At a press conference, an FBI spokesman blamed industry standard encryption for preventing the agency from accessing the recent Texas mass shooter's locked iPhone. Reuters later reported that the FBI did not try to contact Apple during a 48-hour window in which the shooter's fingerprint may have been able to unlock the phone. Apple said in a statement that after seeing the press conference, the company contacted the FBI itself to offer assistance. Finally, the Washington Post reports (archive) that an FBI official acknowledged Apple's offer but said it did not need the company's assistance:
After the FBI said it was dealing with a phone it couldn't open, Apple reached out to the bureau to learn whether the phone was an iPhone and whether the FBI was seeking assistance. An FBI official responded late Tuesday, saying that it was an iPhone but that the agency was not asking anything of the company at this point. That's because experts at the FBI's lab in Quantico, Va., are trying to determine if there are other methods, such as cloud storage or a linked laptop, that would provide access to the phone's data, these people said. They said that process could take weeks.
If the FBI and Apple had talked to each other in the first two days after the attack, it's possible the device might already be open. That time frame may have been critical because Apple's iPhone "Touch ID" — which uses a fingerprint to unlock the device — stops working after 48 hours. It wasn't immediately clear whether the gunman had activated Touch ID on his phone, but more than 80 percent of iPhone owners do use that feature. If the bureau had consulted the company, Apple engineers would likely have told the bureau to take steps such as putting the dead gunman's finger to the phone to see if doing so would unlock it. It was unclear whether the FBI tried to use the dead man's finger to open the device in the first two days.
In a statement, Apple said: "Our team immediately reached out to the FBI after learning from their press conference on Tuesday that investigators were trying to access a mobile phone. We offered assistance and said we would expedite our response to any legal process they send us."
Also at Engadget.
Related: Apple Lawyer and FBI Director Appear Before Congress
Apple Engineers Discussing Civil Disobedience If Ordered to Unlock IPhone
Senator Dianne Feinstein Claims That the FBI Paid $900,000 to Break Into a Locked iPhone
Federal Court Rules That the FBI Does Not Have to Disclose Name of iPhone Hacking Vendor
(Score: 4, Interesting) by etherscythe on Thursday November 09 2017, @03:52PM (6 children)
So, after putting a big face on about not cooperating in the San Bernardino incident, why are they offering to help extra hard now? Did Tim Cook get a visit from the MIB's? Did Hollywood celebrities threaten to boycott the phone company that doesn't "do something" about gun violence? Is iPhone use being banned in police departments in protest of not cooperating with law enforcement? Inquiring minds really want to know.
"Fake News: anything reported outside of my own personally chosen echo chamber"
(Score: 3, Insightful) by khallow on Thursday November 09 2017, @04:20PM (5 children)
Thus, it is in Apple's interests to defend themselves.
(Score: 2) by etherscythe on Thursday November 09 2017, @06:35PM (4 children)
Apple had to know they were going to get that kind of pressure the first time around, and this is the outcome I would have expected that time to be honest. I still figure there had to be something specific like engineers anonymously threatening to add their own backdoors.
"Fake News: anything reported outside of my own personally chosen echo chamber"
(Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday November 09 2017, @10:31PM (3 children)
Apple suggesting that you can put the dead man's finger on the phone is not them bowing to pressure. And your last sentence is just ridiculous.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by etherscythe on Friday November 10 2017, @04:35AM (2 children)
They offered to expedite any legal process, which sounds like kind of the opposite of their last stance on it which was "you'll get in there with my help approximately never". Maybe I am reading more into TFS than appears elsewhere but it sounded to me like they're suddenly eager to be super helpful. Again - and that last was intended to be wild and somewhat unrealistic hyperbole - something specific seems to have changed. I don't know why this is such a hard point for you to grasp.
"Fake News: anything reported outside of my own personally chosen echo chamber"
(Score: 2) by takyon on Friday November 10 2017, @05:04AM (1 child)
Apple offered help (not including degrading the security of their products) last time:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FBI%E2%80%93Apple_encryption_dispute [wikipedia.org]
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by etherscythe on Friday November 10 2017, @06:39PM
Ah, that's the detail I was missing, thanks
"Fake News: anything reported outside of my own personally chosen echo chamber"