Don't Believe The Hype: No, Apple HAS NOT Done What The FBI Now Wants '70 Times' Before
from the propaganda dept
In the past couple of days, you may have heard various claims regarding the whole Apple encryption backdoor debate saying things like "but Apple has unlocked iPhones 70 times before." I've seen a bunch of people tweeting and linking to such claims, and it keeps coming up. And it's bullshit. The 70 times that Apple helped law enforcement before were totally different situations involving unencrypted information where Apple had the ability to extract from the phone because it wasn't encrypted. That's kind of the whole point here. Yes, of course, Apple can and does provide access to information that it can easily access. In fact, in this very case the FBI submitted a warrant and was able to get all of the information from the unencrypted aspect of Farook Syed's iCloud account:And yet, this message is gaining steam. It's a talking point that first was given life by the feds last October when they tossed out that "70 times in the past" number as part of the earlier All Writs Act case we'd been covering. But unfortunately it picked up steam yesterday with a Shane Harris piece at the Daily Beast yesterday, claiming misleadingly that "a 2015 court case shows that the tech giant has been willing to play ball with the government before -- and is only stopping now because it might 'tarnish the Apple brand.'" That's hellishly misleading, which is too bad because Harris is so often good on these issues.
Apple, and plenty of other companies have always been willing to "play ball" when there's a legitimate warrant along with actual information they can provide. That's because they have to. But this is different. This case involves information that Apple does not have and which the FBI asked for, and the judge has now granted -- an order for Apple to proactively figure out a way to hack around the security protections on the device, allowing the FBI to then look to brute force the (probably) weak passcode on the phone. In other words, the concept and the principle are very, very different than those "70 previous times." And it's not just about "tarnishing Apple's brand," though I'm sure that's at least a part of it. As Julian Sanchez rightly notes at Time, there's so much more at stake here, including opening up the possibility that judges can order any tech company to help the government hack into their systems.
Once again: handing over info you have full access to is not even remotely close to forcing a company to build hacking tools for the government to undermine their own security.
But, of course, that hasn't stopped many in the press from taking this "but Apple unlocked 70 iPhones in the past" talking point and running with it. It's all over the place, including many sources that should know better.
Don't let the propaganda fool you. This case is very, very different and there are much bigger issues at stake.
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Filed Under: all writs act, encryption, fbi, security, warrants
Companies: apple
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The foundations of encryption are that it cannot be undermined by simply building a hacking tool. If a hacking tool can undermine it then the encryption itself is bad.
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Though I keep stressing the warrant was granted here. It's not comparible to unwarranted, mass unconstitutional spying. If it were, by definition Apple would be asked to do it secretly anyway.
Law enforcement asking for a key to a house does not mean we should all be afraid of our locks on the count of the possibility that law enforcement could be forcing all keymakers to keep copies of keys in secret, as a result of that one house "hacking".
"The government can't be trusted" is an argument you could make against any security breach, even so much as walking through a criminal's front door rendering all doors untrustworthy.
The logic is not working for me here.
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It's getting out of hand.
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Grab a seat cause this ride is not even close to over.
There is most definitely a coordinated assault on encryption just like the coordinated assault on the Constitution.
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On it's own, you're correct, which is why Apple built in the very safeguards the court is now trying to force them to disable. It's almost like you haven't read any of the many articles explaining this...
Of course it's also possible the dead user of this particular phone felt the same way you do, and didn't keep any sensitive data on the phone. That's what makes this such an over-reaching fishing expedition. The potential downsides are enormous, but it might well be for zero gain.
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Re: Re: Where's the moral dilemma, anyway?
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We are quickly protecting ourselves into Tyranny. The government NEVER protects, it reacts to shit by prosecuting and destroying.
There is only 1 universal truth in world history... A nation that asks it citizens to disarm and expose self so that they may be protected is the REAL EVIL to be defeated. Germany serves as a damn good recent example of this that most people should easily understand.
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Eternal Vigilance is a fact of life as surely as putting more gas in your car. If you don't keep it up, you run out of fuel and you lose all momentum. Rest assured that private business interest, civilian politics, and government Authorities are all each doing their part to destroy liberty... which is why it will be destroyed, the only question is how soon?
There currently stands no agency upon this planet that seeks to prop up liberty and justice. American used to be it but we have now become that which we fought so long ago.
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It would not surprise me in the least if Apple already has a master key capable of decrypting the device but will do anything to protect that information. If we see the news were Apply settles this with the FBI/Court quietly behind closed doors, then you can bet this is the most likely reason.
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It's not that different
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Lying sacks of shit.
So the DOJ is staffed by lying sacks of shit. So what else is new? Those are just exactly the kinds of people that should not be given back-doors.
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A note about Backdoors
http://elaineou.com/2016/02/19/how-to-use-chrome-extensions-to-bypass-paywalls/
The article itself is about how to quickly get your chrome browser to use the same trick that Google's Web Crawler uses to access paywalled sites. You too can read those paywalled sites by making the paywalled sites think that you are the Google Web Crawler.
See the last sentence of the article: Do you suppose that would also apply to encryption backdoors?
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Re: A note about Backdoors
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"You've helped us before"
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Re: "You've helped us before"
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What Apple Could Do
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What could possibly be on the phone that is worth a major corporation compromising the security of all of it’s products? This is not proportional, the means do not justify the outcome. Therefore, this is a planned , orchestrated attack by the DOJ to push for a backdoor. A backdoor that they have been asking for since Apple started encrypting their devices by default. Not a coincidence.
The DOJ has people that can build the firmware that they want, that's a no brainer. What the DOJ does not have is Apple's digital key that is necessary to sign the modified firmware before the device will accept the firmware. Once Apple gives up this key, all of the devices that use this key are compromised.
This is a no-win situation for Apple. Congressman, senators and multiple media outlets are pushing public opinion against Apple. If Apple concedes to the court of public opinion, no one can trust the security of their Apple products and no one will buy Apple products. If Apple stands fast and refuses to comply, they will be labeled pro-terrorism and anti american. And no one will buy Apple products. Sell your Apple stock now, the fork has come out clean, they are done.
The DOJ scare tactic of ‘Going Dark’ doesn't stand up to scrutiny in the face of the facts.
Ever since the Snowden revelations, the DOJ has been pushing against the public protecting the privacy that is guaranteed by the United States Constitution. WHY? I know, I know, the rallying cry is “terrorism” and “Protect the children”. but this does not add up - the end does not justify the means. There is something deeper that the government fears or wants or…something.
Is it power? After all, they say information is power. Can they control you if they know all your secrets?
I tend to agree with the common phrase “follow the money” as this is the real source of power.
Is it possible that the government is collecting and analyzing mass amounts of data in order to control the world's financial markets? To what end? Possibly to destabilize the economies of other nation-states? To continue to widen the gap between the 1% and the 99% in order to squeeze out the middle class? To create a ruling class of the rich and elite?
Is this part of an evil plot for total world domination?
Is this really a battle over the contents of one person's phone? I think not.
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If they want to allow their users to thwart legal processes, they need to put protections in math, not law.
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You're exactly the kind of ignorant shmuck this article was written to educate.
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The Lesson
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