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Order to hack iPhone for FBI chilling: Tim Cook


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2016 Feb 17, 4:44am   24,564 views  45 comments

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http://www.cnbc.com/2016/02/17/apple-order-to-hack-iphone-for-fbi-in-san-bernardino-case-chilling-tim-cook.html

A U.S. magistrate's order that Apple help the FBI access an iPhone belonging to one of the San Bernardino terrorists is "chilling" and is essentially asking the U.S. tech giant to "hack" its own users, Chief Executive Tim Cook said.

In a letter to customers on Wednesday, Cook said he opposes a "dangerous" court order.

#privacy #tech

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1   Strategist   2016 Feb 17, 4:49am  

Dear Tim,
I have nothing but respect for you and Apple, but you are crossing the red line. The FBI wants to track down every person who participated in this mass killing for our own safety, and you are trying to protect them. WTF is wrong with you?
Yours Truly
Strategist.

2   MisdemeanorRebel   2016 Feb 17, 8:24am  

Yeah, this is ridiculous, these were terrorists, and they're both dead.

3   Dan8267   2016 Feb 17, 8:32am  

Strategist says

A U.S. magistrate's order that Apple help the FBI access an iPhone belonging to one of the San Bernardino terrorists is "chilling" and is essentially asking the U.S. tech giant to "hack" its own users, Chief Executive Tim Cook said.

If Apple products were secure, then Apple would not be able to hack its own users. That's what secure means.

If Apple can hack its users, anyone can. Insider knowledge and trade secrets leak. Just think about there being a single disgruntled employee who wants revenge. If this is possible, the system is not secure at all.

The correct approach to security is to not rely at all on secrets. Instead the system itself should be secure. For example, you shouldn't store passwords but rather salted hashes of passwords so that no one with access to your database can read users' passwords.

If Apple actually complies with this order successfully, it will be an open admission that Apple products and services are completely unsecure.

4   epitaph   2016 Feb 17, 8:43am  

iOS encryption is closed source, there could easily be a "...or if password == "fbipw" unlock();" in the code. You have no way of knowing, which is the danger of proprietary software.

5   Strategist   2016 Feb 17, 9:19am  

Dan8267 says

If Apple actually complies with this order successfully, it will be an open admission that Apple products and services are completely unsecure.

We don't want Apple, or any other product to be secure enough for terrorists. That's a red line. What happens when you have an imminent threat on a school with minutes left, and the FBI needs to hack the phone to save a hundred little lives. What happens then?

6   Heraclitusstudent   2016 Feb 17, 11:13am  

Ironman says

Cook said the government could "extend this breach of privacy" to demand that Apple build surveillance software to intercept messages, access health records or financial data, track location or access your phone's microphone or camera without your knowledge.

If I was the NSA and Apple and I wanted to get back a minimum of credibility in the post Snowden world - while continuing surveillance - I would go for this public theater "no! no! you can't access it!".

Anyone still believes them?

7   Heraclitusstudent   2016 Feb 17, 11:15am  

Also what is really being asked?
If the FBI just wants to unlock the phone and look into it, with a magistrate's order, and having physical access to the phone, I don't know what the big deal is.
This is not mass surveillance.

8   Dan8267   2016 Feb 17, 11:33am  

Strategist says

We don't want Apple, or any other product to be secure enough for terrorists. That's a red line. What happens when you have an imminent threat on a school with minutes left, and the FBI needs to hack the phone to save a hundred little lives. What happens then?

Honey, it's not a question of whether or not the government is justify in getting a search warrant for the data on these devices. It's not a legal debate.

A security hole applies not just to letting law enforcement spy on terrorists. A security hole is an opening for everybody to steal data including from our high ranking government and military officials. A security hole cannot be designed solely to target terrorists. That's not how technology works. No one checks "I'm a terrorist" in their user settings.

Any security hole implemented by any tech company becomes a way for terrorists, foreign states, and foreign corporations to steal U.S. military and political secrets and use such holes to kill American soldiers, hack our drones, download nuclear weapon designs, sabotage our stock market, disrupt our electrical grid, wipe out all criminal or medical records, set all traffic lights to green at the same time, or do just about a million other things to endanger American lives and our economy.

Either we make all data public and deal with the severe consequences of that, or we recognize that the few tidbits of information we can get from security holes are not worth the tremendous costs of exposing our lives and well-being to whatever the people with the least ethics would do to us.

