Apple Gathering FaceTime Information, Ability To See Video Calls
It is understandable that when big leaks are out, people need more proof before they can draw a final conclusion. Coming back to the topic, there were two leaks; ability to force updates to iPhone (running iOS 4) even when not connected to iTunes, and stealing user information via FaceTime (without giving an option to opt-out). According to this employee, Apple has ordered everyone not to support users who have jailbroken iPhones, and they have the system in place which can identify the baseband, carrier, and jailbreak status of each and every iPhone (running iOS4).
Since both are huge leaks, we will only discuss about FaceTime in this article. The force OTA update will be discussed in later article, after I have gathered more proof and verified that it is indeed carrier update (because it could be forced apple firmware update too). This OTA leak should not be considered final and should be added under the category “Rumor” until further proof is confirmed. Please read Update 4 in the original article.
Without further ado, below is the image shared by an Apple employee today, whom we nicknamed “Alpha”.
The email asks,
Apple employees to always check SMS provisioning and capability when troubleshooting activation issues. iPhone 4 FaceTime activation requires that the phones send an SMS to Apple to “?”. [If] SMS isn’t working properly, you may get errors like;
“video_pulls_sw” or “FaceTime activation pending”
Confirming good SMS capability should be resolving most of these issues.
This confirms that Apple has no opt-out in place. To activate FaceTime, your iPhone must be able to send an SMS to Apple which will contain your iPhone’s information and location. On further questioning, he also unveils that when FaceTime call is connected, both the callers and receiver’s location is send to Apple and saved in their internal database. We believe this to be true because Apple desperately needs user data for iAds.
The above image was taken using an iPhone (if you are from Press, email me so I can send you original image without watermark). This was the only viable option due to high security.
He also provided a description of the above screenshot, saying;
This is a screenshot taken from my iPhone of an E-mail we all received today about people’s connectivity with FaceTime and some customers asking why it was not working. Reason why is because we are undergoing server updates to see peoples Facetime, So this does show that we do receive a message when 2 people connect over FaceTime and get there locations and even deeper into it we have a internal on how to view those people but getting that screenshot is super hard with tighten security.
Keep in mind that this image was taken on iPhone 4 launch day. When questioned about Apple logging people’s FaceTime videos, he clarified by saying, “I doubt they (Apple) would use it but are capable of monitoring”.
Now I guess Apple has a lot of explanation to give. The fact that they have the ability to watch users via FaceTime is alarming. This also gives us a clue as to why Apple did not bother adding encryption to FaceTime.
We welcome all questions and opinions. Lets hear your sentiments in the comments.
Update: On Brian’s request I have marked this post as “likely” rumor. Will update this post with more photos and irrefutable proofs before marking it as confirmed.
For those who think this guy is “fake” and is probably fooling around should know that I know his full name, he works at Apple iPhone department, I have seen his photo, and know his location. Stay Tuned!
Update 2: We are sticking to our source, this is what he has to say,
Who pays for the sms? The customer or apple? To which phone number is the sms sent with all carriers worldwide? Does apple have a contract with all of them or does it not work with jb phones on unofficial carriers? OT: Is apple using MS Exchange Server?
The SMS is free because of a contract with Apple and AT&T, so the SMS is from you to Apple is a free message. Now there is a number you can call to try facetime. 1888facetime
You get in contact with an agent and it will send an SMS message to Apple without you knowing, And the agent will then see everything about your iphone, This is a proven fact. I tried it for myself today on my Apple Corporate iPhone 4 and it cause lots of issues for them. Reason why is because the information they pulled up said Apple INC and that was it. So it confused the agents who where lurking into my iPhone information, Only after I verified who I was and what I was doing then we laughed.
Now after this call ended I then Called on my Personal iPhone 4 that has no connection to Apple corporate. I called the 1888facetime again, This time the agent pulled up all my information and we continued with a test call of facetime, He asked me if my WiFi was on, yes. Then was my caller ID on, Yes. Then he stressed how important it was that I was receiving SMS messages in my area, When I asked him what does SMS have to do with a WiFi Connection he could not give me a honest word. “the way facetime works is it has to be on a WiFi signal and a SMS signal as well so the other person can receive your facetime invite. (Untrue) The person will receive your facetime via phone call your currently in asking if you would like to connect via facetime, The SMS is so apple can tag team into your information.
