iOS fundamentals: architecture, permissions and safe use
You learn from scratch how the iPhone and iPad work: versions, app isolation, permissions, the Apple account, screen lock, updates, backups and configuration profiles, and make a device safe.
Level 101 · 30 lessons · 27 practice labs
Lessons
Getting to know iOS
- iOS and iPadOS versions, device models and support lifetime
- Architecture layers: kernel, system services, frameworks, apps
- The closed ecosystem: hardware, software and store in one hand
- App, bundle ID and IPA
- Reading a device information export: model, version, serial number
- Short task: find the model, iOS version and supervision state in a device export
Apps and permissions
- The App Store, app review and how apps are signed
- The app sandbox: every app in its own container
- Permission prompts: location, photos, contacts, microphone, camera
- Tracking permission and the store's privacy labels
- Distribution outside the store: enterprise apps, test distribution, alternative stores
- Short task: find the app that needlessly has always-on location in a permission export
Account and device protection
- Passcode, Face ID and Touch ID
- The Apple account and two-factor authentication
- Find My and Activation Lock
- Stolen device protection and lost mode
- Updates and rapid security responses
- Short task: check an account and device settings export against a checklist
Data, backups and network
- Device encryption: how the passcode protects the data
- iCloud backup and backup to a computer
- End-to-end encrypted cloud data: advanced data protection
- Wi-Fi, private address, VPN and AirDrop settings
- Lockdown Mode: who it is for and what it turns off
- Short task: find the unencrypted local backup in a settings export and write the fix
Profiles and the organisation
- What a configuration profile is and why it needs care
- Reading a .mobileconfig file
- What supervised and managed devices mean
- Signs of a suspicious profile: root certificate, VPN, proxy
- Short task: find which of three profile files installs a root certificate
Capstone
- Capstone: audit a new starter's iPhone export and write a hardening list
Practice labs
- Find the model and iOS version in a device export: Find the product type, version and build number in the prepared device information export.
- Compare the support status of three iPhones: Compare the model and version in three exports with the support table and flag the one that cannot be updated.
- Produce an inventory CSV from the exports: Write a script that parses ten device exports and writes model, version, supervision state and last backup date to CSV.
- List the apps with always-on location: Find the apps whose location permission is always in the permission export.
- Pick the apps to move from full to limited photo access: Assess the apps with full photo access by function and justify which should be limited.
- Compare the tracking permission with the privacy label: Compare an app's tracking permission state with its store privacy label declaration and report the inconsistency.
- Check the passcode and auto-lock settings: Find the passcode type and auto-lock time in the settings export.
- Check an account export against a checklist: Compare two-factor authentication, trusted devices and recovery methods with the list and write what is missing.
- Assess protection status for a stolen-device scenario: Assess Find My, Activation Lock and stolen device protection settings and write, in order, what to do in the first hour.
- Read from the export whether the backup is encrypted: Find the encryption state in the local backup setting.
- Find the unencrypted local backup and write the fix: Compare three users' backup settings, find the unencrypted one and write the fix steps.
- Recommend a protection level for cloud data: Looking at the data types of Sedirli Hukuk Bürosu's lawyers, write a reasoned recommendation between standard and advanced protection.
- Read the private address setting for saved networks: Find the networks not using a private address in the Wi-Fi export.
- Compare AirDrop and Bluetooth settings with policy: Find the sharing setting left open to everyone and write the fix step.
- Write a Lockdown Mode assessment for a high-risk user: Assess, from a journalist's usage habits, what Lockdown Mode would turn off and whether it fits.
- List the payloads in a profile file: Open a .mobileconfig file and write down the payload types.
- Find the profile that installs a root certificate: Find which of three profile files has a certificate payload and extract the certificate's owner.
- Assess a suspicious profile for signature, proxy and VPN: Explain what an unsigned profile with a global proxy and root certificate makes possible and write a removal note.
- Find the apps from outside the store in the export: Mark the apps in the export installed through in-house or test distribution.
- Check the certificate lifetime of an in-house app: Find the expiry in the distribution profile and work out the time left to renew.
- Report a device that trusted an unknown developer profile: Find the identity in the trusted developer list that is not the organisation's, extract which apps it signed and write the removal steps.
- Find whether a device is supervised and managed: Find the supervision flag and the management profile's name in the export.
- Extract what the management profile restricts: List the restrictions in the installed management profile and write five changes the user will notice.
- Investigate an unexpected second management record: Find the second profile on a device that differs from the organisation's, extract its server address and write a risk note.
- Audit an iPhone export with a ten-point list: Mark the passing and failing items.
- Compare three employees' exports and prioritise: Pick the riskiest device with reasons and write the fix order.
- Write a hardening list with reasons for a new starter: Audit the iPhone export of a new starter at Saklıvadi Üniversitesi and deliver a hardening list with a reason for each item.
About this course
You learn from scratch how the iPhone and iPad work: versions, app isolation, permissions, the Apple account, screen lock, updates, backups and configuration profiles, and make a device safe.
What you will learn
- Getting to know iOS
- Apps and permissions
- Account and device protection
- Data, backups and network
- Profiles and the organisation
- Capstone
Prerequisites
No prior knowledge is needed; the course starts from zero.
Lab environment
Lessons run in your own Kali Linux terminal that opens in the browser. Nothing to install; the lab starts clean in every lesson.
Frequently asked questions
- Is this course right for my level?
- The course is at beginner level; every term is explained where it first appears.
- Is there anything to install?
- No. Every lesson runs in your own lab environment that opens in the browser.
- How do lessons work?
- Each lesson has 8 to 10 steps and a short quiz. Early steps show the command to type, later steps give less help; if two attempts fail, the solution opens.
- Can I try it for free?
- Yes. The first three lessons of every course are free.