Dan Guido, writing for Trail of Bits Blog, digs into the technical details of what the FBI is asking and whether Apple can do what the FBI is asking. This is a reasonably technical read, but the bottom line is this:
I believe it is technically feasible for Apple to comply with all of the FBI’s requests in this case. On the iPhone 5C, the passcode delay and device erasure are implemented in software and Apple can add support for peripheral devices that facilitate PIN code entry. In order to limit the risk of abuse, Apple can lock the customized version of iOS to only work on the specific recovered iPhone and perform all recovery on their own, without sharing the firmware image with the FBI.
This analysis is worrisome. It digs into the “can they” but not the “should they”. It points to the tip of a very slippery slope. If Apple can be forced to custom-hack a single phone, what comes next? Will Apple be forced to open a shop dedicated to one-off phone hacking? Will they be forced to create a tool to make this task simpler? Will they come for my phone? For yours?
And if your life, or your loved ones’ lives could be saved by such a hack, would you want Apple to do it? A whole city? One could posit that FBI is backing off a bit by asking for targeted backdoors rather than a generalized one. Not taking sides, but just throwing arguments from both sides in the ring.
There’s a very simple solution. If indeed this technically feasible (which I agree with), FBI doesn’t need Apple to do this. They just need time. There is no OS that the best hackers out there, given enough time, cannot find a backdoor to … if it is feasible.
I don’t buy the FBI’s argument that they need to be able to hack everyone’s phone all the time, but I can’t really swallow the slippery-slope argument whole, either.
This is a clear case of public interest. They also have physical possession of the phone. If this device can be accessed using tools that are burdensome to use (requires possession and Apple’s cooperation) and remain within Apple’s control (critical point here), then the argument against doing so seems quixotic.
But if these tools would render iPhones broadly accessible to whoever can download the tools, then we should be left to wonder. Life is full of unanswered questions.
Ignoring the slippery slope (I agree with you!) I don’t think this is a particularly good analysis. Can a new firmware can be installed without unlocking or wiping the device? There’s no discussion of that.
This going to be a landmark case setting a critical precedent for many future generations.
Mind you, this request is coming from the FBI, not the President, not Congress, not from any elected official.
Whether or not its technically feasible is a rather moot point.
even requiring Apple to do a custom hack on one phone is offensive. these shooters were two nut lone gunmen, and its over. forcing Apple to hack their phone isnt going to save anyone from the new boogeyman.
agreed. technically able to isnt the issue.
I suppose there’s this too:
San Bernardino may be a clear case of public interest, but not so in China. If the US government can compel Apple to break a terrorist’s phone, then the Chinese government can compel Apple to break a dissident’s phone. Now Apple is in the position of assisting the arrest and disposition of people for having ideas. Do you want YOUR company associated with that?
Which means you’re not actually informed about the story. Certainly not entirely your fault, since the tech blogs aren’t exactly working to educate people about any side they disagree with (human nature being what it is). But you do have some responsibility to educate yourself. At any rate, there’s a setting that wipes the phone if you try too many times at a passcode and fail. The FBI can’t brute force the code because the phone will almost certainly wipe before they have a reasonable hope. So this is the problem.
I wonder if the NSA is pissed that this shows they haven’t been able to secretly hack the iPhone. Or if they are just keeping their toy to themselves?
Won’t be coming for my phone because I haven’t done anything wrong.
“the FBI’s argument that they need to be able to hack everyone’s phone all the time”… Um yeah. So this might be of use to you, since that’s not an honest representation of their argument.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straw_man
Not one reasonable person knowledgable about the case agrees with you that they were lone gunmen. There’s strong evidence that at least one of them was corresponding with ISIS. One interesting thing about the boogeyman: he never actually killed anyone. You’re still of the age where you think that being grown up means discarding all fears, and you haven’t learned to distinguish the real ones from the fake ones.
Hey, thanks Richard! I might have expected a link to some useful information, but it clearly carries the discussion further when your replies are dismissive and condescending instead. It could be that my ‘dishonest representation’ was intended as more of a shorthand notation for an audience on a niche website that I assumed would be generally familiar enough with the issue as to know what I meant, but you are probably correct in assuming that I never actually attended school. Your superior intellect has been decisively established. The next time I think I might have an idea, I’ll be sure to clear it through you first so we can avoid this messy embarrassment in the future. Thanks again!
Your attempt to be passively condescending is a fail. As for “some responsibility to educate yourself”, that is a joke.
More relevantly, you don’t understand how this works at all. I don’t have to rely on tech blogs to figure it out. The idea that FBI cannot work out a hack because they fear cleaning the phone shows how little you know. I could explain it. But you have a “responsibility” to educate yourself. LOL!
Stop pretending you understand this, Cappy. You have no clue about the technical aspects