We need your help now
Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
By continuing, you are indicating that you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
APPLE IS CHALLENGING an order to unlock a gunman’s iPhone in the US, claiming it has “implications far beyond the legal case at hand”.
The company made the statement after an American judge ordered Apple on Tuesday to help the FBI break into an iPhone belonging to one of the attackers in the San Bernardino shooting that killed 14 people.
US Magistrate Judge Sheri Pym ordered Apple to provide “reasonable technical assistance” to the FBI, including by disabling an auto-erase feature after too many unsuccessful attempts are made to unlock the iPhone 5C.
However, Apple has rejected this order, describing it as “chilling” and saying it has far-reaching implications.
“The United States government has demanded that Apple take an unprecedented step which threatened the security of our customers. We oppose this order which has implications far beyond the legal case at hand,” said Cook in an open letter. ”When the FBI has requested data that’s in our possession, we have provided it … We have great respect for the professionals at the FBI and we believe their intentions are good”.
Specifically, the FBI wants us to make a new version of the iPhone operating system, circumventing several important security features, and install it on an iPhone recovered during the investigation. In the wrong hands, this software – which does not exist today – would have the potential to unlock any iPhone in someone’s physical possession.
The FBI may use different words to describe this tool, but make no mistake: Building a version of iOS that bypasses security in this way would undeniably create a backdoor. And while the government may argue that its use would be limited to this case, there is no way to guarantee such control.
Cook also addressed the issue of creating a backdoor solution for its OS would go against the advice of cryptologists and national security experts, and jeopardise the privacy of its users.
“Some would argue that building a backdoor for just one iPhone is a simple, clean-cut solution. But it ignores both the basics of digital security and the significance of what the government is demanding in this case,” he said.
The government would have us remove security features and add new capabilities to the operating system, allowing a passcode to be input electronically. This would make it easier to unlock an iPhone by “brute force,” trying thousands or millions of combinations with the speed of a modern computer.
The implications of the government’s demands are chilling. If the government can use the All Writs Act to make it easier to unlock your iPhone, it would have the power to reach into anyone’s device to capture their data.
The case in question
Federal prosecutors had filed a motion requesting Apple’s help after the FBI failed to crack the phone’s code.
By disabling the security features, the FBI will now be able to attempt as many different password combinations as needed before gaining access.
The phone was the property of the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health, which employed one of the shooters, Syed Farook.
The county agreed to the search of the phone.
Farook, a US citizen, and his Pakistani wife Tashfeen Malik stormed a holiday work party in December and shot up their victims.
Pym, the judge, ordered that Apple provides software that would only run on the device in question or any other technological means to access its data.
“We have made a solemn commitment to the victims and their families that we will leave no stone unturned as we gather as much information and evidence as possible,” US Attorney Eileen Decker said in a statement.
“The application filed today in federal court is another step – a potentially important step – in the process of learning everything we possibly can about the attack in San Bernardino”.
FBI Director James Comey revealed last week that investigators had not been able to crack open the phone two months into the investigation.
“It affects our counterterrorism work,” he said.
Comey stressed the US government’s concerns that commercially-available encryption benefits criminals.
Tech companies, intent on securing the trust of consumers after government spying revelations made by Edward Snowden, have been reluctant to be seen as helping authorities spy on users.
(Additional reporting from AFP)
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Fair play to Apple on this one.
Apple is right not to allow the FBI to snoop on iPhones, that’s just for Apple to do.
Right or wrong this does have massive implications. A government demanding security features removed for people’s mobile phones ? What’s next ? America is slowly becoming like all the countries it renounces. Liberty and freedom is being eradicated slowly but surely. I was in New York a few years back and saw a number of temporary stalls set up with people selling books. When I asked what they were I was told they were all books that were banned !! First Amendment my ass.
Why would this be any difference than having to comply with a normal search warrant? I’m pretty sure makers of home security products would have to override their systems to allow police in possesion of a warrant to perform a search.
Surely you have to be under suspicion, person of interest or involved some way in the crime to have a warrant issued on your property ? So literally you are saying you agree with a warrant being issued on anyone with a mobile phone at anytime without them even knowing?
There is a difference between overriding the alarm on one house and giving a government a piece of software that can open every iPhone in the world
I think you misunderstood . The only printed material banned by the US govt is child pornography . Books that were/are banned from public libraries and schools were done so through a challenge.This is usually the result of complaints from parents, who find particular books not appropriate for their children (e.g., books about sexual orientation) . It is not a government ban.
