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Apple CEO Tim Cook on Wednesday spoke with officials in China about data security and privacy. This meeting comes on the heels of a reported attack against users of Apple's iCloud service in China. Hackers allegedly were able to get hold of users' data by intercepting traffic on the Internet. They did not break into Apple servers.

The attack coincided with the launch in China of the new iPhone 6. As for the perpetrator: A nonprofit watchdog called GreatFire.org alleges the Chinese government was behind it. China denies that. And Apple, in a statement, does not name a culprit.

The attack has a name: man in the middle.

"Imagine someone running a post office and they're managing all of the letters that go in and out of that post office," says Zackary Allen, lead researcher at the security firm ZeroFox. "A man-in the-middle attack is someone ... taking over one of those post offices. And they can take your envelopes that you're sending out to your family or your friends and put them somewhere else. ...

"Or they can open up the letter, change it, reseal it and then send it back out," he says.

And the sender wouldn't have a clue.

The end goal could be to steal information or to change information. The perpetrator could be one person or many people.

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"We've seen criminal organizations; we've seen disgruntled employees. It can also be nation-state actors," Allen says.

The attack is really different from, say, a virus that gets into a single document. It's more sophisticated.

The Internet is a bunch of interconnected routers. With man in the middle, the attacker takes over a router and can watch all the traffic — text messages, emails, iCloud logins — to decide what's worth stealing.

"These routers help get you from where you are to a destination," Allen says. "If you manage to compromise one of those routers, any traffic that flows through that, you control."

Apple's new iPhone is in fact more secure than previous ones. The physical hardware itself is harder to hack into. So these kinds of attacks that target weak links in the transfer of data on the cloud will become more common, experts say.

Apple is advising concerned customers to read the warnings that pop up in Web browsers — so if you see a strange request for permission or a certificate at the iCloud login, don't just click OK.

icloud

China

iPhone

Wooden carousels with carved and painted animals seem like a relic of the past. But Carousel Works in Mansfield, Ohio, is still making them to order.

"Our biggest trade secret is we've got this big barrel of elbow grease. You've gotta come in here and work every day," says co-owner Art Ritchie.

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As The Atlantic recently reported, few companies still take time to make old-fashioned carousels with hand-carved animals. So when Ritchie says they make these carousels from scratch, it is no exaggeration.

"We make our own castings and do our own machine work. We've got a woodworking shop that blocks the figures together, and then we've got a carving department. Then we've got a group that does all the sanding and the priming and preparing them for painting. And then we've got a whole group of painters that do all the artwork," Ritchie explains.

i i

The National Zoo's carousel is among dozens that Carousel Works has installed around the U.S., each made to fit in with its surroundings. James Clark/NPR hide caption

itoggle caption James Clark/NPR

The National Zoo's carousel is among dozens that Carousel Works has installed around the U.S., each made to fit in with its surroundings.

James Clark/NPR

The finished product is no mere merry-go-round.

"Ours are finished pieces of furniture. They're sculpture," Ritchie says.

The company has been restoring carousels in Mansfield since the late 1980s. And it has created 30 new carousels that have been installed around the U.S., each made to fit in with its surroundings. For example, the company created the carousel at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. Instead of horses to ride, it's full of animals that visitors would have just seen in real life at the park: zebras, cheetahs, pandas, Komodo dragons.

"We just talked to a group that saves pit bulls. We're talking about building a carousel that's all dogs. Now, what else can you put on there? We were fooling around with it. Can we do a big dog bone with a rug on the top so one of the dogs could ride, too?" Ritchie says. "That's the fun part about it. If you're not laughing and giggling while you're designing these things, you're in the wrong place."

And it's not just dogs. The Bronx Zoo is home to the Bug Carousel. "The only thing we didn't put on there was a cockroach because ... everyone would walk up and say, 'I got a bigger one than that in my kitchen,' " Ritchie says.

