
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
Related Stories
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
Apple said in court filings last month that it would take from six to 10 engineers up to a month to meet the government's demands. However, because Apple is so compartmentalized, the challenge of building what the company described as "GovtOS" would be substantially complicated if key employees refused to do the work.
"Such conscription is fundamentally offensive to Apple's core principles and would pose a severe threat to the autonomy of Apple and its engineers," Apple's lawyers wrote in the company's final brief to the Federal District Court for the Central District of California.
After interviewing Apple engineers, it has been revealed there is indeed a discussion among Apple employees about resisting any court order to deliberately weaken Apple security. Key engineers have said they may quit the company if forced to participate.
Huge fan of civil disobedience, and up till now it didn't occur to me that Apple engineers may quit. It seems like the government may really have no way at all of forcing the decryption of the iPhone without forcefully conscripting engineers into service, which is unlikely.
Good news everybody!
Here's an extra story related to FBI Director Comey's questioning on Wednesday. It's a piece of "classified information":
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Senate committee that oversees the FBI, said publicly this week that the government paid $900,000 to break into the locked iPhone of a gunman in the San Bernardino, California, shootings, even though the FBI considers the figure to be classified information.
The FBI also has protected the identity of the vendor it paid to do the work. Both pieces of information are the subject of a federal lawsuit by The Associated Press and other news organizations that have sued to force the FBI to reveal them.
California's Feinstein cited the amount while questioning FBI Director James Comey at a Senate Judiciary Committee oversight hearing Wednesday.
Related: FBI vs. Apple Encryption Fight Continues
Seems Like Everyone has an Opinion About Apple vs. the FBI
Washington Post: The FBI Paid "Gray Hat(s)", Not Cellebrite, for iPhone Unlock
FBI Can't Say How It Hacked IPhone 5C
Researcher Bypasses iPhone 5c Security With NAND Mirroring
The FBI will not have to disclose the name of the vendor that it paid to hack into an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino terrorists:
A federal court ruled yesterday that the FBI does not have to disclose either the name of the vendor used or price the government paid to hack into the iPhone SE of mass shooter Syed Farook, according to ZDNet. The device became embroiled in a heated national controversy and legal standoff last year when Apple refused to help the FBI develop a backdoor into it for the purpose of obtaining sensitive information on Farook and his wife Tashfeen Malik, both of whom participated in the terrorist attack that left 14 dead in San Bernardino, California in December 2015.
The Justice Department originally filed a lawsuit against Apple to compel it to participate by creating a special version of its mobile operating system, something Apple was vehemently against because of the risk such a tool posed to users. But very soon after, the government withdrew from the case when a third-party vendor secretly demonstrated to the FBI a workable method to bypass the iPhone's security system. Three news organizations — the Associated Press, Vice News, and USA Today — filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit in September 2016 to reveal details of the hacking method used. Because it was not clear how many phones the workaround could be used on, and whether the FBI could use it surreptitiously in the future, the lawsuit was seeking information that would be pertinent to the public and security researchers around the globe.
Previously: Washington Post: The FBI Paid "Gray Hat(s)", Not Cellebrite, for iPhone Unlock
FBI Can't Say How It Hacked IPhone 5C
Meeting Cellebrite - Israel's Master Phone Crackers
Cellebrite Appears to Have Been Hacked
Senator Dianne Feinstein Claims That the FBI Paid $900,000 to Break Into a Locked iPhone
Related: FBI Resists Revealing its Tor User Identification Methods in Court
Federal authorities are responding to a shooting at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, a small community southeast of San Antonio.
In a press conference Sunday night, an official from the Texas Department of Public Safety described the scene: Around 11:20 am, the suspect, dressed in black, approached the church and began firing an assault rifle. He then entered the church and continued firing.
Gov. Greg Abbott confirmed that at least 26 people were killed. A Texas Department of Public Safety official said the ages of the victims ranged from 5 to 72 years old. The AP reports that the pastor's 14-year-old daughter is among the dead.
The Department of Public Safety confirmed to NPR that at least 20 others were wounded. A DPS official said in the press conference that the gunman was confronted by an armed civilian outside of the church.
