Apple has achieved a legal victory in a Brooklyn case that attempted to use the All Writs Act, similar to the case of a San Bernardino shooter's locked iPhone:
A magistrate judge in the U.S. District Court in New York has handed Apple a legal victory in a Brooklyn drug case where federal investigators asked for help getting into a locked iPhone.
Though the ruling isn't precedent-setting or binding on other courts, it hits on a similar overarching theme of government access to encrypted data, as The Washington Post reports:
"The two cases involve different versions of iPhone's operating system and vastly different requests for technical help, but they both turn on whether a law from 1789 known as the All Writs Act can be applied to cases in which the government cannot get at encrypted data stored on suspects' devices."
NPR's Joel Rose previously outlined the premise of this Brooklyn case, which predated the legal clash over an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino shooters:
"Jun Feng pleaded guilty to selling methamphetamine last year. As part of its investigation, the government obtained a search warrant for Feng's iPhone. But the phone was locked by a passcode, so prosecutors asked a judge for an order compelling Apple to bypass it."
That order was based on the same law as the San Bernardino court order compelling Apple's help in unlocking the iPhone used by Syed Rizwan Farook before the Dec. 2 attack, in which he and his wife killed 14 people.
The Justice Department will appeal the case. FBI Director James Comey and Apple General Counsel Bruce Sewell will appear at a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday to testify on encryption.
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Apple's general counsel Bruce Sewell and FBI Director James Comey appeared before the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee on Tuesday to explain their positions on a court order that would force Apple to unlock the iPhone belonging to one of the San Bernardino shooters. Comey sang a different tune before Congress:
Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey told a congressional panel on Tuesday that a court order forcing Apple Inc to give the FBI data from an iPhone belonging to one of the San Bernardino shooters would be "potentially precedential" in other cases where the agency might request similar cooperation from technology companies. The remarks are a slight change to Comey's statement last week that forcing Apple to unlock the phone was "unlikely to be a trailblazer" for setting a precedent for other cases. [...] Comey acknowledged on Tuesday that the FBI would seek to use the same statute it is trying to apply in the San Bernardino case to compel Apple to unlock other phones, "if (the statute) is available to us."
Members of the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee seized on Comey's statement that the case could set a legal precedent allowing the agency access to any encrypted device. "Given... that Congress has explicitly denied you that authority so far, can you appreciate our frustration that this case appears to be little more than an end run around this committee?" asked the committee's ranking minority member, Michigan Representative John Conyers. Comey responded that the FBI was not asking to expand the government's surveillance authority, but rather to maintain its ability to obtain electronic information under legal authorities that Congress has already provided.
Sewell argued that unlocking the iPhone would weaken the security of all of them, and that the issue should be settled by Congress:
"We can all agree this is not about access to just one iPhone," Sewell, Apple's general counsel, said in his prepared opening remarks. "The FBI is asking Apple to weaken the security of our products." Sewell also argued that the debate should be had by Congress and elected leaders, rather than a warrant requested under the All Writs Act, a 1789 law that is central to the cases in California and New York.
Sewell also said that Apple is capable of creating new software that removes some security functionality, that being forced to write code is a First Amendment issue, and that Apple hasn't gotten similar demands from China or any other country, but expects to if Apple is forced to comply with the court order.
Previously: New York Judge Sides with Apple Rather than FBI in Dispute over a Locked iPhone
James Comey has been asked by President Trump to stay on as Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Comey is three years into a ten-year term.
News at NYT (which broke the story), USA Today, Washington Post, CNN, and The Hill.
Here's the bulk of our extensive past coverage of FBI Director Comey's career (oldest first):
2014:
FBI Director Concerned about Encryption on Smartphones
F.B.I. Director Calls "Dark" Devices a Hindrance to Crime Solving
To FBI Director Comey: You Reap What You Sow!
