“While FBI Director James Comey insists that [the San Bernadino terrorist iPhone case] wasn’t trying to set a precedent, and this move was just about getting access to a single phone, law enforcement around the country was eagerly lining up behind the FBI to make similar requests,” Mike Masnick reports for TechDirt. “Then last night it came out that even the DOJ is making similar requests in 12 other cases. And now, the full list of such cases has come out.”
“All of them do involve the DOJ using the All Writs Act to demand extra assistance from Apple — and we already knew about some of those earlier cases,” Masnick reports. “And in most of them, the specifics of the “ask” is not actually public yet.”
“That is, it’s not known if they’re all asking for the same level of forcing Apple to build a new operating system that reduces security and enables the FBI to hack through a weak passcode,” Masnick reports. “It’s safe to assume that’s probably the case in at least some of them… Once again, [FBI] Director Comey was flat out lying when he claimed the FBI has no interest in setting a precedent.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Again, the U.S. government specifically chose this case in order to play on emotion. They want emotion to overrule reason. Don’t let the government manipulate you. Don’t be the government’s pawn.
The family members of the San Bernadino terrorism victims should be incensed that the U.S. federal government is using those tragic deaths in a despicable ploy to sway a confused portion of the public to support the trampling of their rights.
Those who wrongheadedly agree with these disingenuous government hacks need to realize that they are working to deliver exactly what the terrorists wanted to achieve with their murderous rampage. Aiding the murderous jihadists isn’t a proper way to memorialize stricken terrorist victims.
Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death! – Patrick Henry, March 23, 1775
Visit the Apple-backed reformgovernmentsurveillance.com today.
SEE ALSO:
John McAfee blasts FBI for ‘illiterate’ order to create Apple iPhone backdoor – February 23, 2016
Some family members of San Bernardino victims back U.S. government – February 23, 2016
Apple supporters to rally worldwide today against U.S. government demand to unlock iPhone – February 23, 2016
U.S. government seeks to force Apple to extract data from a dozen more iPhones – February 23, 2016
Apple CEO Cook: They’d have to cart us out in a box before we’d create a backdoor – February 22, 2016
Tim Cook’s memo to Apple employees: ‘This case is about more than a single phone’ – February 22, 2016
Obama administration: We’re only demanding Apple hack just one iPhone – February 17, 2016
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Arline M.” for the heads up.]
Neither the People nor Apple started this. The NSA did by abusing the Patriot Act. Never should the People to allow the government to force a private company to help said government in its mission to take away the rights of the People. Clapper lied. The NSA was gathering data on us. So what if one of us – liberal or conservative – chose to run for office. Do you think for a moment that your information wouldn’t be available to the entrenched politicians while they shield you from theirs – say on private servers somewhere. No no no. If people die because of an act of terrorism in the meantime, it is because the People have not gathered the will to defeat terrorism on the field of battle inspiring fear in their minds. You defeat it by killing them – not by using it as a way to get into the private business of the Citizenry!
It’s not just the NSA abusing the Patriot Act; it’s the Justice Department and FBI, too.
http://investigations.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/06/11/18887491-fbi-sharply-increases-use-of-patriot-act-provision-to-collect-us-citizens-records
All of those alphabet-soup agencies answer to one person.
Valerie Jarret. Oblamer’s just a sock-puppet.
What?!
“Those who wrongheadedly agree with these disingenuous government hacks need to realize that they are working to deliver exactly what the terrorists wanted to achieve with their murderous rampage.”
Is what they wanted was to have the FBI fight with Apple? Isn’t them wanting a murderous rampage enough?
What is MDN pointing to here (quite unclearly)? Does MDN think that the terrorists WANT all our phones laid bare?! I don’t think so. What the heck do you mean,
MDN. Usually you’re spot on but that sentence is quite opaque!!
The terrorists want to erode freedom and thereby destroy the USA.
Most of us get the MacDailyNews Take. It’s not at all difficult.
I think they’re saying that one of the things the terrorists hate about America (and non-conforming countries in general) is our freedom, and thus are getting one of the very things they want in the government taking away said freedom in the name of combating the terrorists.