Only a fool would think that China, ISIS, and the Russians aren't going to exploit any security hole that the FBI or CIA uses.

9   HEY YOU   2016 Feb 17, 11:36am  

Cook needs to tell Federal Magistrate Judge Sheri Pym: Apple will be hiring investigators to find the skeletons in your closet & we can afford it.
And to the FBI: You want some too?

What info does Apple already have on govt. officials?

Oh! That's right! These dickheads don't use Apple phones constantly.

10   Heraclitusstudent   2016 Feb 17, 11:51am  

Strategist says

We don't want Apple, or any other product to be secure enough for terrorists. That's a red line. What happens when you have an imminent threat on a school with minutes left, and the FBI needs to hack the phone to save a hundred little lives. What happens then?

You're way too worried about terrorists. Chances are you'll die of cancer and the government will not pay a dime to prevent that.

11   Heraclitusstudent   2016 Feb 17, 2:47pm  

Heraclitusstudent says

If the FBI just wants to unlock the phone and look into it, with a magistrate's order, and having physical access to the phone, I don't know what the big deal is.

However it appears the gov is using ONE terrorist phone as an excuse to get access to ANY phone as it chooses to.

"“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 government could extend this breach of privacy and demand that Apple build surveillance software to intercept your messages, access your health records or financial data, track your location, or even access your phone’s microphone or camera without your knowledge.”

The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit organization that defends digital rights, said it was siding with Apple.

“The government is asking Apple to create a master key so that it can open a single phone,” it said Tuesday evening. “And once that master key is created, we’re certain that our government will ask for it again and again, for other phones, and turn this power against any software or device that has the audacity to offer strong security.”"
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/18/technology/apple-timothy-cook-fbi-san-bernardino.html?_r=0

12   MisdemeanorRebel   2016 Feb 17, 3:34pm  

Changing my mind here. The Government is always asking for the keys for every locked door in the neighborhood, rather than asking for one office door to be unlocked.

That being said, I don't know who Cook thinks he's fooling, I'd be shocked in Apple didn't have a backdoor, if it was just for that freak vegan nazi Jobs to remove Playboy apps or something.

13   Dan8267   2016 Feb 17, 4:25pm  

For all those people who think Hilary using a private email server was bad, imagine when every Senator, every representative, every governor, every member of the president's cabinet, and every high ranking Pentagon official is carrying what's essentially a spy tool for terrorists and foreign governments. If the CIA can remotely activate your mobile phone's microphone, so can Russia, and Russia will be listening in on much more important state conversations. And what about ISIS? Have you noticed that they are media and tech swavy? If you thought ISIS on Facebook was bad, imagine ISIS doing cyberterrorism and cyberspying.

It seems that many Americans don't get that the wars of the 21st century are not going to be fought with rifles, aircraft carriers, and tanks. They are going to be fought with economics and IT infrastructure. It's absolutely critical that we do not tolerate back doors and other security holes. I wasn't kidding when I said that a backdoor could let ISIS shut down the power grid for major U.S. cities. Russia has already done this to the Ukraine.

And since hospitals, traffic, air-control, police and hire response all rely on electricity, a cyber attack could easily cost thousands of lives. And that's just looking at an attack on our power grid, one of thousands of infrastructure components that are vulnerable. The attacks on mobile networking allow for many other consequences both life-threatening and threatening our economy.

14   lostand confused   2016 Feb 17, 4:47pm  

You have a terrorist who killed, a court order and why is Apple refusing. Now I am against the NSA and spying on all Americans-but this is extremely specific for one case, with all the legal procedures-leftie loons idea of social justice??

15   Strategist   2016 Feb 17, 5:44pm  

Heraclitusstudent says

Strategist says

We don't want Apple, or any other product to be secure enough for terrorists. That's a red line. What happens when you have an imminent threat on a school with minutes left, and the FBI needs to hack the phone to save a hundred little lives. What happens then?

You're way too worried about terrorists. Chances are you'll die of cancer and the government will not pay a dime to prevent that.

You are right, I will probably die of cancer or something like that, hopefully at a ripe old age. Reason why Islamic terrorism bothers me so much is because of the control it imposes on the world. Human rights abuse, slavery, rate, mass murder, and holding back progress, just to name a few of Islam's successes. I care for the planet, and our present and future generations, that are being held hostage by Islam. I want that disgusting religion out of people's lives. I see this evil as the single most impediment for a better world.