2015:
F.B.I. Has No Doubt that North Korea Attacked Sony, says Director
FBI Chief Links Video Scrutiny of Police to Rise in Violent Crime
2016:
Apple Ordered by Judge to Help Decrypt San Bernadino Shooter's phone
FBI Unable to Decrypt California Terrorists' Cell Phone
FBI vs. Apple Encryption Fight Continues
New York Judge Sides with Apple Rather than FBI in Dispute over a Locked iPhone
Apple Lawyer and FBI Director Appear Before Congress
FBI Error Locked San Bernardino Attacker's iPhone
FBI's iPhone Hack Only Works on 5C and Older
Washington Post: The FBI Paid "Gray Hat(s)", Not Cellebrite, for iPhone Unlock
FBI Director Blames 'Viral Video Effect' for Spike in Violent Crime
FBI Recommends No Prosecution for Clinton
FBI Chief Calls for National Talk Over Encryption vs. Safety
Apple argues stronger encryption will thwart criminals in letter to Australian government
Apple has long been a proponent for strong on-device encryption, most notably for its iPhones and the iOS operating system. This has often frustrated law enforcement agencies both in the US and overseas, many of which claim the company's encryption tools and policies are letting criminals avoid capture by masking communications and securing data from the hands of investigators.
Now, in a letter to the Australian government, Apple says it thinks encryption is in fact a benefit and public good that will only strength our protections against cyberattacks and terrorism. In Apple's eyes, encryption makes everyone's devices harder to hack and less vulnerable to take-overs, viruses, and other malicious attacks that could undermine personal and corporate security, as well as public infrastructure and services. Apple is specifically responding to the Australian Parliament's Assistance and Access Bill, which was introduced late last month and is designed to help the government more easily access the devices and data of criminals during active investigations.
Letter here (#53), or at Scribd and DocumentCloud.
Also at Ars Technica, Engadget, 9to5Mac, and AppleInsider.
Police told to avoid looking at recent iPhones to avoid lockouts
Police have yet to completely wrap their heads around modern iPhones like the X and XS, and that's clearer than ever thanks to a leak. Motherboard has obtained a presentation slide from forensics company Elcomsoft telling law enforcement to avoid looking at iPhones with Face ID. If they gaze at it too many times (five), the company said, they risk being locked out much like Apple's Craig Federighi was during the iPhone X launch event. They'd then have to enter a passcode that they likely can't obtain under the US Constitution's Fifth Amendment, which protects suspects from having to provide self-incriminating testimony.
Also at 9to5Mac.
Related:
California Lawmaker Tries Hand at Banning Encryption
New York Judge Sides with Apple Rather than FBI in Dispute over a Locked iPhone
FBI Chief Calls for National Talk Over Encryption vs. Safety
Hacker Decrypts Apple's Secure Enclave Processor (SEP) Firmware
Federal Court Rules That the FBI Does Not Have to Disclose Name of iPhone Hacking Vendor
Law Enforcement Agencies Increasingly Cracking iPhones Using "GrayKey"
Australian Government Pursues "Golden Key" for Encryption
When's A Backdoor Not A Backdoor? When The Oz Government Says It Isn't
Five Eyes Governments Get Even Tougher on Encryption
FBI Used Cooperative Suspect's Face to Unlock His iPhone
Apple Denies FBI Request to Unlock Shooter's iPhone:
Apple once again is drawing the line at breaking into a password-protected iPhone for a criminal investigation, refusing a request by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to help unlock the iPhones of a shooter responsible for an attack in Florida.
The company late Monday said it won't help the FBI crack two iPhones belonging to Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani, a Saudi-born Air Force cadet and suspect in a shooting that killed three people in December at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Fla.
The decision is reminiscent of a scenario that happened during the investigation of a 2015 California shooting, and could pit federal law enforcement against Apple in court once again to argue over data privacy in the case of criminal investigations.
While Apple said it's helping in the FBI's investigation of the Pensacola shooting—refuting criticism to the contrary—the company said it won't help the FBI unlock two phones the agency said belonged to Alshamrani.