The shooter, who was found dead in neighboring Guadalupe County, has been identified as Devin Kelley, 26, a former Air Force member.
The new FBI Director Christopher Wray has been repeating the broken rhetoric of the Crypto Wars:
In recent testimony before Congress, the director of the FBI has again highlighted what the government sees as the problem of easy-to-use, on-by-default, strong encryption.
In prepared remarks from last Thursday, FBI Director Christopher Wray said that encryption presents a "significant challenge to conducting lawful court-ordered access," he said, again using the longstanding government moniker "Going Dark."
The statement was just one portion of his testimony about the agency's priorities for the coming year.
The FBI and its parent agency, the Department of Justice, have recently stepped up public rhetoric about the so-called dangers of "Going Dark." In recent months, both Wray and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein have given numerous public statements about this issue.
Remember to use encryption irresponsibly, and stay salty, my FBI friends.
Previously: FBI Chief Calls for National Talk Over Encryption vs. Safety
Federal Court Rules That the FBI Does Not Have to Disclose Name of iPhone Hacking Vendor
PureVPN Logs Helped FBI Net Alleged Cyberstalker
FBI Failed to Access 7,000 Encrypted Mobile Devices
Great, Now There's "Responsible Encryption"
FBI Bemoans Phone Encryption After Texas Shooting, but Refuses Apple's Help
DOJ: Strong Encryption That We Don't Have Access to is "Unreasonable"
The Washington Post has a story which says:
FBI Director Christopher A. Wray on Tuesday renewed a call for tech companies to help law enforcement officials gain access to encrypted smartphones, describing it as a "major public safety issue."
Wray said the bureau was unable to gain access to the content of 7,775 devices in fiscal 2017 — more than half of all the smartphones it tried to crack in that time period — despite having a warrant from a judge.
"Being unable to access nearly 7,800 devices in a single year is a major public safety issue," he said, taking up a theme that was a signature issue of his predecessor, James B. Comey.
Wray was then quoted as saying:
"We're not interested in the millions of devices of everyday citizens," he said in New York at Fordham University's International Conference on Cyber Security. "We're interested in those devices that have been used to plan or execute terrorist or criminal activities."
He then went on to promote the long-disparaged idea of key escrow:
As an example of a possible compromise, Wray cited a case from New York several years ago. Four major banks, he said, were using a chat messaging platform called Symphony, which was marketed as offering "guaranteed data deletion." State financial regulators became concerned that the chat platform would hamper investigations of Wall Street.
"In response," Wray said, "the four banks reached an agreement with the regulators to ensure responsible use" of Symphony. They agreed to keep a copy of their communications sent through the app for seven years and to store duplicate copies of their encryption keys with independent custodians not controlled by the banks, he said.
To me this is more of the utter nonsense the government has spouted. When will they understand that key escrow only works when one trusts the government and the keeper of the keys?
The Texas Rangers have served Apple a warrant for iPhone and iCloud data connected to the recent mass shooter Devin Patrick Kelley. However, it is unknown whether Kelley actually used iCloud to store data, and unlikely that Apple will be able or willing to help unlock the iPhone:
Texas Rangers investigating the mass shooting in Sutherland Springs have served a search warrant on Silicon Valley giant Apple Inc. and are seeking digital photos, messages, documents and other types of data that might have been stored by gunman Devin Patrick Kelley, who was found with an iPhone after he killed himself.
Court records obtained by the San Antonio Express-News show Texas Ranger Kevin Wright obtained search warrants on Nov. 9 for files stored on Kelley's iPhone, a second mobile phone found near his body and for files stored in Kelley's iCloud account — Apple's digital archive that can sync iPhone files.
The iCloud feature is an optional service. Obtaining such records, if they exist, directly from Apple could aid authorities investigating the worst mass shooting in modern Texas history. Apple's policy regarding iCloud content states that material may be provided to law enforcement agencies if they obtain search warrants.
In addition, the FBI may have already screwed it up.
Also at Engadget, BGR, and Fast Company.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 09 2017, @01:36PM (13 children)
They just want warrantless unrestricted access to anything they want for any purpose they can dream up all the time without accountability so encryption available to peons must be done away with.
