Close X
Thursday, November 14, 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

India, Canada Made For Each Other: PM Modi Tells Justin Trudeau

India, Canada Made For Each Other: PM Modi Tells Justin Trudeau
Modi and Trudeau met on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit.

India, Canada Made For Each Other: PM Modi Tells Justin Trudeau

Jirga In Pakistan Settles Rape Case For 30 Mounds Of Wheat

Jirga In Pakistan Settles Rape Case For 30 Mounds Of Wheat
A case was registered with the local police in Ghulam Nabi Shah area of Umerkot district a few days ago on the complaint of the 14-year-old victim's brother, Sajan Shaikh.

Jirga In Pakistan Settles Rape Case For 30 Mounds Of Wheat

Sponsors Of Brussels Killers Suffer Crushing Defeat: Why Is West Silent?

Sponsors Of Brussels Killers Suffer Crushing Defeat: Why Is West Silent?
The biggest military defeat that ISIS has suffered in more than two years - the recapture of the Roman city of Empress Zenobia, and we are silent. Yes, folks, the bad guys won, didn’t they? Otherwise, we would all be celebrating, wouldn’t we?

Sponsors Of Brussels Killers Suffer Crushing Defeat: Why Is West Silent?

At Dinner With Obama, Modi Warns About State Actors Abetting Terrorists

At Dinner With Obama, Modi Warns About State Actors Abetting Terrorists
Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned global leaders from over 50 nations gathered here to discuss nuclear terrorism that state actors working with nuclear traffickers and terrorists present the greatest risk.

At Dinner With Obama, Modi Warns About State Actors Abetting Terrorists

Yoga College Opens In China, Attracts Thousands

Yoga College Opens In China, Attracts Thousands
The college figured in one of 24 agreements reached during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to China in May last year. 

Yoga College Opens In China, Attracts Thousands

Justin Trudeau In Washington: Speech, White House Meeting Today On Nuke Safety

Justin Trudeau In Washington: Speech, White House Meeting Today On Nuke Safety
He's touting his middle-class tax cuts and plans to boost infrastructure spending, in a speech across the street from the White House.

Justin Trudeau In Washington: Speech, White House Meeting Today On Nuke Safety