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from the don't-bring-a-paperweight-to-an-encryption-fight dept.
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: 2) by inertnet on Thursday November 09 2017, @04:18PM (9 children)
This time they gave Apple the finger, but next time they'll certainly use that 48 hour window.
Also nice to know that, if you want access to someone's iphone, you just have to drug them for a few minutes or so.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by takyon on Thursday November 09 2017, @04:26PM (2 children)
Finger now, facial next [theatlantic.com].
Maybe it won't work if the suspect is dead and their eyeballs aren't moving.
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(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 09 2017, @07:17PM (1 child)
Go out in public an anybody can snap pics of your face. Genital recognition is the way to go.
(Score: 2) by edIII on Thursday November 09 2017, @07:53PM
I doubt that.....
CRIMINAL: Now see here mister, your balls are going to be touching this security panel one way or the other. The real question is... will you still be attached to them?
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by drussell on Thursday November 09 2017, @04:30PM (5 children)
You should never, ever use any kind of biometric ID for a password!
Not only does it lead to the "Just chop his finger off and bring it to me to open the vault door... Mwaaaa Haaa Haaaa!!" but it is something you cannot change once it is compromised somehow. Once some de-hashed version of your fingerprint is obtained, anyone with a copy can use it for anything, forevermore.
At least you can change a password.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by bob_super on Thursday November 09 2017, @07:11PM (2 children)
Passwords are covered by the 5th, biometrics are not.
That's all you need to know.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 09 2017, @07:31PM (1 child)
If it's a work phone, its contents could be deemed corporate records. Corporations, AFAIK, don't have 5th Amendment rights, so someone could be compelled to reveal the password.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 16 2017, @01:38PM
It's work, so fuck'em anyway. Unless you are the one doing the illegal stuff with your work equipment??
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 09 2017, @08:02PM
I recently switched to an android phone with a fingerprint scanner for the first time and was highly annoyed that you cannot set it to require both the finger print and password to unlock. Or at least I could not find an option in Android 7. Biometrics make horrendous passwords, but they can be reasonable identifiers.
(Score: 3, Touché) by takyon on Thursday November 09 2017, @10:32PM
Terrorists could add tiny explosive pads to their fingertips, triggered by their heartbeat stopping, to prevent Touch ID from working upon death!
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