Also logging comments by IP and then suggesting previous subject lines inline while typing is kind of skievey, sorta defeats the purpose of AC like having a face fork shadow profile
(Score: 4, Informative) by takyon on Thursday November 09 2017, @01:50PM (2 children)
Are you complaining about the standard autocomplete feature of your web browser? You know, the part where your own web browser saves previously used form data for named form fields by default?
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2, Disagree) by Whoever on Thursday November 09 2017, @03:58PM (1 child)
FTFY.
(Score: 4, Informative) by takyon on Thursday November 09 2017, @04:03PM
No.
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Element/input#attr-autocomplete [mozilla.org]
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Element/form#attr-autocomplete [mozilla.org]
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 1, Offtopic) by realDonaldTrump on Thursday November 09 2017, @02:36PM (9 children)
It's great that they track the cyber. I think it's great. How else can you stop the bad guys? The cyber, by the way, here in China they have terrific control over their cyber. They know exactly, exactly what's going on. And soon we will too. The sex trafficking bill is amazing, it's going to cut down tremendously on our cyber problems. Trust me. #MAGA 🇺🇸
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 09 2017, @02:49PM (5 children)
How much was your sex trafficking bill? Too high or too low?
(Score: 1) by realDonaldTrump on Thursday November 09 2017, @04:06PM
I know CERTAIN people (Dems) don't like the "offtopic" tweets. So I wrote in my journal. Thank you for your support!
(Score: 3, Informative) by DannyB on Thursday November 09 2017, @04:39PM (3 children)
I think the Donald's sex trafficking bill in China is not quite as high as it was in Russia, since golden shower type sports cost extra. Especially if you want to record the pee-pee tapes. And especially if it can only be done in a particular hotel room that Obama once stayed in.
Fact: We get heavier as we age due to more information in our heads. When no more will fit it accumulates as fat.
(Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Friday November 10 2017, @12:23AM (2 children)
As somebody who has dated a dominatrix, I can say that this is true.
Good dominatrices can turn down the extra money offered by watersports, good porn stars can turn down the extra money offered by "acting" with Blacks, good programmers can turn down the extra money offered by programming in Django or Swift.
But eventually, you become too ugly to be marketable to "current tastes," and so have to lower your standards.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 10 2017, @12:38AM (1 child)
How far did the dom lower her standards before she would date you?
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Ethanol-fueled on Friday November 10 2017, @12:55AM
I don't think you understand how the game works. She was the only "dom" in her universe, for starters. I'm only an average Joe, I have chest hair and a high tolerance for eccentricities, and was only the "dom" in the sense that she was away from all that shit and helped her with her algebra homework and other boring things. Keep in mind the Star Trek: TNG episode "Masks." It was a hidden allegory for the sun and the moon representing the "dom/sub" relationship, and role-reversal.
Anyway, in the dungeon, her "dates" are called "Masters of the Universe," and they comprise bankers, C-level executives, and others with too much control. Those people are so in-control of their lives that losing control is their "forbidden fruit." That's where she comes in. Shes used to bitch and moan that her Jewish banker clientele were always wearing nicer panties than she was.
Dungeons (I still laugh at that how silly that term is, but it is an industry standard) are most likely in big cities nondescript multistory suites with legitimate-looking names, all suites within have panic buttons, and depending on the dungeon there exists a wide variety of rulesets. All (legitimate ones) allow beatings with safety words and panic buttons, some allow watersports, scat, and when you want to wander into the darker aspects that will be discussed offline.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 09 2017, @03:31PM (2 children)
You're the one person I look up to when it comes to the cyber! It usually takes me an hour or so before I'm ready to cyber depending on what server I'm logged in to and which persona, but you just grab them by the cyber!
(Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Thursday November 09 2017, @04:06PM (1 child)
Yep, you must be female. Thank Jesus Christ for spittle!
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 09 2017, @06:21PM
Well, yes, that's how I identify. There! I've disproven that I could possibly be a woman by identifying! Bwahahaha!
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 09 2017, @02:24PM (15 children)
You have the gun, you have the dirt bag in a bag, so why do you need to get into the fucking phone?
CASE CLOSED ASSHOLES.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 09 2017, @02:31PM (4 children)
the problem is they have too many guns.
