“Last summer, Apple refused to give the Justice Department real-time access to iMessages — the company’s proprietary text messages — in a gun case,” Matt Apuzzo, Joseph Goldstein and Eric Lichtblau report for The New York Times. “The matter nearly escalated, but Apple eventually turned over some messages that had been backed up to the company’s iCloud servers. It was not all that the government wanted, but authorities viewed it as a sign of cooperation.”
“Such compromises forestalled a major court showdown, but increased the frustration at the Justice Department,” Apuzzo, Goldstein and Lichtblau report. “Several current and former career prosecutors involved in the issue said they viewed it as hypocritical that Apple encouraged its customers to save its data to iCloud — which it would turn over to the government — but regarded the cellphone as sacrosanct.”
“The San Bernardino attacks, which killed 14 people, presented the F.B.I. with a seemingly perfect test case. One of the shooters, Syed Rizwan Farook, was killed by the police and left behind a locked, encrypted iPhone 5c. The F.B.I. has not been able to unlock it. Farook’s phone is protected by a password that Apple says it does not keep and Apple says it cannot break the encryption without the password. The F.B.I. wants to write a program to send the phone an unlimited combination of passwords until it finds one that works,” Apuzzo, Goldstein and Lichtblau report. “But Apple built its phones to protect against that tactic. Each wrong guess causes a short delay, which would significantly slow the F.B.I.’s effort. After too many incorrect guesses, the phone will automatically erase its memory.”
“From a public relations standpoint, Apple had been on the side of privacy advocates and civil libertarians. This case put the company on the side of a terrorist,” Apuzzo, Goldstein and Lichtblau report. “This week, the Justice Department got its wish when Apple was ordered to override its defenses, even if it meant building a tool that did not exist. Law enforcement officials cheered the ruling, though they acknowledged that the fight was not over. Apple promised to appeal.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: As we wrote last November: Backdoors = insecurity. Wherever backdoors exist, it’s not only “authorities” exploiting them legally. Only a blooming idiot would believe in a “secure backdoor” accessible only by properly authorized “authorities.”
This is very simple. With any official who claims “it’s only one iPhone Apple needs to crack” and therefore doesn’t seem to grasp the larger ramifications, look for ulterior motive(s).
None of us should accept that the government or a company or anybody should have access to all of our private information. This is a basic human right. We all have a right to privacy. We shouldn’t give it up. We shouldn’t give in to scare-mongering or to people who fundamentally don’t understand the details. — Apple CEO Tim Cook, February 27, 2015
SEE ALSO:
Court extends deadline for Apple to oppose order to unlock iPhone – February 19, 2016
Twitter, Facebook, Box support Apple against U.S. government demand to hack iPhone – February 19, 2016
No, Apple has NOT unlocked 70 iphones for law enforcement – February 18, 2016
Apple is right, the U.S. government demand would make us all less secure – February 18, 2016
How Apple will fight the DOJ in iPhone backdoor case: U.S. government’s position stands on 227 year old law – February 18, 2016
USA Today alters logo to support Apple in fight against U.S. government overreach – February 18, 2016
Obama administration claims FBI is not asking Apple for a ‘backdoor’ to the iPhone – February 18, 2016
Privacy activists plan rallies across U.S. to support Apple in battle against U.S. government on February 23rd – February 18, 2016
Google CEO Sundar Pichai wishy-washy on Apple’s fight against U.S. government backdoor demands – February 18, 2016
Why Apple is fighting back against U.S. federal government demands for iPhone access – February 17, 2016
Snowden backs Apple in fight over iPhone; blasts Google’s silence – February 17, 2016
Obama administration: We’re only demanding Apple hack just one iPhone – February 17, 2016
Security firm shows how Apple could bypass iPhone security to comply with FBI request – February 17, 2016
What the Apple court order means for your smartphone privacy – February 17, 2016
EFF opposes U.S. government demand to force Apple to unlock terrorist’s iPhone – February 17, 2016
‘Who do they think they are?’ Donald Trump blasts Apple for not unlocking San Bernardino terrorist’s iPhone – February 17, 2016
Tim Cook posts open letter opposing U.S. government demands to bypass iPhone encryption – February 17, 2016
Apple CEO opposes court order to help FBI unlock San Bernardino terrorist’s iPhone – February 17, 2016
Apple wants judge to rule if it can be forced to unlock defendant’s iPhone – February 16, 2016
U.S. House lawmakers seek to outlaw states from banning encrypted iPhones – February 10, 2016
Obama administration wants access to smartphones – December 15, 2015
Obama administration’s calls for backdoors into encrypted communications echo Clinton-era key escrow fiasco – December 14, 2015