Apple is denying any knowledge of or involvement in the US National Security Agency’s (NSA) alleged efforts to hack into and monitor iPhones.  Germany’s “Spiegel” news magazine this week reported that the NSA uses a spyware program to gain full and easy access to the popular devices.

It’s not clear where Spiegel’s information came from, although the magazine in the recent past has worked with fugitive US Intelligence leaker Edward Snowden.  The report claims there is a “software implant” that allows infiltrators to retrieve data from iPhones such as contact lists, text messages, and to even turn on and use the device's microphone and camera.

“Either (the NSA) have a huge collection of exploits that work against Apple products, meaning they are hoarding information about critical systems that American companies produce, and sabotaging them; or Apple sabotaged it themselves,’ claimed Spiegel’s Jacob Appelbaum at the Chaos Communication Conference in Hamburg, Germany.

Apple vigorously denied any involvement, saying it “has never worked with the NSA to create a backdoor in any of our products, including iPhone.”