If you dont believe me call 1888-Facetime, you must have an iPhone 4 and wifi connection and SMS connection to do so.
So thats Facetime in a nutshell.
As far as Apple’s person internals go on how we recive E-mails I can’t disclose that information, you all see how it was sent on MS exchange server that was my e-mail server I use for half my messages then I use other e-mails and exchanges as well for me by importaince of the e-mail and who is messaging me at the time. So we will not go any further as to how our internal e-mail systems work.
Facetime I will not be able to show you solid proof of Facetime collecting information cause that is not in our building at Apple Inc. Its located in a different region in the US. The only way we could get a screen shot of this information is if an Agent over there would leak a picture of someone.
Update 3: Confirmed that he works at Apple iPhone Support department, below is the card all employees get when they join the team. The card is from Apple to Apple employees.
Update 4: Technically you have to be both in the WiFi and SMS range when using AT&T network, if you are outside the SMS range but using the WiFi, then you will get the following error.
Thanks a lot to this Apple employee for being straightforward and honest with me. He will be keeping tab on all questions in the comments. More information will be provided in the next few days. Stay Tuned!
Update 5: One commenter points out that this error message cannot be proof since it is also displayed when you call a phone which is not iPhone 4. This comment is incorrect.
Alpha says, “ok so lets say I’m on my iPhone 4 and I got the facetime setting enabled and SMS enabled and Wifi connection and I am talking to (John Doe) and he does not meet all the requirements: iPhone4, Wifi, SMS, Facetime enabled in setting, The call we are currently talking on is disconnected and we will have to call each other back. No error code”
He tells me that this is also written in the KB article. The best way to double confirm this is to test it out yourself.
Update 6: One thing that is left to be proven is that Apple is using unencrypted protocol. So far what we know is that Apple is using plain SIP (they use message for proprietary data exchange during the call) and STUN for firewall recovery. The proof regarding this will be up soon.
Update 7: Find out the reason behind using Microsoft Exchange and another leak here.
Update 8: Just for the sake of clarification, it has been confirmed that SMS is send only the 1st time, not every time the video call is made. For confirmation that the data is send over plain text without proper encryption, check this post. One reader has tested the FaceTime whose experiment can be read here.
Good article. Thank you
I like the products of your blog, maybe u will like these things of my blog!
First off a to use Outlook to access corporate or misc. emails requires a actual MS Exchange Server. There’s plenty wrong with this “source” and his “genuine” e-mails. Now I don’t doubt that this guy may work for apple as his e-mails seem to fit apple’s templates. Personally all I think of these pictures from a out dated exchange server. Is that this guy simply forwarded before editing from his internal email to his exchange email. There is many technical and logical problems with what this guy is stating. Brian covered a few, yes there is a SMS that apple receives when first Activating FaceTime but it’s mainly used to add a certificate to your iPhone. I don’t doubt that they don’t check compatibility before before doing the OTA, but that’s as far as that mist likely goes. The SMS after initial activation is for handshaking purposes. How is the other phone you are calling suppose to know your IP. There is someone out there that has created a app to send you this same cert. It activates FaceTime on unlocked and unofficial carriers. The rest us device to device how is this proven well let’s just say a friend of mine unlocks and jb’s many iDevices and second I know for a fact as I have personally seen it. That a unlocked, jb and FaceTime activated iPhone4 has been exchanged with apple for a replacement. For as long as I have known him he has exchanged many jb iDevice via Apple store and Apple care. As long as your not ignorant enough to walk into the Apple store with your jb device wide open with many unpaid apps they really don’t care. Another way of testing this is if you have a iTunes account and you bought some apps and have also dl other apps threw installous or downloads threw your pc. Goto your purchase history it will show you not only the apps you have bought and the price but it will also show you all the other apps you have dl threw other methods with a price of $0.00. Bottom line they don’t really care. If it’s your personal device there not going to use any of there recourses to get you. Now maybe hypothetically let’s just say you use one iTunes account on 50+ device then you’ll raise a flag. I have even read somewhere that on some photo of steve jobs somewhere speaking publicly that he was running a jail broken device, don’t know how true that was but I doubt he’s using a stock iPhone with DRM, contracted GSM or there 3G data.
That’s that if they wanted to intervene they have had many years to do so. It’s really about sales and until you touch there wallet anything goes.
My iPhone gets the “video_pulls_sw” and “FaceTime activation pending” messages. The SMS serevice provided by my carrier works fine. I can send and receive SMS even to and from abroad. I don’t know what to do. I have tried everything. Any clues?