Surely the simple solution is to give the phone to apple requesting that it be returned unlocked. The notion that they should create a programme allowing the FBI or other agency unfettered access to all iPhones is Orwellian in it’s scope and unacceptable in any democracy.
For the first time ever I like the stance Apple have taken on something
Just goes to show, with all the high tech super secret gadgetry/computing power that the fbi and nsa have, in fact they are very limited in cracking something as basic as an iPhone passcode.
Nothing to do with supercomputers John Galvin.
You only have 10 guesses at the password.
Then the iPhone “knows” it is stolen and wipes out all its own data.
And you don’t think they would have the ability to dissect the phone, take the memory out and use a super computer to break the encryption without worrying about some crude system deleting data? I bet if you released this problem to the hacking community they would have it solved in days. The iPhone is not a phone designed to be uncrackable. It’s designed to just make it difficult for unauthorized people to gain access.
The owners of the phone agreed to the search so Apple should just STFU and do it. The longer the delay the less useful any potential information on it will become.
Are the owners not dead?
It’s owned by the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health.
If the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health owns the phone (and the information in it) then why don’t just unlock it and give it to them?
The US Gov have been waiting for an excuse to force this ‘back door’ unlock on Apple for a while now, but if they’re successful then it’s every iPhone that can snooped on, and it won’t be just by the US Gov.
Apple could only unlock the phone by means which are unavailable to every other customer of Apple.
The policy seems to be if you lock yourself out of your phone then deleting everything off the phone and starting again is the only option.
Now if they asked for data saved on the cloud belonging to Farook or if they asked the service provider for data sent perhaps they would get what they need.
Expecting Apple to open the door and let them in is not going to happen
It is also an item of evidence in an ongoing investigation. If their house had security features these would also have to be shut down to carry out a search.
This wouldn’t have been an issue if the owner of the phone, San Bernardino County, had set the encryption password for their device. Allowing the employee to set it is poor IT practice. If he had committed some sort of corporate/IT crime on his iphone, he could have just bricked his phone (i.e. the evidence)
This is just about Apple protecting their intellectual property, they jealously guard their systems and hide their hardware and software so that they can overcharge for them. Only their over priced chargers and accessories are compatible with their machines for instance. There is nothing democratic about the way Apple do business, only the richest people would have access to the internet in their world. Android systems however are based on openly accessible Linux type software that has revolutionised the world and its access to the internet.
Apples “intellectual property” was paid for mainly by the US taxpayer. Most of the components in an iphone or ipad were developed and researched by the US army and by taxpayers money. One would think in a capitalist society the US population would see a return on that investment, but no. Steve jobs and Bill gates are the ones that see the return.
Is this a sponsored ad by Apple. Look, even the FBI can’t break the security. Buy an Iphone today. Stay secured. Something smells here.
The Federal Government specifically used the All Writs Act to compel Apple, which is a bill that dates in it’s original form to 1789!
The implications for this case are rather chilling, next no doubt they will be compelling Cisco/Juniper to provide backdoor’s for firewall’s/VPN’s (who needs the NSA to do hardware “implants”) to quote from Ars Technica article:
—
Similarly, Ahmed Ghappour, a law professor at the University of California, Hastings, concurred.
“Here you have the government using a catch-all statute from the 18th-Century to compel a technology company to ‘assist’ law enforcement by designing custom software to backdoor an encrypted device,” he told Ars. “The ramifications of such a precedent could be tremendous. If the government can compel Apple to provide custom software, why can’t they compel Facebook to customize analytics that predicts the criminality of their user base?”
–
I suspect the people killed in the San Bernadino attack would care less about who looks at there phone ..
Unfortunately it is all the people who are alive with an iPhone and all those who will have an iPhone that will be the ones who do care. Not only that, if they FBI manage to get this through it could affect a whole lot more than just iPhones. That is the bigger picture, its not just iPhones that this could affect.
Can you not over ride the password too. Seems like this just allows them have unlimited attempts at guessing. I presume you run some software that can still take ages. I didn’t think would be so difficult
You need to change your avatar mate……….
Apple wont come away smelling of roses on this
How long has Paul O’Grady been running Apple?
Apple should give FBI access to phone as it is a matter of national Security if Apple fail to comply I will stop using Apple
It’s an absolute disgrace that Apple will not unlock a terrorist phone , this is a national security issue and could possibly uncover sleeper cells within America and Europe. Do we want anther 9/11 , 7/7 or Paris attacks ?
Tim Cooke should be arrested and charged with aiding and supporting for a terrorist organization.
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say