![]() “In the same vein, you’ll also notice that in demanding a tool, FBI has sneakily ensured that a more “open” copy of the software will have to be released (that will work on other devices) in order for it to be tested, validated, and re-tested by a defense team,” notes iPhone security researcher Jonathan Zdziarsky. A defense which has come under attack by some technologists and advocacy groups like the EFF, who believe that the creation of such a tool would also allow vectors for it to be appropriated, reverse-engineered by the FBI or others, and re-used many times. That’s it,” said Comey, hewing closely to the ‘narrow scope’ defense. “We simply want the chance, with a search warrant, to try to guess the terrorist’s passcode without the phone essentially self-destructing and without it taking a decade to guess correctly. Late Sunday, FBI Director James Comey published an op-ed that denied it was asking for a universal back door and pinned its arguments on the imagery of the victims of the San Bernardino attack. Apple would gladly participate in such an effort.”Ĭook ends the letter with a note thanking Apple employees with working on security features that protect customer data. We feel the best way forward would be for the government to withdraw its demands under the All Writs Act and, as some in Congress have proposed, form a commission or other panel of experts on intelligence, technology and civil liberties to discuss the implications for law enforcement, national security, privacy and personal freedoms. “Our country has always been strongest when we come together. It does not feel right to be on the opposite side of the government in a case centering on the freedoms and liberties that government is meant to protect. He also reiterates that the government should retract its demands for the iPhone to be unlocked (emphasis ours). ![]() Cook says a commission should be formed to discuss how intelligence, technology and civil liberties should interact. “One email was from a 13-year-old app developer who thanked us for standing up for “all future generations.” And a 30-year Army veteran told me, “Like my freedom, I will always consider my privacy as a treasure.””Ĭook’s letter also mentions specifically, for the first time, what Apple proposes going forward. “Over the past week I’ve received messages from thousands of people in all 50 states, and the overwhelming majority are writing to voice their strong support,” says Cook. The email goes on to quote some supporters of Apple’s stance, which Cook says have reached out to Apple by the thousands. Some common theories are that Farook was using secure messaging apps that he left un-secured on the device, but the FBI has not given specific reasoning. Though changing the password amounts to destruction of an avenue of investigation, the FBI argues that it needs more information than a backup could provide, a statement disputed by a senior Apple engineer.Īdditional questions have been raised about how the FBI plans to get more information than a backup would provide, even if the passcode is cracked. That backup would have provided the FBI with additional data that it is now attempting to get from the device itself by forcing Apple to crack its passcode. The most recent development in the case came over the weekend, when the FBI admitted that it had hastily reset the Apple ID password of terrorist Syed Farook’s iPhone 5c, removing the possibility that it could connect to Apple’s servers and perform a fresh iCloud backup. ![]() Apple has never unlocked devices for the government, a common misconception among some media covering this ongoing story. In iPhones running older versions of iOS, Apple was able to extract information from devices even though they were locked with a personal pin code. At stake is the data security of hundreds of millions of law-abiding people, and setting a dangerous precedent that threatens everyone’s civil liberties,“ says Cook in the email.Ĭook says that some advocates of the government’s order, which we have covered in detail here, want it to “roll back” data protections to the point at which they were as of iOS 7. ![]() “This case is about much more than a single phone or a single investigation, so when we received the government’s order we knew we had to speak out. In the email, Cook calls for the FBI order to be dropped, and outlines some arguments. The email outlines some responses to Cook’s open letter last week and paints the issue of Apple’s refusal to cooperate as one of civil liberties. Early this morning, Apple CEO Tim Cook sent an email out to employees about the FBI’s request to unlock an iPhone with the subject line ‘Thank you for your support’. ![]()
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