This is all BS. Apple does not use Exchange for email. Check yourself. Look up Apple’s MX records and then Telnet to port 25 and see who answers. Lol. It’s their flavor of an SMTP server. This entire article is made up. It has wasted 10 mins of my life I’ll never get back.
Apple does not officially use it but this, along with many other employees do. The employees do not live in jail, they have freedom to use whatever they want.
Are you serious? Corporate messaging for Apple employees occur on “personal Microsoft Exchange Servers” that they run? I hope you know how untrue that sounds. Apple does NOT use Microsoft Exchange Server for a messaging solution for any Apple employees. Look up Apple’s DNS records. List the MX records and see what type of SMTP service they use for email. It’s not Exchange. It’s a doctored image if someone is telling you they work for Apple and they are using Exchange for employee communications. Period.
there is an opt out:
oo.apple.com
I have to say…It wouldn’t be too hard to fake a good e-mail on the computer then take a pic of it. In other words…yes, the meta-data may say the pic is from an iPhone….but who’s to say the data on the actual computer screen is valid??
Also, why would Apple use a Microsoft server? Don’t they have their own?
Any more updates about this?
What I find most hilarious is that if that screen shot is really a true image of the e-mail client Apple uses for internal e-mail, then they are using Microsoft Exchange server as that is the Outlook Web Access version for Exchange 2003. WOW!
Microsoft Exchange is used by this employee to manage some of his emails. It is not used by all Apple employees.
I call FUD. Why the heck would you use Exchange to ‘Manage’ your emails? That’s what Outlook is for.
If apple wants to be draconian then they can say goodbye to there market share. And I will will say hello to Android.
As for me, this is still a rumor, whether this is confirmed or not. On the other side, Apple did made his backdoor because the iTunes and iOS4 have this nice line that could be used in trial to help Apple get out of “if any” trouble.
Anyone skilled enough to listen to the carrier traffic and capture sms messages to see what’s inside? AFAIK messages are not encrypted anyway and this would be THE proof.
This is all great, except for the fact that none of the "proof" you are giving actually pertains to the claims you’re making. You keep throwing up evidence that your friend works for Apple — okay, maybe, once he makes up his mind what part he works for — and that FaceTime requires SMS to work — okay, that’s pretty clear. You’ve offered no support for the actual accusations you’re making, things like "FaceTime is unencrypted" and "Apple is performing ‘server updates to see peoples Facetime’". Instead, you offer meaningless drivel about who pays for a single SMS and iAds. How about this: When you activate FaceTime, your iPhone generates a private key / certificate and sends it to Apple (over WiFi), along with an SMS to prove your phone number belongs to you. Every time you call someone using FaceTime, it sends a request (over WiFi) to an Apple "invitation" server, which sends a push notification to the recipient’s phone, causing their phone to display the incoming FaceTime call screen. Once they accept, their phone connects to the same invitation server, and Apple gives each phone the other party’s IP address and encryption certificate. The phones then communicate directly using STUN, TURN and ICE to open the channel and SRTP to provide encryption and authentication for the conversation. Sorry to burst the conspiracy bubble — there’s no location data going to Apple (beyond the IP address), and none of the conversation traffic passes through Apple’s Evil Wiretapping Servers. Instead, you’ve got one SMS to link a phone number to a key, and a handshake for each call to pass keys and IP addresses to the other party. At some point I might have thought your friend was just confused, but at this point it’s clear that he’s just setting you up to look stupid for having fallen for his crap, and everything else he told you was a lie.
Thanks for leaving an insightful comment. The SMS is send when two people connect, so this is not one SMS, these are multiple SMS that will be send based on how many calls you have made. Every time two people connect over FaceTime, an SMS is send. If you are outside the SMS range, then you will receive an error and will not be able to talk on FaceTime even though the WiFi signal is excellent. Does other popular 3rd party services requires you to send an SMS when video chatting with them?
The best way to check this is to test it out yourself.
Apple themselves say that the SMS contains the location but provide no further information. The source simply says that the information is more than location and he has seen it first hand, but getting it is impossible but he is trying. The traffic may not pass through Apple Evil Wiretapping servers but they have the ability to monitor the calls.
About the encryption of the iPhone 4 video call, Apple uses Vanilla unencrypted STUN and SIP. More information will be provided shortly.
