Close X
Tuesday, November 26, 2024
ADVT 
International

FBI continues to debate sharing iPhone hack with Apple

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 07 Apr, 2016 12:13 PM
  • FBI continues to debate sharing iPhone hack with Apple
WASHINGTON — The FBI has not decided whether to share with Apple Inc. details about how the bureau hacked into an iPhone linked to a California terrorism investigation, the bureau's director says.
 
James Comey discussed the situation during a speech Wednesday evening at Kenyon College in Ohio. He called it a "technological corner case" and said the flaw the FBI exploited in Apple's software works only on a "narrow slice of phones" — the iPhone 5C, running version 9 of Apple's mobile operating system, not on newer or older models.
 
"If we tell Apple, they're going to fix it and we're back where we started," Comey said. "As silly as it may sound, we may end up there. We just haven't decided yet."
 
The Justice Department dropped its legal fight to compel Apple to provide it with specialized software that would allow the FBI to hack into the iPhone, which was issued to San Bernardino county health inspector Syed Farook. Farook and his wife Tashfeen Malik killed 14 people in December; the couple died in a shootout with authorities.
 
The iPhone was found in a vehicle the day after the shooting. Two personal phones were found destroyed so completely the FBI could not recover information from them.
 
U.S. Magistrate Sheri Pym had ordered Apple to provide the FBI with software to help it hack into Farook's work-issued iPhone after the government said only Apple could help authorities access the encrypted and locked iPhone. The order touched off a debate pitting digital privacy rights against national security concerns.
 
Comey told the university audience that the case also inspired a lot of efforts to try to break into the phone — "everybody and his uncle Fred called us with ideas."
 
 
"Someone outside the government, in response to that attention, came up with a solution," Comey said. "One that I am confident will be closely protected and used lawfully and appropriately."
 
The government then "purchased a tool that allows court authorized access to the phone," Comey said. The government has declined to release the identity of the third party that made it possible to access the iPhone in the case.
 
"The FBI is very good at keeping secrets and the people we bought this from — I know a fair amount about them, and I have a high degree of confidence that they're very good at protecting it and their motivations align with ours," Comey said.
 
Comey's comments were the closest hints about whether or what the FBI may do with its knowledge of a vulnerability in Apple's software that could let someone bypass built-in digital locks to access private information. It remains unclear whether or when the FBI may share details about the technique with state or local police agencies or law enforcement offices.
 
The FBI's solution apparently would not help Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, who told a congressional panel that he has 205 iPhones his investigators can't access data from in criminal investigations. Not one of those phones is an iPhone 5C, according to his office.
 
The encrypted phone in the California case was protected by a passcode that included security protocols: a time delay and self-destruct feature that erased the phone's data after 10 tries. The two features made it impossible for the government to repeatedly and continuously test passcodes.

MORE International ARTICLES

13-Year-Old Romanian Sex Slave Freed By Italian Police

13-Year-Old Romanian Sex Slave Freed By Italian Police
Police in Italy on Thursday said they rescued a 13-year-old Romanian girl whose relatives forced her to work as a prostitute and beggar in Rome and starved, beat and tortured her if she rebelled.

13-Year-Old Romanian Sex Slave Freed By Italian Police

Islamic State Abducts Over 300 Cement Workers In Syria

Islamic State Abducts Over 300 Cement Workers In Syria
The Islamic State militant group has abducted more than 300 workers from a cement factory near Damascus, Syria's state-run news agency SANA reported on Thursday.

Islamic State Abducts Over 300 Cement Workers In Syria

Meet Sanjiv Gupta, Man Seen As Potential Buyer Of Tata Steel UK

Meet Sanjiv Gupta, Man Seen As Potential Buyer Of Tata Steel UK
He has emerged as the man to watch out for when Tata Steel initiates the formal process to sell its UK assets. Meet Sanjiv Kumar Gupta, founder of the UK-based Liberty House.

Meet Sanjiv Gupta, Man Seen As Potential Buyer Of Tata Steel UK

Reluctantly, Obama Embracing His Role As The Anti-Trump

WASHINGTON — He won't be on November's ballot, but President Barack Obama is slowly embracing his role as the anti-Trump, taking on the Republican front-runner in ways that no other Democrat can.

Reluctantly, Obama Embracing His Role As The Anti-Trump

Rare Blue Diamond Sets New Record At Sotheby's Auction

Rare Blue Diamond Sets New Record At Sotheby's Auction
A rare blue diamond bucked the recent downturn in the auction market when it was sold for $30.8 million at Sotheby's, setting a new record.

Rare Blue Diamond Sets New Record At Sotheby's Auction

9-Year-Old Reporter Defends Homicide Coverage After Backlash

9-Year-Old Reporter Defends Homicide Coverage After Backlash
A 9-year-old reporter who wrote about a suspected murder in her small Pennsylvania town is defending herself after some locals lashed out about a young girl covering violent crimes.

9-Year-Old Reporter Defends Homicide Coverage After Backlash

PrevNext