FBI has unlocked shooter’s iPhone
The lawsuit is over.
The Justice Department said Monday that it had found a way to unlock an iPhone without help from Apple, allowing the agency to withdraw its legal effort to compel the company to assist in a mass-shooting investigation.
The decision to drop the case — which involved demanding Apple’s help to open the iPhone used by Syed Rizwan Farook, a gunman in the December shooting in San Bernardino, Calif., that killed 14 people — ends a standoffbetween the government and the world’s most valuable public company. The case had become increasingly contentious as the company refused to help authorities, citing privacy issues.
“The government has now successfully accessed the data stored on Farook’s iPhone and therefore no longer requires the assistance from Apple,” the Justice Department said in a filing on Monday.
Yet law enforcement’s ability to unlock an iPhone through an alternative method raises new uncertainties, including questions about the strength of Apple’s security on its devices. The development also creates potential for new conflicts between the government and Apple. Lawyers for Apple have previously said that the company would want to know the method used to crack open the device. The government may make that method classified.
Click here for reuse options!
Copyright 2016 Liberaland
29 responses to FBI has unlocked shooter’s iPhone
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
amersham46 March 28th, 2016 at 19:19
If the FBI could do it , the game is over for Apples secure crack proof products
Larry Schmitt March 28th, 2016 at 19:21
Given enough time, as the FBI just proved, nothing is crack proof.
StoneyCurtisll March 28th, 2016 at 19:36
Nothing is crack proof?
http://www.porkulent.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/HowToMakeCoffee-9-640×426.jpg
What a terrible image…
Mike March 28th, 2016 at 19:37
We’ll see…I’m not so quick to buy this…(lots of reasons for the gov to lie here) the proof will be if the 6k-7k phones held by cops across the country get opened…I doubt it will be cost effective. Expect a new ios update in the next 14 days…
The game goes on…
StoneyCurtisll March 28th, 2016 at 19:32
FBI has unlocked shooter’s iPhone….
And I will be surprised if there is any usable evidence they will find that will prevent another attack, (as they hoped)..
nola878 March 28th, 2016 at 19:41
“Lawyers for Apple have previously said that the company would want to know the method used to crack open the device.”
Sorry, Apple, you don’t get a bite of that apple.
I was of two minds during this whole thing…
Tim Coolio March 28th, 2016 at 20:19
Good, it will keep us safer, and if anyone worries, well if you don’t break the law then you have nothing to worry about, and if anyone feels sorry for Apple then they must be the type that roots for the bad guys.
Hirightnow March 29th, 2016 at 10:18
It makes it even easier when the government entity wanting the information is also the one telling us who the bad guys are. /s
While he was actually referring a monetary concern when he wrote it, Franklin’s “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” is apt, and IMO should end with “And should be horse-whipped.”
Suzanne McFly March 28th, 2016 at 20:48
I read a story the other day (was written before all this became a problem) and a young lady was dead. The police sent her iPhone to Apple to unlock so they could see who she was texting. Why couldn’t they just do that?
Carla Akins March 28th, 2016 at 20:55
Perhaps it wasn’t the same model with the special locking feature or it could have been they contacted her provider (not Apple) to review who she had been texting/calling, you don’t need to unlock the phone for much of that information.
Suzanne McFly March 28th, 2016 at 21:06
No, it said they mailed it away for Apple to unlock it. They complained about the time it took for it to work this way, but it is how they unlocked the phone.
Carla Akins March 28th, 2016 at 21:12
That seems bizarre.
Suzanne McFly March 28th, 2016 at 21:43
Yes it does, especially now that this is a problem.
Obewon March 28th, 2016 at 22:23
“iPhone 6 is un-hackable!”-CEO Tim Cook’s payday is based upon AAPL’s lagging stock performance sliding from $123 down to $93, and backup to $105 as Cook lied about prior ‘iPhones were hacked for the Feds’ “At least 70 times”-FBI.
Suzanne McFly March 29th, 2016 at 07:04
I bet Apple is wishing they just gave the FBI the code. Now hackers have learned how to hack the phones and they were well paid for the information.
Mensa Member March 29th, 2016 at 09:56
>>I bet Apple is wishing they just gave the FBI the code.
It wasn’t as simple as a code.
