16 Minutes on the News #9: All the Recent Phone Hacks

This is episode #9 of our news show, 16 Minutes, where we quickly cover recent headlines of the week, the a16z way -- why they’re in the news; why they matter from our vantage point in tech -- and share our experts’ views on the trends involved.

This week we do a short but deep dive to tease apart the FUD from the facts on all the phone hacks of late (also, arguably, one of the worst years on record for certain device manufacturers) -- given the following news:

• Just this week, the FBI’s Cyber Division released a notification to private industry on “Cyber Criminals Use Social Engineering and Technical Attacks to Circumvent Multi-Factor Authentication”;
• Last week, a telecom security firm reported a vulnerability called “Simjacker” where SMS containing spyware-like code "takes over" a phone's SIM card in order to retrieve and perform sensitive commands, regardless of platform or device;
• Over the past month, Google and Apple have been going back and forth over a post the former released, “A very deep dive into iOS Exploit chains found in the wild”, where a small collection of hacked websites were using iPhone zero-day vulnerabilities to target China's Uyghur Muslim community (though Google is not the one who revealed the specific websites, Apple did confirm it in their response a week later) -- what do we make of this exchange; of the fact that zero-day hacks are now more expensive on Android than on Apple; and of Apple's ethos when it comes to a third-party ecosystem for security?

Finally, how should we think about phone authentication overall when it comes to security, and what can we do to secure ourselves? Our a16z experts -- general partner Martin Casado and former chief security officer/ operating partner for security Joel de la Garza -- share their thoughts on all this and more with host Sonal Chokshi, in this episode of 16 Minutes.

---

The views expressed here are those of the individual AH Capital Management, L.L.C. (“a16z”) personnel quoted and are not the views of a16z or its affiliates. Certain information contained in here has been obtained from third-party sources, including from portfolio companies of funds managed by a16z. While taken from sources believed to be reliable, a16z has not independently verified such information and makes no representations about the enduring accuracy of the information or its appropriateness for a given situation.

This content is provided for informational purposes only, and should not be relied upon as legal, business, investment, or tax advice. You should consult your own advisers as to those matters. References to any securities or digital assets are for illustrative purposes only, and do not constitute an investment recommendation or offer to provide investment advisory services. Furthermore, this content is not directed at nor intended for use by any investors or prospective investors, and may not under any circumstances be relied upon when making a decision to invest in any fund managed by a16z. (An offering to invest in an a16z fund will be made only by the private placement memorandum, subscription agreement, and other relevant documentation of any such fund and should be read in their entirety.) Any investments or portfolio companies mentioned, referred to, or described are not representative of all investments in vehicles managed by a16z, and there can be no assurance that the investments will be profitable or that other investments made in the future will have similar characteristics or results. A list of investments made by funds managed by Andreessen Horowitz (excluding investments for which the issuer has not provided permission for a16z to disclose publicly as well as unannounced investments in publicly traded digital assets) is available at a16z.com/investments.

Charts and graphs provided within are for informational purposes solely and should not be relied upon when making any investment decision. Past performance is not indicative of future results. The content speaks only as of the date indicated. Any projections, estimates, forecasts, targets, prospects, and/or opinions expressed in these materials are subject to change without notice and may differ or be contrary to opinions expressed by others. Please see a16z.com/disclosures for additional important information.

Stay Updated:

Find a16z on YouTube: YouTube

Find a16z on X

Find a16z on LinkedIn

Listen to the a16z Show on Spotify

Listen to the a16z Show on Apple Podcasts

Follow our host: https://twitter.com/eriktorenberg

Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.