I’ve recently been puzzled about how manufacturers of pirated hardware can circumvent proprietary software and appear legit to an authentication server. Think fake AirPods appearing as legit on the iPhone. Or Sony headphones being able to register as legit on their app. Or fake smartwatches connecting to legit servers. And so on.
How come a manufacturer of cheap products with very little quality control or budget can manage to basically defeat a big corporation in making their products appear as legit?
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When devices connect to each other (whether wireless or not) they send each other signals. These signals contain info about what the device is etc.
Imagine if somebody was ringing the doorbell and for some reason you can’t see who it is, but you can hear them, so you ask who it is before letting them in. If it’s a stranger, you’ll leave the door closed, but if it’s your mom or a friend you’ll let them in. However, there may be a thief able to imitate your mom’s voice, or maybe they have a recording of your mom’s voice. In any case, they sound so much like your mom that you’ll open the door, so they can get in.
That’s basically what happens with false AirPods etc. As long as the signals these devices send are identical to those of the real device, your computer or phone will recognize it as the real deal, even if it isn’t. In theory, they could even produce a USB stick or a microphone that will get recognized as AirPods by your computer (for example), just by having that device send out the right signals. Obviously, these devices won’t work like AirPods, but your computer doesn’t know that as long as that device continues sending the right “AirPod” signals to your computer.
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