The Central Intelligence Agency was also looking into ways to attack the iPhone and iPad as early as 2007, and has been working for over a decade on ways to decrypt and add malware to encryption services provided by Apple, Microsoft and other internet and technology companies.

It's part of a growing epidemic emanating from U.S. government agencies that are taking surveillance and hacking way too far to the point of making encryption on mobiles weaker, and taking opportunities to attack system vulnerabilities for surveillance gains.

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The CIA has been previously linked to the Edward Snowden NSA leaked files that revealed a huge mass surveillance state spanning hundreds of countries; tapping into the underwater pipelines that give nations internet; the wireless carriers that provide mobile data and the internet services like Facebook, Google, Amazon, Yahoo and Twitter.

This is the first time, however, the CIA has directly looked to hack into the iOS firmware and tamper with applications and software delivered by Apple.

The CIA routinely checks Apple updates for public vulnerabilities and looks to target those for surveillance gain. The CIA could use the information gathered to keep tabs on every single iPhone or iPad user.

The CIA has declined to comment on the report by The Intercept. Apple didn't comment either, but did refer to CEO Tim Cook's previous statements on internet surveillance and government hacking of U.S. corporations.

TagsCIA, iPhone, Ipad, surveillance, encryption, firmware