The way things are going, I doubt they are competent and/or willing enough to make a thorough investigation.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Thursday November 09 2017, @07:15PM (3 children)
> and/or willing enough to make a thorough investigation
A thorough investigation includes checking out what could be hidden in his phone. Which is what they are doing, even if they probably know that no new information is in there.
They are doing their jobs, under intense scrutiny of lawyers and journalists.
Some threads need extra mod points and a "paranoid/delusional" mod.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by edIII on Thursday November 09 2017, @07:46PM (2 children)
Does it really? Really, really need it? I don't think so.
Unless there is serious evidence beyond a hunch that he was working with other people, or ISIS, it is a waste of taxpayers money. A phone is just digitized papers and effects, no different than a personal library 50 years ago with handwritten notes or logs. What part of the investigation demands a thorough review of all papers and effects? Digital information is not just in the phone either, but possibly within a plethora of online services and social media sites. What about his home computer? What about all the tiny little spots in his home where you could hide a tiny piece of flash memory documenting your horrific crimes?
When the circumstances of the investigation demand it, I can understand wanting access to the digital information on the phone and/or beyond the phone. However, in this case the evidence is overwhelming. Previous instances of mental issues combined with a history of domestic violence and threats against authority. He then takes out part of his wife's family at the church they go to.
Sorry, not seeing the need to spend large amounts of taxpayer dollars to find out his high score in Candy Crush. Not every case requires absolutely thorough forensic investigation of everything. The questions that needed answering, have been adequately answered, and further investigation is out of the scope required.
My problem with it is that just about any crime can be used as justification to force you to "turn out your pockets", and this is just the FBI taking every opportunity to be bitching again that they can't look somewhere.
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Thursday November 09 2017, @07:58PM
There is a point at which the case does not require the effort. That's for someone with access to all the other evidence to decide. Until that point, their job is to collect the evidence, which could include pictures or documents on a phone found at the scene of the crime. In the first hours after the crime, it could contain information that could save additional lives (booby traps in his house, or other harmful acts against his family).
It's not a conspiracy against your privacy, it's normal police work. With Vegas 5 weeks earlier, they obviously didn't want to repeat the "we don't know why", and someone's phone is typically the best place for the answer.
I do agree that, in this very obvious case, it's overkill and someone should just call it off.
(Score: 4, Touché) by Osamabobama on Friday November 10 2017, @12:47AM
The press release?
Appended to the end of comments you post. Max: 120 chars.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by DannyB on Thursday November 09 2017, @02:39PM (8 children)
Not only do they have the gun(s), not only do they have the dirt bag, in a bag. But they also have his past history. Domestic violence. Escaping from a mental institution. Bad behavior in the military. The military's failure to notify law enforcement of his bad past. And other signs this guy would be trouble.
What do they possibly think they will find on the phone?
Real answer: NOTHING. The purpose of this stink about accessing the phone is to rationalize a contrived justification for getting access to all of our phones, all of the time, so they can spy on us any time, any where, without a warrant, and most importantly without any kind of supervision or oversight.
That is what the police state wants. Push button access to all the details of all of our lives.
TelescreensCameras everywhere.Most importantly, the UI should allow unfettered access to all our lives, with only one hand so the other hand is free for . . . um . . .
eating donuts.
It is a reality TV show they are addicted to.
Fact: We get heavier as we age due to more information in our heads. When no more will fit it accumulates as fat.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 09 2017, @02:41PM (5 children)
They are looking for a connection to groups such as ISIS, Sovereign Citizens, and ZoylentViews.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 09 2017, @03:52PM (2 children)
Perhaps I have bad experience with groups like Sovereign Citizens. I don't have experience with that group specifically, but my experience was directly with Southern Christian Identity, which also throws in some extra nonsense about Aryans being the master race, and proximately with various state militias.
I respect the philosophical underpinnings of anarcho-capitalism and similar political theories. I just wish I could help the people who are involved in those things see that it's not their beliefs in limited government, states rights (but not for cannabis, only for slavery and child abuse, and only for race-based slavery), gun ownership, etc--all very good things in abstract principle (can we have states rights without condoning child abuse and slavery?)--that make them monsters.
