Apple releases new ‘lockdown mode’ feature for iPhones as hackers attack

Tech juggernaut Apple has revealed a “groundbreaking” and “extreme” new feature which will be rolled out within months.

Tech giant Apple has revealed an “extreme” new measure designed to protect iPhone, iPad and Mac users from “sophisticated digital threats”.

In an announcement early Thursday morning Australian time, Apple unveiled a new “lockdown mode” designed to help protect users who might be targeted by hackers.

Set to launch in the coming months, lockdown mode “is an extreme, optional protection for the very small number of users who face grave, targeted threats to their digital security”.

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Apple says the ‘extreme’ new measure will protect customers who are personally targeted by sophisticated hackers. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Nicholas Eagar

“Apple makes the most secure mobile devices on the market. Lockdown mode is a groundbreaking capability that reflects our unwavering commitment to protecting users from even the rarest, most sophisticated attacks,” Apple’s head of security engineering and architecture Ivan Krstić said in a statement.

“While the vast majority of users will never be the victims of highly targeted cyber attacks, we will work tirelessly to protect the small number of users who are.

While the vast majority of users will never be the victims of highly targeted cyberattacks, Apple will work tirelessly to protect the small number of users who are. I’m deeply proud of our next steps, including a groundbreaking feature: Lockdown Mode. https://t.co/SESG7cnG1s

— Ivan Krstić (@radian) July 6, 2022

“That includes continuing to design defences specifically for these users, as well as supporting researchers and organisations around the world doing critically important work in exposing mercenary companies that create these digital attacks.”

Apple said lockdown mode would help specific users – such as reporters, human rights advocates or political dissidents – who might be “personally targeted” by companies developing state-sponsored mercenary spyware such as NSO Group, which created the “Pegasus” software that can carry out digital attacks and which has been linked to several major hacking scandals.

It comes after two Israeli companies took advantage of weaknesses in Apple’s software to hack into iPhones, with Apple suing NSO Group in response, and the firm landing on a trade blacklist.

Lockdown mode will be launched within months. Picture: iStock

According to Apple, turning on lockdown mode in iOS 16, iPadOS 16, and macOS Ventura “further hardens device defences and strictly limits certain functionalities, sharply reducing the attack surface that potentially could be exploited by highly targeted mercenary spyware”.

It will work by blocking most attachments sent to the iPhone’s Messages app, disabling certain complex web technologies and blocking incoming invitations and service requests if the user has not previously sent the initiator a call or request.

The digital juggernaut has also announced a $US2 million reward for researchers who find a way to bypass lockdown mode, in order to further strengthen the security measure.

Apple is also making a $US10 million grant to support organisations that investigate, expose, and prevent highly targeted cyber attacks, including those created by private companies developing state-sponsored mercenary spyware.

Originally published as Apple releases new ‘lockdown mode’ feature for iPhones as hackers attack