16   Strategist   2016 Feb 17, 5:53pm  

Dan8267 says

Only a fool would think that China, ISIS, and the Russians aren't going to exploit any security hole that the FBI or CIA uses.

These countries have already figured out how to pierce our cyber security walls. It's a cat and mouse game that will on forever, hopefully with us being a step ahead at all times. But what purpose does it serve for Apple not to cooperate with law enforcement, FBI, and the courts, when it's all too clear we need apple's help to catch terrorists? When the local police check a video at 7-11 to catch a shooter, and that is OK, why can't the FBI check a cell phone to catch mass murderers?

17   Strategist   2016 Feb 17, 5:57pm  

Ironman says

Strategist says

We don't want Apple, or any other product to be secure enough for terrorists.

Do you really think Apple doesn't have a existing backdoor into their phones? What Cook is trying to avoid is admitting that they do. It blows the whole "Apple is secure" marketing slogan.

I'm sure you are right. The creator, which is Apple here, knows exactly how to disable it's own creation.

Ironman says

If he agrees to this one request, what stops the government from asking to look into anyone else's phones for what ever reason they choose. It becomes a HUGE can of worms (on many fronts) if Cook gives in.

The government can ask all it wants, but a court order is a court order. Tim would be breaking the law if he does not immediately comply with a court order.

18   Heraclitusstudent   2016 Feb 17, 6:16pm  

Strategist says

When the local police check a video at 7-11 to catch a shooter, and that is OK, why can't the FBI check a cell phone to catch mass murderers?

Apparently that is not what they are asking.
They are asking to access all security cameras in the country because they need to see that tape.

19   MAGA   2016 Feb 17, 8:08pm  

Maybe he was giving blow jobs to the owner.

20   FortWayne   2016 Feb 17, 9:01pm  

There is more to the story. FBI is asking Apple to create a backdoor which Apple has every right to refuse. FBI are fucking nuts if they think this makes sense.

http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-apple-san-bernardino-terror-20160218-story.html


Apple Inc. CEO Tim Cook said that the FBI request that the company develop software to hack into one of its own devices, an iPhone 5c, used by gunman Syed Rizwan Farook, would set a dangerous precedent that could compromise security for billions of customers. The government, Cook contends, is asking Apple to create a "backdoor" to its own security systems.

21   Y   2016 Feb 17, 9:19pm  

Drop Cook into georgies, lock the doors for a couple hours...done deal.

FortWayne says

FBI is asking Apple to create a backdoor which Apple has every right to refuse.

22   Y   2016 Feb 17, 9:22pm  

It's not so much apple and cook, as it is the programmers...100% certainty they create their own entrances undetected...

thunderlips11 says

That being said, I don't know who Cook thinks he's fooling, I'd be shocked in Apple didn't have a backdoor

23   Dan8267   2016 Feb 17, 10:50pm  

Ironman says

That makes the ocean rising a few millimeters due to global warming pretty trivial, doesn't it?

No. The oceans have risen more than that due to thermal expansion and further rising sea-levels threaten tens of billions of dollars of real estate. Climate change also threatens to expand the malaria and zika epidemics threatening many lives.

Furthermore, combating climate change is not mutually exclusive with security IT infrastructure. In fact, according to the Pentagon, climate change increases terrorism and the likelihood of attacks.

25   FortWayne   2016 Feb 18, 9:08am  

You know the moment backdoor is made wvery hacker in the world will exploit it, and NSA will likely spy on us even more. Between freedom or illusion of safety I'll always pick freedom.

26   Tenpoundbass   2016 Feb 18, 12:25pm  

He could always ban the sell of them.
If you don't like it, then you should demand open source linux flavor smartphones.
Screw Google and Apple.
Bus since Google and Apple have no problem data mining and selling their customers information and data against their wishes. Then I don't believe they any right to tell the DOJ no when they ask for help.
As your data is for sell anyway. Then it should be available to law reinforcements at any reasonable request.

I think only individuals who take the effort to build and use an open source phone software deserve any privacy. As there would be no backdoor marketing critters voiding your expectation of privacy.

27   Heraclitusstudent   2016 Feb 18, 3:38pm  

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/02/17/apple-unlocked-iphones-for-the-feds-70-times-before.html?via=desktop&source=twitter
"Apple Unlocked iPhones for the Feds 70 Times Before."