The SMS is send when two people connect, so this is not one SMS, these are multiple SMS that will be send based on how many calls you have made. Every time two people connect over FaceTime, an SMS is send.
No, it’s not. Ask your friend to consult TS3367, the relevant part of which is:
To activate FaceTime, iPhone sends an SMS message to Apple registering your device in the FaceTime database. If you encounter issues activating or using FaceTime:
Verify that your micro-SIM card is inserted, and you are connected to a cellular network.
Verify that you can send SMS messages. A valid SMS messaging plan is required to activate FaceTime.
If you encounter issues sending or receiving SMS messages, see this article for more information.
Toggle FaceTime off and on in Settings / Phone / FaceTime.
SMS messaging is used only during first-time activation or after restoring the iPhone 4 or swapping micro-SIM cards.
You can believe that’s authentic or not, but at least it clearly supports the claim I’m making; I’d love to hear any support for claims to the contrary.
Apple themselves say that the SMS contains the location but provide no further information.
Where do they say this? Got a link?
About the encryption of the iPhone 4 video call, Apple uses Vanilla unencrypted STUN and SIP. More information will be provided shortly.
This is disingenuous. STUN is a way of establishing a connection between two hosts behind NAT; once you’re done you end up with a way of sending stuff over UDP. Data is never encrypted at that level; it’s simply a way of piercing firewalls. SIP is a way of signalling call connection and hangup and is deliberately designed such that it is separate from any actual streams. The technology you’re looking for is SRTP. Reference: WWDC keynote.
The last image showing the error message with FaceTime. What number is that? Definitely not the Apple FaceTime number. That message would also display if you called any number that was not an iPhone4. FAIL!
Just asked him, he says “If you try to call to another phone which does not have facetime, then the call is dropped”. In the screenshot you can see the error, not call drop.
In short, this message is not displayed when you call another phone that is not an iPhone 4. The call is simply dropped.
Let me start by saying that I truly despise Apple and Steve Jobs. They have, of late, done many things that I feel are at the very least unethical, and at most potentially illegal. I can’t wait for Apple to get the same “love” Microsoft got from anti-trust groups.
That being said, is this most recent rumor that big of a deal, even if it proves to be true?
Most personal computers are already sending massive amounts of personal and location data to various companies, remember the “personalized” and somewhat creepy ads on google and facebook? I can only imagine that they aren’t the only ones. On top of that, where are people even going to use FaceTime, if they even do at all? I sure hope it’s not in their car, or while trying to walk down the street. That leaves what? Your house, work, and a couple of odd coffee shops/internet cafes. The last having a public network anyways.
So my question is, “Is this that big of a deal?”
To answer my own question, yes it is, but so is all of the other “snooping” that goes on. I hope they start with Apple and then start cracking down on everyone else.
There is No way, Apple uses Outlook for email. I mean if you guys remember, they didn’t even have exchange support in the first iPhones. I would think they would want to put that in if they themselves used Outlook. As many others, I call BS unless the author can provide more proofs. I think the email is just an HTML page hard-coded to display this.
very true, there is no way that apple would ever use MS Exchange for emails.
He has answered your questions. Check the update!
iPhone 4 FaceTime activation requires that the phones send an SMS to Apple to “?”
What is this “an SMS to Apple to ?”. Repetition of “To” doubts it is a professional email
it must be a word, instead of “to”, not sure.
Alpha has been moved from “iPhone Development Team” to “Apple Support Staff team”
WTF
At first he referred to as “iPhone Team” but then throughout the conversation he used the word “we” and “Apple Support”, so I guess he works there. You need to wait a few more hour before everything becomes clear.
Another question: why bother using a second transport channel (sms) instead of wifi to just transmit the location and other information since you must have wifi turned on to use FT anyway. (you may replace wifi by 3G… no difference…). This would even be faster, since sms will travel first to the carrier…
Good question. Unfortunately, I am a blogger who by luck came in contact with this Apple employee and wrote based on what he leaked to me. Such decisions are made on management level.
Personally if you ask me, I would mention two reasons, first Apple needs location even when users are out of range and second everyone (including Apple) knows how crappy AT&T are, their internet just dies at some location. So SMS seems the most viable option.
Sure, but if the wifi connection dies, you won’t have a FaceTime connection either… and the screenshot mention the sms if you want to use FT.
This is exactly my thought. Will confirm with him about this.