Their problem is that they themselves are narrow-minded, dangerous monsters. They blame some convoluted conspiracy involving Jews¹ and gays when their families fall apart. No, their families fall apart because their heavy-handed, paradoxically authoritarian, abusive horseshit forces people in their family who desire becoming healthy, well-adjusted human beings to choose between blood relatives and living a happy life independent of whatever mood the asshole is in today who thinks he's king of a kingdom with a grand total of 5 subjects and not even a quarter of an acre.
This is the grand paradox of the far-right I've seen with my own eyes. Get the government off my back, because my suburban kingdom only has room for one petty tyrant!
¹ For ISIS, s/Jews/the West/. Perhaps to simplify, the later fork of Yahweh worship always blames all its problems on the previous fork of Yahweh worship. Protestants blame Catholics. Christians blame Jews. Muslims blame Christians. And none of them can see how absolutely similar they all are, how they are all the exact same kind of monster.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Ethanol-fueled on Thursday November 09 2017, @03:58PM (1 child)
About your conspiracy theories and the Jews, you are right to believe that it is utter hogwash. Some other misguide folks actually believe that Black people dominate the NBA! Such fools, and racists, too. It should be illegal to suggest that Blacks dominate the NBA. Fortunately, regarding the Jews at least, both sides of our congress are working on making it criminal to suggest that Jews are a majority in anything.
God Bless America!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 10 2017, @09:12AM
In 2013 "of the NBA’s 49 majority owners, Michael Jordan of the Charlotte Bobcats was the only person of color." https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/diversity-in-the-nba-the-nfl-and-mlb/ [fivethirtyeight.com]
(Score: 2, Offtopic) by realDonaldTrump on Thursday November 09 2017, @04:03PM
That's right, we need to protect our people. So we need to know, is ISIS colluding with atheists like Devin? Is the alt-left getting into our military and making our military people violent? So many of our military people are doing violence, who's telling them to do that? We need to get into Devin's cell phone. Apple, who do they think they are? No, we have to open it up. I think security, overall, we have to open it up and we have to use our heads. We have to use common sense.
(Score: 4, Informative) by sjames on Thursday November 09 2017, @05:20PM
If they have a proper warrant, they can ask his cellular carrier. If not, they shouldn't be looking.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 09 2017, @03:33PM
Cynical me thinks the FBI actually knew they could probably access the phone with the dead man's finger but they didn't want to try (and preferred to wait till it wasn't possible) because they want access to everyone else's phone, not just the dead man's.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 09 2017, @06:28PM
They likely knew about the touchID and tried it.
Who knows, it might have even succeeded, but they aren't going to let that get in the way of trying to hit Apple's PR. Anything they can do to stop companies from protecting citizen's safety is well worth it.
(Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Thursday November 09 2017, @03:11PM
Apple doesn't need any help in discouraging people from buying their shit phones.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 09 2017, @02:44PM (3 children)
The contents of his phone are of no benefit at this time. He's not suspected of being a terrorist (in the organized sense.) The danger has passed. There are no further crimes to punish. And there is no need to amass evidence against him.
This is fucking theater. If they some day do get their backdoor laws minted, bet your ass it won't be of any more benefit to the public than it would be in this scenario right here: fucking nothing. Stay scared, America.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday November 09 2017, @02:50PM (2 children)
But what if Jack Bauer Jr. beats the ISIS terrorist a little too hard in the face and he can't reveal the password to his uncrackable iPhone 11 and many buildings go up in flames because the
FBICTU couldn't access all the text descriptions of the targets that the terrorist texted to the other terrorists????[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 09 2017, @04:16PM (1 child)
I'm sure there will be a stunning plot twist revealed half way through episode 23 that's been subtly foreshadowed throughout the previous episodes, where we find out who the true mastermind is.
(Score: 3, Funny) by DeathMonkey on Thursday November 09 2017, @07:01PM
Unfortunately, being California and all, they were tipped off by the mandatory trigger warning and the bomb went off as planned.
On the plus side, 24 has finally been cancelled.
(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"
(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.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(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!
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by DutchUncle on Thursday November 09 2017, @07:54PM
I've been fingerprinted for security clearances multiple times over the years. The modern scanners never work on me. The dinky little scanner in the Apple home button is absolutely useless.