"We reject the characterization that Apple has not provided substantive assistance in the Pensacola investigation," the company said in a statement emailed to Threatpost. "Our responses to their many requests since the attack have been timely, thorough and are ongoing."
[...] The FBI sent a letter to Apple's general counsel last week asking the company to help the agency crack the iPhones, as their attempts until that point to guess the "relevant passcodes" had been unsuccessful, according to the letter, which was obtained by NBC News.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 01 2016, @05:33AM
Strange there are so many cases at once. Is this an attempt to drain apple's legal fund?
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Tork on Tuesday March 01 2016, @05:50AM
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 01 2016, @06:05AM
Could be that too, something is up since there are so many cases in parallel. I take it there is no concern about legal resources that can be devoted to this issue then.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 01 2016, @09:07AM
This is like playing Russian roulette with a gun in each hand. //o== (o.o) ==o\\
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 01 2016, @05:51AM
You afraid the Justice Dept will go bankrupt and Apple will buy justice wholesale?
Dontcha worry, it's already happening.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 01 2016, @05:58AM
But Apple didn't initiate these cases. If your theory is correct, the government must have accidently/purposefully scientologied itself.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday March 01 2016, @07:34AM
Correct. "Accidentally"** to be precise.
** demo: straight application of the Hanlon's razor in the conditions established by Mikey's additive theorem [utah.edu]
The stupidity of a group equals the sum of the stupidity of its members. Large groups, such as governments (or corporations), are capable of acts of stupidity far in excess of any individual member of the group.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 3, Funny) by looorg on Tuesday March 01 2016, @02:16PM
Like that will ever happen. If the funds get low you'll see a new IPhone for sale within a month - Iphone X - Justice Edition!
(Score: 3, Disagree) by zeigerpuppy on Tuesday March 01 2016, @06:10AM
Of course apple will be shown to be fighting the good fight.
This is all about reviving trust and helping them out to pay for damage caused to their image.
While in the background the unwarranted data taps will continue unabated.
Pure theatre, worthy of popcorn
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 01 2016, @08:03AM
That is also my take on it, so much PR spin started flying around after the Snowden docs were released, you'd think maybe they'd have taken their stand before being outed...
Sadly, even people I would expect to be open to the possibilities of underhanded dealings seem to believe the corporate lords are beholden to the customers and will not violate customer privacy. "They have an image to maintain and will lose all their customers if they cave to the FBI."
Mmhmmm, since all the other revelations have done so much harm to the sales of M$ and Fruitco.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by frojack on Tuesday March 01 2016, @08:04AM
Well its one thing for the government to spy on us, but to force others to spy for them is a step too far.
It may be used against criminals and terrorists today, but it will be routinely used against all of us soon as they can find some judges that think like you.
You can't get back from there once you go there.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 3, Disagree) by zeigerpuppy on Tuesday March 01 2016, @12:19PM
We're already there my friend.
The FBI has the tools to pop the NAND chip out of the phone
and read it. They don't need Apple to do anything.
But you see apple wants people to believe that it is saying no,
It's good PR.
Also think about how iCloud works, they already have most of the data on their customers unencrypted anyway.
Google, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft and others have deals in place with the NSA/FBI/CIA/DEA/5 Eyes to share data.
Of course they are also not allowed to talk about these deals and it's good for everyone (apart from the public) that they vociferously complain every now and then.
End to end crypto is the only way to secure your comms and even then it's not easy.
It's sort of like senior priests saying they didn't see the kiddy fiddlers;
"Oh that network engineer in the locked cupboard with a ball of fibre, oh don't worry about him, he's from the cable company, just fixing some problems"
(Score: 4, Informative) by pTamok on Tuesday March 01 2016, @03:28PM
Sigh,
'popping the NAND' chip out won't help (much), as the data on the NAND chip is encrypted with a key that made from the unlock code/passcode mixed with (entangled) a large number encoded in the cpu chip that is unique to each cpu. So the unlock code has to be processed by the particular cpu, as this large number is not known. In this particular model of iPhone, the enforced time delay between successive unlock attempts can, however, be bypassed if a special revision of the iOS is loaded, so that a new passcode could be tried every 50 ms.
