In the wake of the terrorist act in San Bernardino, California, in early December, the FBI several times, most recently on Sunday, claimed that the agency’s desire just about getting access to the content of a single cell phone, an iPhone as one of the terrorists disposal.
It may well be that the FBI has their words intact, for the court order which last week made strife between the FBI and Apple known all about this one phone.
But the FBI is not alone in fight against Apple in this matter. The US Justice Department, the FBI and other law enforcement authorities are subject, have also entered the field.
Like the FBI, the Ministry wants to force Apple to further assist investigators to extract data from locked iPhones. But several unnamed sources told the Wall Street Journal that this is not just about mobile related to San Bernardino Movement, but also about a dozen other iPhone that investigators have not okay to unlock.
According to sources should not be about terrorism cases. Among others mentioned a drug being investigated in New York.
Many of these confiscated phones will be iPhones with older iOS versions. Basically, these fewer security barriers than mobile as terrorist disposal. But apparently the authorities nevertheless have managed to gain access to information stored on them.
Hundreds
The number of mobiles that are referred by the Wall Street Journal is still considerably lower than what Apple even specify. In a statement on this page the company states that it is about much more.
– Agents of the judicial authorities around the country have already said that they have hundreds of iPhones as they want Apple to unlock it if the FBI wins this case. In the physical world this would be equivalent to a master key that can unlock hundreds of millions of locks. Apple will of course do our best to protect this key, but in a world where all our data is under constant threat, they will be ruthlessly attacked by hackers and cybercriminals. As recent attacks against IRS systems [US Tax Bureaus, journ. note] and countless other data breaches has shown, no immune from kyberangrep, writes Apple.
In an internal letter to Apple employees who have been made public by including BuzzFeed, writes Apple CEO Tim Cook that that now should happen in this case, is that the government withdraw their claims, and the establishment of a commission or a panel of experts in intelligence, technology and civil liberties, which could discuss the implications of such matters will have for law enforcement, national security, privacy and personal freedom.
– Apple is a clean, American company. It does not feel right to stand on the opposite side of the government in a case that is oriented around freedoms government is supposed to protect, writes Cook.
PR battle
Apple has undoubtedly much goodwill to win to fight this battle, especially because the company in recent years has used security as an argument in the marketing of iOS devices. However, it is not certain that the company win this public relations battle, at least at home.
A poll done by PewResearchCenter shows that a majority of Americans apparently supports FBI in this matter. But as so often in such polls, the way questions are asked will be decisive.
51 percent of respondents said that Apple should help FBI to unlock mobile while 38 percent believe the opposite. 11 percent are unsure what they mean.
But for that they asked to be able to give a thought of such a question, they must have detailed knowledge about what matter is really all about and the question they answered contributes not to this. For in the court order that Apple has received, the company must create a new version of iOS that allows be to wipe the device after ten failed password attempts.
It is not the same as locking on a single device .
only 39 percent of respondents answered that they have heard a lot about that particular issue. The proportion that stays with FBI increases with age, but also among the young adults there are several that support FBI than Apple.
Alternative techniques
While the war of words is in progress, it has also come more suggestions about how the FBI can get around the security of the iPhone phone. ABC News cites several security specialists who argue that potentially is possible to dismantle the memory banks where the current encryption keys stored in your device.
This means that with such laser or acid melts away material that protects the memory circuits so that these exist and can be read directly. But it stressed that the risk of making a “fatal” error is large, so this can be used only as a last resort.
Another method that Forbes describes, is to use criminal fingerprint to unlock unit. Admittedly, this will not work in San Bernandino case, since it concerns an iPhone 5C without fingerprints, that Touch ID. All other, newer iPhones, including 5S, has such a sensor.
According to Forbes, it has been demonstrated that it is possible to unlock iPhones using copies of fingerprints.
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