The company Elcomsoft discovered that Safari browsing data deleted by the user was being saved in iCloud. Apple’s intent was not malicious
Apple kept Safari browsing data for years, even when it was deleted. The discovery was made by researchers at Russian company Elcomsoft, which specializes in enterprise and computer security solutions. From Cupertino, however, they speak of a simple design oversight.
To notice the specific problem was Elcomsoft’s researcher, Kladimir Katalov, who is also CEO of the Russian company. The discovery happened by chance while Katalov was looking through a special software used by his company and also released to the public, at the browsing history on Safari of his iPhone. The researcher realized that the data dated back up to November 2015 despite the fact that he had deleted it much more recently. Therefore, it seems that Apple kept these data in a record on iCloud, naming them with the title “tombstone”. Which translated into Italian would be tombstone or tombstone.
Who does the problem concern?
The problem found by Elcomsoft however does not concern all Apple users but only those who have activated the Safari option in iCloud. According to computer security experts questioned by Forbes, however, Apple’s intent was not malicious. And Cupertino to avoid further problems related to privacy has reduced the saves from one year to two weeks. The company also rejected any allegations about the sale to third-party companies of these data of its users and recommended consumers to constantly update iCloud passwords and to create ones that are difficult to decipher for hackers and cyber criminals. Apple in particular then recommended enabling two-factor authentication.