I believe their point was that the goal was to have us live in fear and give up our freedoms. Something we have done and continue to do. If we truly cared about out freedom we would not elect or re-elect those in the house and senate that renew the Patriot Act, an Act born from fear that undermines the freedoms this country was founded on. The Patriot Act has been renewed 3 time and some have even sought to expand it, yet we keep re-electing the politicians that do this. One can only assume that we the people care very little about our freedom or we are to stupid to see past the smokescreen issues like abortion and gay marriage that are tiny percentages of the population, while they strip away the freedoms of everyone.
From the German Government…….How Long before the USA continues in kind…….
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Germany’s Federal government has announced it’s new “trojan horse” computer software which will allow it to spy on citizens computers and smartphones.
The German Interior Ministry has formally announced that they have created a new “Bundestrojaner” or government trojan horse software to enable them to track the communications of anyone that downloads it according to the German press, in addition to purchasing an “off the shelf” tool from a company which is said to help authoritarian regimes track their citizens.
Trojan horse software is malicious software (often called malware) that is disguised as something innocent like a free screen saver or game. Once the user opens the file the malicious code infects the target computer, often allowing the person who created it access to all kinds of information like being able to record keystrokes, browse files and more.
The Federal Data Protection Commissioner Andrea Vosshoff has said that the testing of the software has been completed and that it will be used to follow the movements and actions of suspected criminals and others.
The government tried to reassure concerned citizens by saying that the software only has the capacity to monitor communications and not have access to sensitive files. The methods the program would use would be to record the subject’s microphone for telephone or Skype calls, log the key strokes of a computer or mobile device, and access the cameras of any device infected.
Critics of the project say that the government could theoretically gain access to anyone’s computer files, personal sensitive information without the person ever being aware that they had been infected with the malware.
Green Party deputy head Konstantin von Notz said, “We do understand the needs of security officials, but still, in a country under the rule of law, the means don’t justify the end.”
This is not the first time the German government has attempted to create a trojan horse program. In 2011 the government created similar malware in secret without the knowledge of the public. A hacker group called “Chaos Computer Club” discovered the original trojan and leaked its details to the press causing a scandal. The lawyer of the person whose computer was infected by the trojan told the German press the government had planted it on his client’s computer as he was going through customs at Munich airport.
In 2008 the Federal Constitution Court approved the initial project but subjected it to a very limited scope. The judge in the case said that the only thing the trojan should be allowed to view is search terms or communications that indicate a viable danger to the life of a person or their liberty. The trojan was not to be able to access all messages and files on the infected persons computer or mobile device.
FinFisher Gamma-International is the company that has developed the software called FinFisher or FinSpy. They are based in the UK and in Germany and specialise in developing spyware for governments and law enforcement agencies. They have been at the centre of many controversies as oppressive regimes have used their software to spy on potential political critics of their various regimes. Egypt used the software during the Arab spring to crack down on activists critical of the Mubarak regime. Germany also joins countries like Bahrain and Indonesia who are alleged to use the software, according to a report by University of Toronto based Citizen Lab.
Breitbart London has reported on attempts by the German government to silence opposition and critics on social media by threatening 250,000 euro fines and FinFisher could be another tool in their robust electronic surveillance apparatus headed by a former East German Stasi official.
So we have a dozen cases now to hack into the iPhones. How many cases would that compare to say if there was not Activation lock.
It wasn’t hard to find a 2014 article by Matthew Shaer at Wired Magazine entitled the secret world of stolen smartphones, where business is booming. In the article he states:
“According to Consumer Reports, 3.1 million Americans were the victims of smartphone theft in 2013, up from 1.6 million in 2012. The mobile security firm Lookout believes that one in 10 smartphone users in the US have had their phones stolen; 68 percent of those victims never saw their device again. Nationally, about one-third of robberies now involve a smartphone.”
So we have 12 cases that are a pain cause the iPhone is locked vs 3.1 million case when there was no Activation lock.
It’s obvious that the FBI wants to keep phones unlocked, it’s job security for them.
it’s not very difficult who are being used as the “pawns” in this battle… And no prizes for guessing which dictators are going to start asking for a back door, and say “me too”
It is disgusting that the FBI, Law Enforcement, and the American Government are using tragic victims and their families in their fight against encryption. Anybody who thinks they don’t have an agenda is plain stupid. Did we not learn anything from Edward Snowden? It’s a disgrace what is happening in this Country. Law enforcement needs to start arresting all the corrupt politicians.
Interesting that all these cases are from liberal states. You’d think they’d be on the side of personal privacy.