Apple is pushing back on a recent Google report that detailed more than a dozen iPhone security flaws.
Last week, Google researchers confirmed they had found 14 vulnerabilities in Apple's iOS, resulting in a "sustained effort to hack the users of iPhones in certain communities over a period of at least two years." Analysts for Google's Project Zero said that a collection of compromised websites had been used to attack iPhones running iOS 10 to iOS 12; the sites in question were embedded with malware that could steal private data—including iMessages and real-time GPS locations—whenever they were accessed with an iPhone.
"There was no target discrimination; simply visiting the hacked site was enough for the exploit server to attack your device, and if it was successful, install a monitoring implant," the report read. "We estimate that these sites receive thousands of visitors per week."
Apple responded to the findings in a blog post Friday, reassuring customers the security flaws had been fixed within 10 days after its team had become aware of the hacking scheme. The company also claimed that the iPhone attack was "narrowly focused" and not as serious as Google had made it out to be. Apple then suggested its competitor had purposely misled the public in an attempt to weaken customer trust.
Though Google's report did not specify which communities were affected by the hacking scheme, TeleTech later reported that the Uighurs, an oppressed ethnic Muslim group in China, were the targets.
Google defended its report in a statement to Wired: