Zach Edwards, an independent privacy and security researcher, says that “technologies cannot be sold randomly to any company, in any country in the world.”
“Although Corellium is a non-hazardous transaction tool, the main purpose of this tool is to remove malware,” says Edwards. “And if you sell this product to malware developers in countries that don’t like Europeans, we have to assume that this tool will be used to develop malware.”
A person who tested Corellium in the past, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak to the press, said that “considering what is happening in the world today, you should not do business with Russian companies,” such as Elcomsoft. .
Elcomsoft CEO Katalov says “the decision to work with a company based in Russia is a personal decision.”
“Please be assured that we continue to strive to provide the best software and services, and try to maintain good relationships with our customers around the world,” he adds. “We will continue to do our job, making the world a safer place and fighting crime.”
Adrian Sanabria, a cyber security expert, says that it is not surprising that “groups that want to develop iOS devices will use a platform designed for iOS security research.”
“For me, the biggest takeaway is that Apple created the need for a platform like Corellium by not providing the tools, capabilities, and understanding the needs and desires of the market,” he says.
Dangerous Places
Some of the institutions and companies related to Corellium in the document come from countries that are seen as antagonistic to many people in the area of cybersecurity in the West, including Alex Stamos, who was a witness for Corellium in the case against Apple.
“I personally do not believe that it would be good to do business in Saudi Arabia,” said Stamos, director of the Internet Observatory at Stanford University, during his testimony in the lawsuit between Apple and Corellium, which is included in the document.
Stamos also expressed skepticism about selling products to the United Arab Emirates, whose government had close ties to DarkMatter. “The UAE has been shown to use malware and fraud to spy on the media and stifle domestic dissent,” Stamos said.
In response to the revelations of the document, Stamos says that he does not think that “it is appropriate for Apple to use the copyright law to try to prevent security research, and I do not think that it is the responsibility of Corellium to give their products to companies that are known to make bad programs of sovereign countries.”
The document also includes the logos of customers claiming to be Corellium and associated companies. In addition to the companies already mentioned, the document includes the logo of Azimuth, a leading supplier of advanced equipment to the intelligence and law enforcement agencies of the so-called Five Eyes. Other logos include the Center for Strategic Infocomm Technologies of Singapore, or CSIT, and the logo of an academic institution in Saudi Arabia called the Center of Excellence in Information Assurance (COEIA), located at King Saud University.
CSIT officials did not respond to a request for comment. Besides the COEIA logo, the document also shows a 2019 email titled “invitation to Corellium” sent to the agency. COEIA did not respond to a request for comment.
The legal battle between Apple and Corellium continues. Late last month, the two companies appeared at a US Supreme Court hearing in Florida. Apple’s lawyer, Melissa Sherry, argued that Corellium’s product is a slightly modified version of iOS that is not sufficiently modified to constitute fair use. Corellium’s attorney Kevin Russell said the product helps users “reflect Apple’s performance” and, therefore, is fair use.
“I don’t think there’s any real dispute that the purpose of the drug is to investigate the unprotected functions of the system’s software,” he said. “What people do with that information is a matter for another law.”
