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Apple closes law enforcement loophole for the iPhone
Apple is about to make it much harder for law enforcement agencies to gain access to information on iPhones.
The company will include a new feature, called USB Restricted Mode, in a future update of its iOS software, which runs on iPhones and iPads.
The feature disables data transfer through the Lightning port one hour after a phone was last locked, preventing popular third-party hacking tools used by law enforcement from accessing the device. The port can still be used for charging.
[...] Reuters and The New York Times first reported that Apple (AAPL) had confirmed the new feature. Vice's Motherboard previously reported that Apple was testing the change.
Law enforcement officers have already been quoted opposing the security upgrade:
"If we go back to the situation where we again don't have access, now we know directly all the evidence we've lost and all the kids we can't put into a position of safety," said Chuck Cohen, who leads an Indiana State Police task force on internet crimes against children. The Indiana State Police said it unlocked 96 iPhones for various cases this year, each time with a warrant, using a $15,000 device it bought in March from a company called Grayshift.
[...] Hillar Moore, the district attorney in Baton Rouge, La., said his office had paid Cellebrite thousands of dollars to unlock iPhones in five cases since 2017, including an investigation into the hazing-related death of a fraternity pledge at Louisiana State University. He said the phones had yielded crucial information, and he was upset that Apple planned to close such a useful investigative avenue. "They are blatantly protecting criminal activity, and only under the guise of privacy for their clients," he said.
(Score: 5, Informative) by Runaway1956 on Friday June 15 2018, @02:20AM (1 child)
If they don't like doing police work maybe they shouldn't be cops. Being a cop doesn't mean sitting in an air conditioned room, pushing buttons. It means getting out into the real world, and doing detective work. An "investigation" doesn't mean that the suspect supplies you with all of the evidence needed to convict.
Put the donut down, put your hat on, and go do real police stuff!
(Score: 3, Informative) by darkfeline on Monday June 18 2018, @06:37AM
With all the money they spend on their cool toys and tanks, they are probably too short staffed to actually do investigative work for many crimes that could occur on the Internet and fall under their jurisdiction. The IQ ceiling they place on prospective hires doesn't help either; they reject any applicants smart enough to do investigations.
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