SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
Security researcher Sergei Skorobogatov has bypassed the iPhone 5c's firmware using NAND mirroring. The achievement comes too late for the FBI to save some money:
The FBI told Congress it couldn't hack the San Bernardino shooter's phone without Apple's aid, but a researcher has proved that claim was inaccurate. "The process does not require any expensive and sophisticated equipment," wrote University of Cambridge researcher Sergei Skorobogatov. "All needed parts are low cost and were obtained from local electronics distributors."
Security firm Trail of Bits argued earlier this year that it would be possible to replace the iPhone firmware with a chip that doesn't block multiple password attempts. You could then try every single one until you're in, a process that would take less than a day with a four-digit code, and a few weeks with a six-digit one.
[...] "Despite government comments about feasibility of the NAND mirroring for iPhone 5c it was now proved to be fully working," the paper says. That again lends credence to FBI critics who said that the FBI was only pushing for Apple's assistance to create a precedent in court. A magistrate judge ruled against Apple, so law enforcement could use that decision to make other companies cooperate in encryption cases.
Update: The Associated Press, Vice Media and Gannett, the parent company of USA Today, have sued the FBI for information about how the agency accessed the locked iPhone 5c.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Hyperturtle on Saturday September 17 2016, @01:34PM
I agree completely.
Let's take for example the Atari Jaguar. Some very dedicated individuals cracked the encryption scheme on it by writing their own decryption routine and networking 8 or so of them together via network links supported by the Jaguar but never really utilized by Atari (look up the Catbox for the fancy one, JagLink for the one people generally have seen if they have seen a networked Jaguar at all).
They were able to crack the encryption so that they could then crank out their own cartridges.
Likewise, there is a retro-hobbiest named Kevin Horton (I have a signed cartridge of Kevtris [#10! woo] from when I met him years ago) who clearly is motivated, interested, capable, and probably should be hired by the highest bidder to do cool things. I believe he recently released a retro-console that plays original NES games that look better now than they did then, due to his cleaning up a lot of the signal noise by using modern parts and efficient redesign.
I can't hold a candle (or figure out how to turn it on) compared to people like Kevin, although, I do modify equipment once I am either really sure I won't brick or break something, or I happen to have a few spares to learn from... you never know what you can find inside a sealed network device no one has poked around with... sometimes one can find that which can be exploited or used as a cost-savings feature when appropriately chipped or enabled. Firmware is meant to be flashed!
I harbor great respect for the MAME enthusiasts that open things up and look inside. There are no script kiddies among them.