"In that New York case, a government attorney acknowledged that one U.S. law enforcement agency has already developed the technology to crack at least some iPhones, without the assistance from Apple that officials are demanding now."

28   FortWayne   2016 Feb 18, 4:21pm  

http://blog.trailofbits.com/2016/02/17/apple-can-comply-with-the-fbi-court-order/

read some details. FBI wants a backdoor into iPhones which they can open via Wifi or Bluetooth. Those boys are asking to make Apple disappear as a phone company in the eyes of consumers. I think they are really overstepping their authority over here, what are we fucking communist China?

29   Lone opinion   2016 Feb 22, 4:49pm  

Would Tim Cook sing a different song if Apple sales were hurt by his refusal to help government?

30   curious2   2016 Feb 22, 5:43pm  

"The ID passcode to the iPhone the FBI wants Apple to hack for information about one of the San Bernardino, Calif., terrorists was changed less than a day after the government gained possession of it, Apple executives said in a phone briefing with reporters Friday afternoon.

Had the passcode not been changed, Apple said, a backup of the information the government is seeking could have been viewed. It is unclear who changed the Apple ID passcode while it was in the government’s possession, the executive said.
***
Late Tuesday, the government, via a federal magistrate, ordered Apple to write software that would allow it to disable a security feature on the phone. Apple CEO Tim Cook, in a lengthy letter posted to Apple's website, said it would refuse.
***
In the government’s Friday filing, the Justice Department acknowledged that the password was re-set in the hours after the attack by authorities with San Bernardino County. The county owned the phone and provided it to Syed Farook, one of the attackers.

The county action, the government contends, had the effect of eliminating the possibility of a back-up of the device’s contents."

IOW, people in government created a problem, and people in government want to use that problem to expand government power. Same procedure as always. If they wanted the information from the terrorist's phone, they could have got it, but instead they want the information from everyone's phone, and they are using the terrorist's phone to panic everyone into surrendering. Fortunately, Apple has the resources to stand its ground, at least for a while; a smaller player might have had to surrender by now.

31   Dan8267   2016 Feb 22, 5:56pm  

The entire reason the government wants to win this case is so that they can spy on everyone. The information in these particular phones is trivial. The government choose this specific case because the agents and lawyers thought it would be a slam dunk and no one would oppose it, and once there is a legal precedence to force tech companies to provide back doors, the government could abuse the fuck out of that power without any accountability.

Make no mistake. The government is not interest in the content on those phones. It is interest in having a legal precedent to force all IT companies to act as spy agencies for them. That is the only issue in this case. No one is arguing that the government should be denied a warrant for these specific phones. What is being argued is whether or not the government can force IT companies to build in security holes that can be exploited by criminals in our government, by foreign governments, by hostile transnational corporations, and by terrorists.

It's not only antithetical to democracy and liberty, it's also down-right stupid. America's national and economic security would be endangered far more than helped by allowing the government to mandate security holes.

32   Blurtman   2016 Feb 22, 6:04pm  

Tim Cook leverage: Threaten to cut off access to porn sites for the FBI Mac users.

33   Strategist   2016 Feb 22, 6:08pm  

Dan8267 says

Make no mistake. The government is not interest in the content on those phones. It is interest in having a legal precedent to force all IT companies to act as spy agencies for them. That is the only issue in this case. No one is arguing that the government should be denied a warrant for these specific phones. What is being argued is whether or not the government can force IT companies to build in security holes that can be exploited by criminals in our government, by foreign governments, by hostile transnational corporations, and by terrorists.

I am in the minority here on this issue so lets get straight to the point. We did not elect Apple to be in charge of our security. Who the hell are they to dictate how our national security takes shape? Phones can be tapped with a warrant, surveillance tapes can be accessed, so why not a damn phone used by scumbag terrorists?
If you guys are so fuckin concerned about privacy, abolish the damn IRS.

35   curious2   2016 Feb 22, 6:39pm  

Strategist says

phone used by scumbag terrorists?

Why do you suppose the county changed the password on the iCloud account? Do you understand the county owned the phone, and it had been set to send automatic scheduled backups when in the presence of a trusted network? Do you understand that Apple offered to help intrcept the next automatic backup, but then found that the county had made that impossible by changing the password?

Strategist says

Apple Seems to Be Losing PR Battle Over Unlocking iPhone

IOW, the government strategy to panic people is working. People are easily manipulated when frightened. They don't analyze facts and think through consequences. They panic and get angry. Government officials know that, from experience, and exploit it.

