

For its part, Apple has moved its products from two-step verification to more secure two-factor authentication methods that rely on passcodes sent to pre-enrolled trusted devices.

By Mikey Campbell
Wednesday, January 29, 2020, 08:12 pm PT (11:12 pm ET)

Apple reportedly directed artificial intelligence startup Xnor.ai to cease work on U.S. Department of Defense initiative Project Maven after it acquired the company in January.

Source: DOD

Citing people familiar with the matter, The Information on Wednesday reports Xnor.ai was until recently working on Project Maven with fellow startup Clarifai. That ended shortly after Apple bought the Seattle-based Xnor.ai for a reported $200 million this month.

Officially announced in 2017, Project Maven seeks to develop computer vision technologies capable of autonomously analyzing image data captured by military drones and other systems. To achieve its goal, the government is working with a number of private sector specialists as it builds out the technology.

Spun out of the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence, Xnor.ai focused on low-power, edge-based artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms that can run on-device instead of in the cloud.

As noted by the report, running AI processes like image recognition on an iPhone instead of offsite — a practice that edge-based computing enables — could raise privacy concerns. Always the bastion of consumer security, Apple likely recognized the implications — and optics — of Xnor.ai’s involvement in Project Maven and terminated the work before the press caught wind of the relationship.

Unlike other big tech firms, like Google which pulled out of Project Maven after protests from employees, Apple typically distances itself from military contracting activities. The company has in the past supplied devices to various military branches on terms similar or identical to conventional enterprise sales. In 2008, Apple allowed then recently-acquired PA Semi to temporarily continue component supply deals with military equipment makers.

Exclusive

By Christine McKee
Tuesday, January 28, 2020, 08:19 pm PT (11:19 pm ET)

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Loaded MacBook Pros fall to $1,229

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*Special activation instructions
To activate the discounted prices, you must shop through the special pricing links above or in our 2017 13-inch MacBook Pro and 2018 15-inch MacBook Pro Price Guides from a laptop, desktop or iPad. We apologize, but the offer cannot be redeemed in mobile apps at this time. Need help? Send us a note at [email protected] and we will do our best to assist.

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Interested in additional Apple hardware? See if there is a Mac, iPad or Apple Watch deal that will save you $100s by checking out prices.appleinsider.com.

By Mikey Campbell
Friday, January 24, 2020, 05:41 pm PT (08:41 pm ET)

An Apple representative is slated to attend a meeting on Monday held by the Carin Alliance, a nonpartisan group currently advocating to push through government policy that would allow fast, easy access to patient health information.

Ricky Bloomfield, Apple’s clinical and health informatics lead, is scheduled to join a meeting at which attendees will discuss efforts to support a Department of Health and Human Services initiative on medical data interoperability, CNBC reports.

Proposed by the HHS in 2019, the proposal would modify rules governing access to health information, allowing patients to more easily obtain and share personal data. These provisions must first pass muster with the Office of Management and Budget, which is where the Carin Alliance comes in.

According to a press release (PDF link), the group seeks to “rapidly advance the ability for consumers and their authorized caregivers to easily get, use, and share their digital health information when, where, and how they want to achieve their goals.” At the upcoming meeting, advocates will ask the OMB to release rule changes proposed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC), as well as the 21st Century Cures Act: Interoperability, Information Blocking, and the ONC Health IT Certification Program. The group cites consensus reached during a public comment period.

Those in favor of the policy modifications seek to modernize America’s health records system. Existing systems silo data and limit cooperative exchange between health care providers. Currently, patients looking to switch doctors or facilities, or share data with others, are typically required to request hard copies of medical histories. Data is often stored on physical media like CDs that are not easily transferrable. Others are denied access altogether, the report notes.

Proponents of the rule changes argue barriers that inhibit free movement between doctors and health institutions are proving detrimental to public health. Opposing voices, like medical records giant Epic, actively urge customers, like hospitals, to fight the proposals out of supposed concern for patient privacy.

Along with Apple’s Bloomfield, more than 40 representatives from major medical and tech companies, including Microsoft, will take part in the gathering either in person or by phone, according to an attendee list released Friday (PDF link).

Bloomfield is a physician with a background in mobile technology who currently serves as pediatric hospitalist at Stanford Children’s Health and an adjunct clinical assistant professor at Stanford University School of Medicine. He is currently working on technologies that allow users to carry health information on iPhone, the report said.

Apple has long been an advocate of making health data portable and in 2018 launched the Health Records feature on iOS. Built into the Health app, Health Records enables iPhone users to securely store and share medical data from participating healthcare providers. The effort debuted with support from 39 medical groups, later expanding to 75 backers in less than six months. Most recently, veterans gained access to the feature when the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs integrated support for Health Records in November.

By AppleInsider Staff
Thursday, January 23, 2020, 05:59 pm PT (08:59 pm ET)

Apple has leased the entirety of San Jose’s “Triangle Building,” a well known six-floor office building near the company’s main Apple Park campus.

Apple is leasing the entirety of the “Triangle Building” in San Jose. | Source: Google Maps

The tech giant has leased all six floors of the 86,000-square-foot office building at 5300 Stevens Creek Blvd., according to public filings reported by Mercury News.

Apple first rented a portion of the building in 2012, though information from property listing services reveal the company did not continuously use the space. Today’s reported lease appears to be a more permanent endeavor, as construction is underway on all floors to make ready for whatever plans the company has in store for the property. Apple logos can be seen throughout the building, the report said.

The new lease expands Apple’s presence in the area. Last year, the iPhone maker snapped up two buildings on the same street, while today’s report notes office space leased in a complex located directly across from the Triangle Building.

Apple owns and leases multiple properties in and around the Bay Area of California, including a headquarters in Cupertino and offices in Santa Clara, San Jose, Milpitas and beyond. Locations range from the high-profile, multi-billion-dollar Apple Park in Cupertino to smaller operations in Sunnyvale, the latter of which has been described as a “black site” by contractors.