Items tagged with san bernardino
Earlier this year, the FBI and Apple were embroiled in a bitter battle of words with regards to unlocking an iPhone 5c that was used by Syed Farook, one of two San Bernardino shooters. After much bluster on the part of FBI, and complete stonewalling from Apple, the FBI eventually went to a third-party vendor to bypass the iPhone 5c’s security protocols and obtain the data it was searching for. With the Freedom of Information Act on their side, three news organizations — the Associated Press, USA Today, and Vice Media — reached out to the FBI to obtain details on how the hack was carried out on the iPhone 5c in question, and how much was paid to the third-party for access. FBI director James Comey...
Read more...
As we’ve seen in the San Bernardino iPhone case, the FBI is willing to go to extreme lengths to retrieve [potentially valuable] personal information for investigative purposes. When Apple wouldn’t comply with FBI requests to unlock the iPhone 5c in that case, the U.S. Justice Department filed a lawsuit. A day before the case was to go to trial, the lawsuit was unexpectedly pulled, as the FBI had found a way to break into the iPhone through the help of a third-party. In the future, the FBI might not have to go through so many hoops to crack large numbers of smartphones and PCs, as the U.S. Supreme Court signed off on new procedural rules that grant judges the ability to grant search warrants on...
Read more...
Apple has been in the spotlight for the past few months due to its defiance of FBI requests to unlock an iPhone 5c at the center of an ongoing investigation. The US Government contended that Apple should comply with a lawful request that was in the interest of national security, while Apple pushed back, stating that the order not only went against its ideals but would appall the Founding Fathers. The US Government eventually dropped its case against Apple the day before both were to appear in court after a third-party was able to assist in unlocking the iPhone 5c in question. Although this matter appears to be settled for now, the debate over complying with government requests still wages on....
Read more...
The legal battle between Apple and the FBI has been an ongoing saga that has not only caught the attention of the tech press, but also the general public. Today we’ve learned that Apple won’t fight the FBI to gain insight into the tool used to unlock the iPhone 5c at the center of brouhaha. For starters, the tool only works on a “narrow sliver” of devices according to Comey; it’s limited to just the iPhone 5c. In addition, while speaking to reporters today on a briefing call, Apple lawyers indicated that any tool the the FBI has access to would have a “short shelf life.” Apple engineers will undoubtedly further increase security going forward in the never-ending quest to not only stay ahead of...
Read more...
Tired of reading about the FBI and Apple trading blows over an encrypted iPhone yet? Well relief may be in sight. This evening, the FBI filed a request to delay Tuesday's court hearing on the matter, and now that request has been accepted by U.S. Magistrate Judge Sheri Pym. Why has the FBI suddenly changed course? According to the brief, the FBI has not stopped working on trying to access the data on Syed Farook's government issued iPhone 5C. They state that an "outside party" demonstrated a possible method for unlocking the phone on Sunday, March 20th, sparking this about face. The FBI has previously stated that they have exhausted all other known options. This...
Read more...
The battle between Apple and the FBI over unlocking the iPhone 5c belonging to one of the San Bernardino mass shooters is getting nasty — really nasty. Although Apple and the U.S. Government are set to see each other in court on March 22nd, the two have been playing up their respective sides of the story to the public for weeks. But the FBI has upped the stakes in a 43-page brief penned by Eileen M. Decker, U.S. Attorney; Patricia A. Donahue, Assistant U.S. Attorney, Chief of the National Security Division; and Tracy L. Wilkison, Chief, Cyber and Intellectual Property Crimes Section. The brief levels numerous accusations against Apple in what the government sees as an effort by Apple to cloud...
Read more...
Updated 2/20/2016 - 9:57PM: If there weren't such tragic events leading up to the unprecedented court case involving Apple, the FBI and DOJ, the whole San Bernardino iPhone government access affair might look like a complete comedy of errors at this point. The San Bernardino gunman's locked iPhone could indeed reveal information as to whether or not they acted alone or were supported by others. And it could offer a wealth of information beyond that, that could possibly even save lives some day in the future. However, the slippery slope of legal precedent that will be set, if Apple ever does give in to the U.S. Magistrate Judge's court order to unlock the iPhone 5c that has caused such a stir,...
Read more...
Apple is coming under fire for its refusal to comply with an FBI request to unlock an iPhone 5c used by one of two terrorists in December’s San Bernardino mass shooting. U.S. Magistrate Judge Sheri Pym ruled earlier this week that Apple must provide “reasonable technical assistance” in helping the FBI bypass security measures to unlock the iPhone, but Apple isn’t budging. “[They have] asked us for something we simply do not have, and something we consider too dangerous to create,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook in an open letter to customers. “They have asked us to build a backdoor to the iPhone [which would circumvent] several important security features, and install it on an iPhone recovered during...
Read more...
Wondering what John McAfee is up to these days? It's not sniffing bath salts nor is he fleeing foreign countries as a person of interest in a murder investigation and faking heart attacks—been there, done all that—instead he's on a mission to save America. How so? By cracking the code on that San Bernardino iPhone that's causing such a ruckus. Oh, where to begin. Let's start with the controversial iPhone, the one that was used by one of the San Bernardino shooters on that horrific day last December in which 14 people were killed and 22 others seriously injured. As part of an ongoing investigation into the terrorist activity that left more than a dozen people dead, a federal judge this week ordered...
Read more...
Ever since Tim Cook took over the reigns as CEO of Apple in 2011, the mild-mannered man from Alabama seemed quite the polar opposite of the late and great Steve Jobs. Whereas Jobs was often brash and had a knack for using incisive language to skewer opponents, Cook often takes a more measured approach and is by far less abrasive. But that southern charm has been stripped away following the decision by a U.S. Magistrate Judge Sheri Pym that would force Apple to provide backdoor access to an iPhone 5c that was used by the terrorists that killed 14 people during a mass shooting on December 2nd in San Bernardino, California. Up until this point, the mild-mannered Cook has spoken in a firm tone about...
Read more...
We can’t say that we didn’t see this one coming — an encryption showdown between Apple and the federal government. Apple has been adamant about batting down court orders to decrypt data on iPhones in order to assist criminal investigations, in an effort to generally protect user privacy. In turn, the FBI and other agencies have repeatedly criticized Apple for its stonewalling. Last week, FBI Director James Comey lamented the fact that his elite team of hackers still hadn’t been able to access the data on the smartphone belonging to the San Bernardino gunman that killed 14 people in early December. "It's been over two months now. We are still working on it,” said Comey last week before the Senate...
Read more...
