Terrorist iphone..........

[aris2chat]

Seems JOD and FBI have turned to Israel to get the information from the iphone

 

[AvgGuyIA]

Israel will crack it in no time at all.

 

[waltky]

FBI turns the tables on Apple...

FBI's secret method of unlocking iPhone may never reach Apple
Wed Mar 30, 2016 - The FBI may be allowed to withhold information about how it broke into an iPhone belonging to a gunman in the December San Bernardino shootings, despite a U.S. government policy of disclosing technology security flaws discovered by federal agencies.

Under the U.S. vulnerabilities equities process, the government is supposed to err in favor of disclosing security issues so companies can devise fixes to protect data. The policy has exceptions for law enforcement, and there are no hard rules about when and how it must be applied. Apple Inc has said it would like the government to share how it cracked the iPhone security protections. But the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which has been frustrated by its inability to access data on encrypted phones belonging to criminal suspects, might prefer to keep secret the technique it used to gain access to gunman Syed Farook's phone. The referee is likely to be a White House group formed during the Obama administration to review computer security flaws discovered by federal agencies and decide whether they should be disclosed.

Experts said government policy on such reviews was not clear-cut, so it was hard to predict whether a review would be required. "There are no hard and fast rules," said White House cybersecurity coordinator Michael Daniel, in a 2014 blog post about the process. If a review is conducted, many security researchers expect that the White House group will not require the FBI to disclose the vulnerability it exploited. Some experts said the FBI might be able to avoid a review entirely if, for instance, it got past the phone's encryption using a contractor's proprietary technology.

Explaining the policy in 2014, the Office of the Director of National Security said the government should disclose vulnerabilities “unless there is a clear national security or law enforcement need." The interagency review process also considers whether others are likely to find the vulnerability. It tends to focus on flaws in major networks and software, rather than individual devices. During a press call, a senior Justice Department official declined to disclose whether the method used on Farook's phone would work on other phones or would be shared with state and local law enforcement. Apple declined to comment beyond saying it would like the government to provide information about the technique used.

PROTECTING "CRUCIAL INTELLIGENCE"

 

[waltky]

Unlocking method only works on a narrow number of models...

FBI director says unlocking method won't work on newer iPhones
April 7, 2016 - The Federal Bureau of Investigation's secret method for unlocking the iPhone 5c used by one of the San Bernardino shooters will not work on newer models, FBI Director James Comey said. "We have a tool that works on a narrow slice of phones," Comey said at a conference on encryption and surveillance at Kenyon College in Ohio late on Wednesday.

Apple's shares were down 1.3 percent at midday. Comey added that the technique would not work on the iPhone 5s and the later models iPhone 6 and 6s. The iPhone 5c model was introduced in 2013 and has since been discontinued by Apple as newer models have become available. The Justice Department said in March it had unlocked the San Bernardino shooter's iPhone with the help of an unidentified third party and dropped its case against Apple Inc , ending a high-stakes legal clash but leaving the broader fight over encryption unresolved.

As the technique cannot be used to break into newer models, law enforcement authorities will likely have to lean on Apple to help them access the devices involved in other cases. The Justice Department has asked a New York court to force Apple to unlock an iPhone 5s related to a drug investigation. Prosecutors in that case said they would update the court by April 11 on whether it would "modify" its request for Apple's assistance.

If the government continues to pursue that case, the technology company could potentially use legal discovery to force the FBI to reveal what technique it used, a source familiar with the situation told Reuters. Apple and the FBI were not immediately available for comment. The FBI began briefing select U.S. senators this week about the method used to unlock the San Bernardino iPhone. Up to Wednesday's close of $110.96, Apple's shares had risen more than 5 percent this year.

FBI director says unlocking method won't work on newer iPhones

 

[RoshawnMarkwees]

FBI director says unlocking method won't work on newer iPhones

Sure. As far as we know.

 

[waltky]

Prob'ly some kid down the street hacked it...

Hackers helped FBI crack San Bernardino iPhone: Report
13 Apr 2016 - Hackers were paid a one-time flat fee by the FBI for their help in cracking into an iPhone used by a San Bernardino attacker, the Washington Post reported.

WASHINGTON: Professional hackers discovered at least one software flaw that helped the FBI break into an iPhone used by a San Bernardino attacker, the Washington Post reported Tuesday (Apr 12).

These hackers were paid a one-time flat fee for their help, the Post said, quoting people familiar with the case. The discovery of the flaw was used to fashion a piece of hardware that helped US authorities dodge the iPhone's four-digit personal identification number without activating a feature that would have erased all the data on the phone, the Post quoted the people familiar with the case as saying.

The FBI would not have had trouble cracking the four-digit PIN. The tricky part, in fact, was to deactivate a feature on the phone that erases data stored on the device after 10 incorrect tries at guessing the code, the Post said. In the San Bernardino attacks, Syed Farook and wife Tashfeen Malik killed 14 people on Dec 2 before dying in a firefight with police. Two other phones linked to the pair were found destroyed after the attack.

The government filed suit to try to force Apple to help it break into a phone used by one of the shooters. Apple, backed by other tech giants such as Google and Facebook, refused, citing concerns over digital security and privacy. The FBI announced late last month that it had managed to break into the phone with the help of an undisclosed third party, ending the legal standoff.

Hackers helped FBI crack San Bernardino iPhone: Report