He says kids love the bugs — especially if their parents don't. "Ten-year-old boys — any animal that grosses their mother out has gotta be the one they gotta ride."

carousels

National Zoo

Wooden carousels with carved and painted animals seem like a relic of the past. But Carousel Works in Mansfield, Ohio, is still making them to order.

"Our biggest trade secret is we've got this big barrel of elbow grease. You've gotta come in here and work every day," says co-owner Art Ritchie.

Related NPR Stories

Around the Nation

Say Bye-Bye To A Beloved Kiddie Amusement Park

What The New Factory Worker Should Know Oct. 23, 2014

As The Atlantic recently reported, few companies still take time to make old-fashioned carousels with hand-carved animals. So when Ritchie says they make these carousels from scratch, it is no exaggeration.

"We make our own castings and do our own machine work. We've got a woodworking shop that blocks the figures together, and then we've got a carving department. Then we've got a group that does all the sanding and the priming and preparing them for painting. And then we've got a whole group of painters that do all the artwork," Ritchie explains.

i i

The National Zoo's carousel is among dozens that Carousel Works has installed around the U.S., each made to fit in with its surroundings. James Clark/NPR hide caption

itoggle caption James Clark/NPR

The National Zoo's carousel is among dozens that Carousel Works has installed around the U.S., each made to fit in with its surroundings.

James Clark/NPR

The finished product is no mere merry-go-round.

"Ours are finished pieces of furniture. They're sculpture," Ritchie says.

The company has been restoring carousels in Mansfield since the late 1980s. And it has created 30 new carousels that have been installed around the U.S., each made to fit in with its surroundings. For example, the company created the carousel at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. Instead of horses to ride, it's full of animals that visitors would have just seen in real life at the park: zebras, cheetahs, pandas, Komodo dragons.

"We just talked to a group that saves pit bulls. We're talking about building a carousel that's all dogs. Now, what else can you put on there? We were fooling around with it. Can we do a big dog bone with a rug on the top so one of the dogs could ride, too?" Ritchie says. "That's the fun part about it. If you're not laughing and giggling while you're designing these things, you're in the wrong place."

And it's not just dogs. The Bronx Zoo is home to the Bug Carousel. "The only thing we didn't put on there was a cockroach because ... everyone would walk up and say, 'I got a bigger one than that in my kitchen,' " Ritchie says.

He says kids love the bugs — especially if their parents don't. "Ten-year-old boys — any animal that grosses their mother out has gotta be the one they gotta ride."

carousels

National Zoo

Reynolds American, the country's second-largest cigarette-maker, is changing its policy on smoking in the office. Until now, Reynolds employees have been able to light up at their desks, but come January, workers will have to either go outside or use specially equipped smoking rooms.

"We allowed smoking of cigarettes, cigars, pipes, traditional tobacco products throughout our facilities," says David Howard, a spokesman for Reynolds American. He says it's not as though his co-workers chain-smoke at work.

Smoking in the workplace is still legally permitted in some parts of the country, including in Reynolds' home state of North Carolina. But on Wednesday, as the Associated Press first reported, Reynolds said it would build designated smoking areas and prohibit smoking everywhere else.

E-cigarettes and smokeless products like snuff will still be allowed. But Howard says the policy will apply to all its subsidiaries. He says the company made the change to adapt to the times.

"Indoor smoking restrictions certainly are the norm today and most people expect a smoke-free business environment," Howard says.

Cynthia Hallett, executive director for Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights, says she finds the new policy "ironic."

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"Reynolds and other tobacco companies have been the leading opponents to the passage of these smoke-free-workplace laws at the state and local level," she says.

And yet here the company seems to be acknowledging that there is damage from secondhand smoke to its own workers. But Hallett isn't appeased.

"This feels like a lovely PR stunt by Reynolds to say, 'Oh, we're trying to come up to modern times and offer a smoke-free workplace to our employees,' when in fact, it's not 100 percent smoke-free," she says.

Hallett says smoke escapes from designated smoking areas, and e-cigarettes emit harmful chemicals and compounds as well.

Reynolds says its new policy will start taking effect on Jan. 1.

Reynolds American

smoking