As I understand it, the FBI wanted Apple to write a whole program defeating the phone.
For work, I use Outlook for Android and it has a limit on how many times you can guess the password. I think it’s 30 times.
I gather that this was the protection the FBI wanted Apple to defeat.
Hirightnow March 29th, 2016 at 10:10
“The software could have bypassed a feature that
wipes all of an iPhone’s data after 10 failed attempts to guess the
passcode. And it could have disabled another feature that prevents users from rapidly entering one passcode after another.”-HuffPo
Mensa Member March 29th, 2016 at 09:52
Good question. I’ll assume it depends on what they were “unlocking”
I’m no expert but I have been using encryption since DOS days. The level of security varies greatly.
anothertoothpick March 28th, 2016 at 21:59
Trouble in transit, got through the roadblock,
We blended in with the crowd
We got computers, we’re tapping phone lines,
I know that that ain’t allowed
We’re going BOOM BOOM BOOM….and that’s the way we live..
Obewon March 28th, 2016 at 22:30
How long has electronic hacking by the Feds continued? Reagan Executive Order 12333 1981 http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/codification/executive-order/12333.html
How we won the Civil war:) In 1862, after President Abraham Lincoln appointed him secretary of war, Edwin M. Stanton penned a letter to the president requesting sweeping powers, which would include total control of the telegraph lines. By rerouting those lines through his office, Stanton would keep tabs on vast amounts of communication, journalistic, governmental and personal. On the back of Stanton’s letter Lincoln scribbled his approval: “The Secretary of War has my authority to exercise his discretion in the matter within mentioned.” http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/06/opinion/lincolns-surveillance-state.html
burqa April 2nd, 2016 at 00:09
All forms consistent with existing law.
12333:
“2.4Collection Techniques. Agencies within the Intelligence Community shall use the least intrusive collection techniques feasible within the United States or directed against United States persons abroad. Agencies are not authorized to use such techniques as electronic surveillance, unconsented physical search, mail surveillance, physical surveillance, or monitoring devices unless they are in accordance with procedures established by the head of the agency concerned and approved by the Attorney General. Such procedures shall protect constitutional and other legal rights and limit use of such information to lawful governmental purposes. …
2.8Consistency With Other Laws. Nothing in this Order shall be construed to authorize any activity in violation of the Constitution or statutes of the United States.”
Hirightnow March 29th, 2016 at 07:04
This was an iPhone 5c, on which they likely used NAND mirroring (physically read the pertinent chip, then try passwords on the copies until one works); as I understand it, the newer iPhones aren’t susceptible to this (something to do with Secure Enclave…I’m no Wozniak).
I think the FBI knew they could do this originally, and were were simply trying to use a high-profile incident to get Apple to do something that would have given the FBI access to a LOT more than they should have.
Mensa Member March 29th, 2016 at 09:48
>>I think the FBI knew they could do this originally,
I wondered the same thing. It’s the government, for goodness sake. Did they really just “discover” how to hack the phone?
Hirightnow March 29th, 2016 at 10:00
They used Cellebrite, the company from that bastion of freedom and liberty known as Israel, to do their dirty work; they’ve known for some time how to get the info they wanted from the phone.
This will only serve to make such actions harder in the future, because you know Apple (and others) will just keep upgrading their security measures.
And that’s a good thing.
burqa April 2nd, 2016 at 00:02
I think I had a Cellebrite when I was a kid.
No, wait.
That was a LiteBrite.
Never mind.
Hirightnow April 2nd, 2016 at 08:35
It was outta sight, making things with Lite Brite!
burqa April 2nd, 2016 at 22:39
Yeah, back then there was all kinds of glow in the dark toys. I’m a little surprised there was never a glow in the dark Etch-A-Sketch……..or was there?
Hirightnow April 2nd, 2016 at 23:18
There have been erasable drawing pads that show fluorescent colors for some time (black liquid over a pre-printed day-glo backing, sheathed in plastic…you dray with a bluntly pointed stick and run the stick over it flat-ways to re-distribute the liquid and erase it) and there’s a toy called the “Glow Pad” that uses day-glo dry erase markers and leds, but I’ve never heard of a glow in the dark etch-a-sketch.
burqa April 2nd, 2016 at 23:35
Damn.
I missed out………..