In recent months we have seen a rebound in leaks around iOS 14. If it is true that as we get closer to WWDC the rumors increase. However, the news about this operating system has been different in many ways: more reliable content, with screenshots and amazingly compatible with Apple's design. We now know that all this information comes from a leaked version of iOS 14 months ago that was stolen from an iPhone 11 in December 2019. Since then this version of iOS 14 seems to have become a bargaining chip for hackers and the media.
Apple's downgrade from leaks reaches iOS 14
Apple has always been mired in a cluster of leaks, events and rumors that made the keynotes were losing content since what was filtered was, to a large extent, what we saw on stage. However, this time the leaks have set a precedent. For a few months 9to5mac showed iOS 14 screenshots as if they had a final version of the operating system. Among the media they were amazed that this blog could have so much information without knowing how. Now, thanks to a Motherboard chronicle, we know a little more about the story.
En December 2019 there was a robbery of a iPhone 11 with engineer privileges with a version of iOS 14 installed. The terminal was sold to China for thousands of dollars and that was the moment where everything began to change. Converting an operating system into a currency is not the most logical thing to do, but it is the most precious thing for hackers and media. On the one hand, hackers are capable of scan for vulnerabilities in iOS 14. While the media are able to offer privileged and truthful information before anyone else.
This iPhone 11 had root privileges so it is easier to make a complete copy of the operating system. Since then there is a network of researchers, media and hackers who have of the same version of iOS 14 as the stolen iPhone. In other words, you see a sales flow that sets a precedent even much worse than when the iPhone 4 was stolen in that San Francisco bar in 2010.
In addition, on Twitter under various hastag or even on the Dark Web there are many who offer the operating system in exchange for money. And it is that having iOS 14 almost 8 months before its launch is important. Although, unfortunately, this stolen version is similar, but it will have nothing to do with the final version. This event begins to reveal the Apple's degradation in the face of this type of leakage.