Humans are vulnerable to superstitions, fear & loathing. Now that government has frightened them by importing Muslim terrorists, issuing a phone to a terrorist, and then changing the password on the backup account for that phone, government manipulates people into loathing (of all people) Apple. Apple did not import these terrorists, nor even provide them a phone. Government did that. But shifting blame is a core skill for government work. "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." The people who would give up liberty are human, but their problem is they are living in the wrong country. Plenty of other countries would immediately suspend liberty in the name of "safety" (or any other excuse that works). Move to China, or Russia, or Saudi Arabia if you hate liberty and crave illusions of safety.

The whole story reminds me of the latest local incident where a federal government agent lost his government gun, which he had left on the roof of his car. This follows a prior incident where a different federal agent left his government gun inside a car, and later reported it stolen; that gun was then used to kill a pedestrian. The usual suspects use these incidents as arguments for "gun control," by which they mean repealing the second amendment and saying only government agents may keep guns. Here's a thought about gun control: don't leave your gun on top of your car when driving. (Or, at least ask AF/DBOAPD for advice about installing a turret.)

36   FortWayne   2016 Feb 22, 6:54pm  

Strategist says

I am in the minority here on this issue so lets get straight to the point. We did not elect Apple to be in charge of our security. Who the hell are they to dictate how our national security takes shape? Phones can be tapped with a warrant, surveillance tapes can be accessed, so why not a damn phone used by scumbag terrorists?

If you guys are so fuckin concerned about privacy, abolish the damn IRS.

This issue goes far beyond a single phone. FBI could have done by politely asking apple for a single case without making a huge public fuss about it. But they didn't, they turned it into every phone for everyone, and it's an issue now.

Apple gives in, there will be a new operating system for Chinese market within a month by request of the Chinese Communist Party, and one for US by request of NSA.

37   Strategist   2016 Feb 22, 7:19pm  

curious2 says

IOW, the government strategy to panic people is working. People are easily manipulated when frightened. They don't analyze facts and think through consequences. They panic and get angry. Government officials know that, from experience, and exploit it.

Guys....why would the government we elected want to hurt our rights? They are only trying to protect us, as they see best. What is it with you guys? :)

38   Strategist   2016 Feb 22, 7:22pm  

FortWayne says

This issue goes far beyond a single phone. FBI could have done by politely asking apple for a single case without making a huge public fuss about it. But they didn't, they turned it into every phone for everyone, and it's an issue now.

Apple gives in, there will be a new operating system for Chinese market within a month by request of the Chinese Communist Party, and one for US by request of NSA.

Apple can always agree to break into that particular phone. They have already been asked by the courts to do so.
As for the Chinese and Russians...I have no doubts they could break into it without Apple's help.
Why do we hurt ourselves?

39   curious2   2016 Feb 22, 7:22pm  

Ironman says

it was the iCloud password that was changed,

Thanks - you're right, so I corrected my comment.

BTW, I also find very suspicious the fact that the FBI claims a need for thorough investigation of the phone after leaving the terrorists' apartment full of evidence and possible biohazards to be ransacked. IMO, FBI wants all access to all phones, and does not appear particularly interested in all information about these two actual terrorists, one of whom had recently passed all her background checks for immigration.

Strategist says

They are only trying to protect us, as they see best. What is with you guys?

I learned from seeing the Iraq War. All our government had to do was point to terrorism (the worst national security failure in American history, on 9/11), and instead of apologiizing (for failing to protect us) say "mushroom cloud," and most people supported a misguided invasion that most now recoginze was a mistake.

40   Strategist   2016 Feb 22, 7:29pm  

curious2 says

Ironman says

it was the iCloud password that was changed,

Thanks - you're right, so I corrected my comment.

BTW, I also find very suspicious the fact that the FBI claims a need for thorough investigation of the phone after leaving the terrorists' apartment full of evidence and possible biohazards to be ransacked. IMO, FBI wants all access to all phones, and does not appear particularly interested in all information about these two actual terrorists, one of whom had recently passed all her background checks for immigration.

There is information on that phone that is not likely to be in that apartment. Like all their accomplices they communicated with.
If anyone on Patnet is so fearful of the FBI finding out about their girlfriends, just give them my information. I just have a nagging wife, and no girlfriends. :( :(

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