*shrug* That's just hindsight. They didn't know the hack was there, so couldn't have used that knowledge to base their decision on
End to end encryption under threat
- Thread starter Mynight
- Start date
*shrug* That's just hindsight. They didn't know the hack was there, so couldn't have used that knowledge to base their decision on
The phone that the FBI had was always able to be hacked. There have been ways to bypass the passcode lock for over a year now. No 'new' hack has been created. The FBI realised they weren't going to win in court and went home with their tail between their legs.
I'd have thought the consequences of not helping the authorities with an ongoing terrorism investigation would be a bit more than hindsight - common sense and good PR really.
You'd better tell Apple that because they don't seem to know how they did it.
I'm not sure where you're getting that from. That article you linked says that FBI didn't share how they did it with Apple. That's not the same as Apple asking the FBI how they did it. Again, Apple already know that the passcode lock on that particular phone could be bypassed.
Apple know exactly how it was done (I'll wager) and most of us in the IT Security field have a pretty good idea too.
The chip that holds the enclaved data can be removed from the apple device and cloned. Put it back in the phone and try some pins until it locks/wipes, then restore the clone and repeat the process until you break the pin. Hooking up to a custom made rig would automate the process and bring it down to a few days to complete.
It's not an *easy* job, but not impossible and for kind of resources the FBI have to throw at the problem I would say trivial.
Exactly how do you work this out? The FBI has already won in court, all they asked was the judge to stop compelling apple to help them because it was no longer necessary.
The court judgement that Apple must help if necessary remains as it hasn't been overturned by a higher court. All this does is kick the can down the road until next time.
IANAL but I don't think the FBI has 'won' at all. The got the judge to order Apple, this was subject to appeal so not enforced and before it got to appeal the order has been vacated - ie: no longer stands. I agree with you this will be revisited further down the line, but I don't believe that the FBI have in anyway won this battle. Rather they have egg on their face for trying to force Apple to create a mechanism that would render iPhones insecure - a mechanism that inevitably would be discovered and exploited by criminals - and quite rightly the FBI faced a significant public backlash over their actions.
You have to remember that for Apple this isn't just about keeping your mails or browser history safe, the iPhone is now a de facto *payment system* that stands to replace a significant portion of the worlds other payment processing companys' business. THIS is what must be secured and protected at all costs.