In principle, the cpu chip could be desoldered, and ablated and the large number read directly from the silicon, but that process is not guaranteed to be successful. If it is not, the data is lost. So the FBI are taking the easy way: asking Apple to produce a version of iOS for this particular phone that by-passes the time delay between unlock events. Note that this cannot be done so simply (if at all) for later iPhones that have a 'Secure Enclave', as the time delay is enforced by the hardware in a more secure fashion.
Alternatively, the FBI could ask for Apple's software signing key, and produce the software themselves. That would give them unrestricted access to more than just one iPhone.
(Score: 2) by zeigerpuppy on Tuesday March 01 2016, @09:12PM
Apparently the implementation is not particularly secure even in the latest models http://risky.biz [risky.biz] podcast #400 has a reasonably good discussion of this.
(Score: 1) by pTamok on Wednesday March 02 2016, @09:32AM
It would have been nice of you to provide a précis, or even an indication of where in the podcast it was mentioned (a little before a quarter of the way in).
Essentially, the technique described is to desolder some NAND, install a jailbreak on the desoldered NAND, then reattach the NAND. This works even on iPhones which have a Secure Enclave, and is well within the FBI's capabilities. This is apparently easy for people with experience of this sort of thing (and the right heat gun).
I don't know enough about the details of the physical use of NAND in iPhones, or the layout of software and data in the NAND to say if it is a viable approach. I have to leave it to others who claim it is. It is indeed possible that such a physical vulnerability could exist in current iPhone models, but I suspect that is the kind of thing Apple intend to address in future.
Some discussion of the NAND setup of iPhones is here:
https://www.theiphonewiki.com/wiki/NAND [theiphonewiki.com]
which also links to here:
http://esec-lab.sogeti.com/posts/2012/06/28/low-level-ios-forensics.html [sogeti.com]
The first link states
Although the NAND houses two visible filesystems, it actually has more partitions, including: NVRM (the NVRam store), SCFG (system configuration), BOOT (iBoot + more) and others.
If some of those partitions are unencrypted, or encrypted with keys that are extractable, or guessable by brute force in reasonable time without using the particular iPhone cpu the NAND was removed from, then there could be an exploitable vulnerability.
(Score: 2) by Arik on Tuesday March 01 2016, @04:34PM
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 1) by anubi on Wednesday March 02 2016, @12:58PM
Seems some governments can be as much bullies as street gangs when they don't get their way....
Now, I am of really mixed emotion on all this stuff, but I know we have warned our representatives, bosses, and whoever else we could preach at that ignoring all these privacy issues and all this insecure software that has been getting by on "hold harmless" clauses is only going to drive a lot of research and adoption of very potent encryption.
Government not only turned a blind eye to abuse of privacy, they even fostered a lot of bad software by using it in government and damn near mandating its use in order to communicate with government.
Business has to follow suit in order to file forms and whatever in order to maintain permissions to stay in business.
Now, the chickens are coming home to roost and the governments are finally waking up.
Just like the recording industry did not wake up until filesharing was commonplace and well ingrained into the public, finally governments have got to realize that what used to be easily monitorable cleartext is now streams of encrypted data - as governments themselves force the issue by ignoring the public's concern over privacy issues.
That is, if people cannot keep peeping toms out of the neighborhood, they start painting the windows black. Some places deal with it by erecting walls with broken glass embedded on the top, or razor wire.
Here, A senior Facebook executive was detained in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Tuesday after the company’s WhatsApp cellphone chat subsidiary told federal authorities it was unable to intercept instant messages in connection with a drug investigation. [washingtonpost.com]
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]