So the email says “iPhone 4 FaceTime activation requires that the phones send an SMS to Apple”. It does NOT say what that SMS contains, yet you claim “To activate FaceTime, your iPhone must be able to send an SMS to Apple which will contain your iPhone’s information and location.”. How do you know what that SMS contains? Why are you jumping to such absolutly ridiculous conclusions without even a modicum of critical thought? There is no actual evidence of this or any other of your claims, just what “some guy who says he works at Apple” has told you.
Brian, firstly this image is legit since I have checked that it hasn’t been photoshopped and the metadata shows that the image is taken from iPhone.
This proves that this Apple employee is legit. He told me himself which information is collected because he works in Apple support staff team. Once the customer calls the Apple support staff, all information is displayed on their screen. This information is also collected by Apple via FaceTime.
Let me elaborate, Apple clearly states in their terms that they will collect Location via FaceTime but they do not go in full details. This is why this employee choose to told the world.
This conclusion is derived based on the communication between this source and me. This is not my own story.
1: I took a photo of an email with my iPhone. That doesn’t make me an Apple employee.
2: Perhaps it’s my skeptical nature, but I firmly believe that the more extraordinary the claim, the more concrete the proof needs to be. The claim that Apple is “Stealing your data via Face Time” demands real, actual proof. Not a photo of a screen from the same guy who claims he works for Apple. I am recalling your other article on this subject- it makes even more extraordinary claims that have no proof, other than what some guy said.
You cannot expect us to take these things at face value! Prove your claims or drop them.
I have asked him for more proof and will update this article with it. We only talked for 5 mins this last time because he was busy with iPhone 4 launch and had to work overtime.
So? The image may really be from an iPhone and it may not be edited. It doesn’t mean it’s real. Anyone with that online Outlook and a Mac can simply save the HTML, edit it, and simply load it in safari and take a photo with an iPhone. You can display whatever you want in a web browser and a computer monitor. You can edit all text you see in a web page. I could make an image just like this within about ten minutes and capture it with my iPhone.
Exactly my first thought when I got this screenshot. But he confirmed some confidential information that cannot be shared and were “off record”. He works in Apple Support Staff team and I have done a background check on him. Also we were only able to chat for 5 minutes on the iPhone 4 launch day because he had to work overtime.
Anyone can claim that they have information that proves confidentiality but can’t be shared. And when I see someone claim that, I just think it’s SO convenient for the author of the article. Unless you have information that can be publicly shared that proves this guy is a legitimate source, I personally will never believe you.
Also keep in mind that not everyone is familiar with how Apple’s internals work. He however knows this. Most probably he must be working in Apple’s customer care team because they has been instructed not to help anyone who has jailbroken his/her iPhone.
It’s widely know that your warranty is void if they know you jailbroke your phone, and that they refuse to help. He could easily just be playing on that widely known fact to make him seem “internal”.
I can assure you there were many other things he told me, some of them “off record”. The fact that they can see the baseband version and lock users iPhone is alarming.
Please choose your words carefully. It is hardly a “fact” that Apple can lock iPhones that aren’t on the latest baseband. It is a claim made by a highly suspect and anonymous source.
It is very difficult to take these articles seriously when you seem to be believing every word this source says without question. Your source is making these claims and you are reporting them as facts without providing proof. These are the worst kind of rumors.
I understand that this source came to you and you want to post his claims, but do so with some integrity. State that they are unverified and unproven claims by an anonymous source. The only thing that you have been able to confirm is that he (or she) works for Apple. Everything else is hearsay.
I have marked it as “likely” rumor right now. I know he is legit and has no intentions to fake it but I understand that users need an irrefutable proof. Once he provides me with it, I will update the post instantly. Thanks again for leaving insightful comments.
Also keep in mind that the person is “He”, I know his full name, he works at Apple iPhone department, I have seen his photo, and know his location.
the phones send an SMS to Apple to “?”
how do we know “?” isn’t, “activate it before the first use” ?
in fact this quote of an error “FaceTime activation pending” basically confirms that.
who pays for the sms? The customer or apple? To which phone number is the sms sent with all carriers worldwide? Does apple have a contract with all of them or does it not work with jb phones on unofficial carriers? OT: Is apple using MS Exchange Server?
This is a nice question. From what he told me, this is only when users are on AT&T carrier, not sure about other carriers. Apple and AT&T might have a deal in place. Not sure about this though.
