Apple CEO Tim Cook Meets with Top Chinese Official After iCloud Login Harvesting Claims - MacRumors
Skip to Content

Apple CEO Tim Cook Meets with Top Chinese Official After iCloud Login Harvesting Claims

timcook.png Apple CEO Tim Cook met with a top Chinese government official in Beijing Wednesday to discuss the security of user data, reports Reuters. The meeting comes after web censorship blog Great Fire claimed earlier this week that hackers worked with Chinese authorities to harvest Apple ID information from Chinese users visiting iCloud.com.

Yesterday, Apple issued a statement acknowledging the attacks on its servers and launched a new browser security guide on its website. The guide stressed the importance of digital certificates, asking users to check for any certificate warnings in their browser and ensure that they are connected to iCloud.com versus a malicious third-party website that resembles the service's homepage.

China has become an increasingly important market for Apple, as the company now has eleven retail stores in the country and sells the iPhone on all three major wireless carriers. Apple also launched the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in China last Friday following a week of successful pre-orders.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Popular Stories

iOS 26

iOS 26.4 Adds Two New Features to CarPlay

Tuesday March 24, 2026 1:55 pm PDT by
iOS 26.4 was released today, and it includes a couple of new features for CarPlay: an Ambient Music widget and support for voice-based chatbot apps. To update your iPhone 11 or newer to iOS 26.4, open the Settings app and tap on General → Software Update. CarPlay will automatically offer the new features so long as the iPhone connected to your vehicle is running iOS 26.4 or later....
Apple Business hero

Apple Unveils 'Apple Business' All-in-One Platform

Tuesday March 24, 2026 8:53 am PDT by
Apple today announced Apple Business, a new all-in-one platform that unifies device management, productivity tools, and customer outreach features. The service is designed to be a consolidated replacement for several of Apple's existing business-focused offerings, including Apple Business Essentials, Apple Business Manager, and Apple Business Connect. It provides organizations with a single...
AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

Apple Releases New Firmware for AirPods Pro 3, AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4

Tuesday March 24, 2026 12:31 pm PDT by
Apple today released new firmware for the AirPods Pro 2, AirPods Pro 3, and the AirPods 4. The firmware has a version number of 8B39, up from 8B34 on the AirPods Pro 3, 8B28 on the AirPods Pro 2, and 8B21 on the AirPods 4. There is no word on what's included in the firmware, but Apple has a support document with limited notes. Most updates are limited to bug fixes and performance...

Top Rated Comments

0098386 Avatar
149 months ago
I'd pay good money to listen in on that meeting.

Just watch the stream, Apple are good at letting us listen to Chinese people during them.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
149 months ago
I'd pay good money to listen in on that meeting.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
149 months ago
The USA intelligence agencies harvest huge amounts of our online data from major IT companies.

The Chinese just want parity in the arms race.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JosephAW Avatar
149 months ago
I'm surprised that the Chinese govmnt even allows ios8 with all its security and encryption on the device unless apple has given them the back door key. The ppl there don't have any right to privacy under communism.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MyopicPaideia Avatar
149 months ago
Just the fact that the meeting took place gives credence to the claim that a Chinese gov't agency was involved in some way.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
gnasher729 Avatar
149 months ago
Do you understand Chinese? LOL

Does Tim Cook speak or understand Chinese? I doubt it. There will be at least a translator, so you would be able to hear everything in English.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)