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T2

Eight 'T2' stories January 2018 - October 2020
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T2 exploit team demos a cable that hacks Mac without user intervention [U]

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Oct 13 2020 - 6:35 am PT
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T2 exploit demo

Update at the bottom: Another team with another cable able to hijack a Mac, among other devices.

The T2 exploit team who found a way to take over the security chip in modern Macs has demonstrated a way to do so without user intervention — using nothing more than a modified USB-C cable.

The ad-hoc team, who call themselves Team t8012 after Apple’s internal name for the chip, believe that nation-states may already be using this approach.

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T2 security chip on Macs can be hacked to plant malware; cannot be patched

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Oct 6 2020 - 4:19 am PT
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T2 security chip can be hacked

Speculation that the T2 security chip on modern Macs can be hacked has been confirmed by the team behind the research. A combination of two different exploits would give a hacker the ability to modify the behavior of the chip, and even plant malware like a keylogger inside it.

All Macs sold since 2018 contain the T2 chip, and because the attack uses code in the read-only memory section of the chip, there is no way for Apple to patch it …

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Apple updates 27-inch iMac with new 10th-gen Intel CPUs, T2 chip and a 1080p webcam

Avatar for Benjamin Mayo Aug 4 2020 - 8:04 am PT
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Apple has today updated the iMac with a few tech spec bumps. Although the rumored redesign did not come to pass, Apple has updated the 27-inch models with new 10th-generation Intel CPUs, a higher-resolution 1080p webcam.

Apple has also standardized SSDs across the lineup for fast internal storage, finally adding the Apple T2 chip. The 21.5-inch iMac also gets the SSD chip, with Fusion Drive as a build-to-order option.

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Comment: ‘$3k Macs reduced to $12 scrap’ shows need for a new T2 chip approach

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy May 5 2020 - 5:59 am PT
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A new T2 chip approach is needed

Apple has made great progress over the years in protecting its customers against two big risks: theft of their Apple devices, and exposure of their personal data.

Activation Lock was introduced in 2013 and made it impossible for a thief to restore an iPhone or iPad to factory settings without the Apple ID credentials of its owner, or proof of purchase. Apple’s T2 chip did the same job for Macs as of 2018.

But while that’s great for protecting data, and making Apple devices far less appealing targets to thieves, there is a big downside …

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