You ask “who pays for the SMS”, obviously it seems Apple would since it would be considered unacceptable by AT&T customers to pay. As for the MS Exchange server, I will ask and confirm.
It could just contain the IP address of the iPhone sending the text so that the other iPhone can make a connection to it over the internet. “Facetime” is more than likely a webcam application for the iPhone (like iChats video conference feature). It would need a direct IP to connect to. Or atleast a mediator (a server in the middle) to send the communication back and forth between the two devices. This would be more secure since the other party would have no means of collecting your IP address. On the computer when you video conference, the other computer already knows your IP address or your computer sends it over the internet through the webchat server to the other user. On the iPhone, if you are at home on WIFI, the other iPhone has no clue about your iPhones IP address. The only way I can see it communicating this info is through an SMS. Unless they had a chat feature which lets you see your friends “online”. That would enable it to send a video conference request through the chat server (which both users are logged into thus it already knows both users IP address).
Having said that, I have worked for the company as well in the past and this guy seems like hes a legit Applecare employee (with the terminology he uses). However, Applecare employees have limited knowledge on the iPhones actual inner workings. They are more like end user troubleshooters. Some of them are extremely good with computers and technology in general, some of them are just regular folks who follow knowledge base articles to the letter. They do not have any “inside info”. Only a handful of people have the inside info and you never come across them really. Most of them are in Cupertino to begin with. This guy is probably seeking his 15mins of fame. I would take everything he says with a grain of salt. The email he sent you a picture of is not as “official” as it looks. Its probably an email from the management at the site he works at detailing the fix for a common issue everyone is encountering. If Apple really wanted to collect user information, there are a lot more subtler ways to do that. Like trojans, backdoors etc.
If you have not guessed yet, I am an advanced computer user. Probably a lot more advanced than this guy. He does not understand the technology and hes jumping to conclusions.
Well, I dont want to sound like a fanboy (cuz really i’m not, I own 0 Apple products even though i worked for them in the past. Well make that 1 product as someone recently gave me an iPod nano since I lost my old Creative MP3 player), video chat is a first as far as phones go in the US. So I can understand why this guy is having trouble understanding how it works.
I have to agree with you. The source I contacted is more like an end-user (Apple Support staff) but knowledgeable about few things except how the internal communication works. I have a report with me which has been done by an engineer, perhaps that will explain how the information flow works. Will post it up as soon as possible (waiting for permission).
Thanks for leaving an insightful comment!
Please do tell what he has to say about my post. Also, to the author of this article, if you are technically inclined, tell me if my theory makes more sense than this guys “conspiracy theory”.
One last parting shot at this guy (it just makes me mad when people go around acting like they know what they are talking about when they clearly don’t) iPhone agents are a dime a dozen. Although some dimes are shinier than others (some are more qualified than others in my opinion), this guy makes up a work force of thousands. No “leak” will ever come from a support agent. They are NOT in the loop. If you were talking to someone who was in the iPhone hardware/software dev team, that would be more credible.
Let me highlight how uninformed this guy is. He states he was told by facetime support “the way facetime works is it has to be on a WiFi signal and a SMS signal as well so the other person can receive your facetime invite.”. He then states that this is “Untrue” and “The person will receive your facetime via phone call your currently in asking if you would like to connect via facetime, The SMS is so apple can tag team into your information.”
Do you remember the old modem days? When you had to dial in to your ISP? Do you remember how you could just pick up the phone and talk to all your friends while your computer was connected to your ISP? Ofcourse you dont, because that was impossible. You could either transfer data through your phone line or talk on the phone. You could not do both at the same time.
Same thing applies to cellular phones. If you are on a phone call with someone, you are using the voice part of the network (not the data part). You cannot send data through this stream. If you are talking to someone you cannot just initiate a video chat through the phone call like he states. The only way this would be possible is if the request goes through another stream. Thus the SMS. I am not going to go on about the basics of network technology anymore (yes these are basics). This guy is actually creepy in my opinion. Hes using his “credentials” to fool everyone into taking him seriously. I am surprised hes in tech support considering his aptitude. Then again, hes probably one of those Knowledge base guys. Not a true tech.
Ok I am done. Articles like this where people have no clue about the subject matter just get me all worked up. So I apologize if I was a bit harsh.
Your opinion seems to make sense and I am inclined to agree with you. I will show him your comments and reply with what he has to say regarding this.