Yes, this is indeed a problem. I don't disagree at all. There are actually two real issues: 1. Apple's creation of GovtOs will set a precedent and the FBI will keep coming back to use it for every iPhone they can't crack. 2. If GovtOs ever leaks out of Apple HQ, they have a major problem.
All this doesn't mean though that they shouldn't do it. There are ways to keep code secure. Do you have access to Apple's current ios source code? No, I didn't think so. Their corporate security is pretty tight. Also, the thing about setting precedents is not a total given. There are ways to limit the way this particular case applies to other future cases. It's a legal/constitutional issue and I'm not an expert in that (nor is any other poster on this forum btw), but if I were Apple I would negotiate a limited scope for the applicability of this insecure GovtOs. What they are doing now, grandstanding and lying to the public is going to get them hammered hard in court. Better to strike a deal and settle this quickly before it turns ugly.
The problem here is that Apple is not just an amoral multi-billion dollar corporation but has somehow convinced it's customers that they are "a different, better type of company". The typical Apple customers worship the Apple products with a scary cult-like intensity. It's a very dangerous combination: Big corporate $$$ with a cult-like following. That's why the comments on this site are so over the top. A more rational person would look at this from more than one angle and see if a balance can be found to help the FBI solve individual cases without putting digital data security at risk for everyone. I'm betting you are an Apple devotee yourself the way you are using emotional defensive arguments not based on any facts.
From the article:
During the interview, Cook said, "The only way to get information, at least currently the only way we know, would be to write a piece of software that we view as sort of the software equivalent of cancer." Responding to that quote, Sonnenfeld said, "What he's done is he's resorted to something, forgive me, but close to demagoguery. The definition of demagoguery is what you just heard there, is when you appeal to people's emotions and passions and prejudice over rational judgment."
katie higgins, I think the Apple design engineers are fine people and I'm sure they all are going to "make the world a better place" and all that, but Apple executives are in a different league. Apple is a tax evading multi billion dollar corporation, stashing more cash off shore than most small country's GDP, manufacturing products in low labor cost countries, pouring millions into campaign contributions and lobbying fees. They are behaving like a typical amoral corporation. It has nothing to do with the low level design engineers and programmers working on OS design and security features.
Apple has already admitted that they can easily "create" an insecure ios version and put in on the iPhone in question. They just don't want to be in a position where the FBI and others can do it without their involvement or be constantly forced to do so on hundreds of iPhones. They are using some obfuscation to tell the world that if they do this, pandora's box will open and no iPhone will ever be secure. I happen to believe this is total bullshit. They can certainly do this. It's not even a technical challenge. They can discard/destroy the insecure ios version after they are done with it. This is obviously not the real issue. So if PEW asks in a survey if "Apple should unlock the phone", they are asking the right question. That's all Apple is asked to do and it's the only thing they should do. Peace
Ok, one more: [From the Apple FAQs] "Could Apple build this operating system just once, for this iPhone, and never use it again?" The digital world is very different from the physical world. In the physical world you can destroy something and it’s gone. But in the digital world, the technique, once created, could be used over and over again, on any number of devices.
Tim Cook: "Law enforcement agents around the country have already said they have hundreds of iPhones they want Apple to unlock if the FBI wins this case. In the physical world, it would be the equivalent of a master key, capable of opening hundreds of millions of locks. Of course, Apple would do our best to protect that key, but in a world where all of our data is under constant threat, it would be relentlessly attacked by hackers and cybercriminals. As recent attacks on the IRS systems and countless other data breaches have shown, no one is immune to cyberattacks."
Ok so Tim Cook has never heard of an "air gapped PC"? Or just put the file on a fucking USB stick and throw it in a safe. ???? Apple can't even figure out how keep one insecure version of ios9 out of the hands of hackers, how are they going to protect all their customer's data? What a joke....
Maybe the unwashed masses don't need to know the technical details because they have a natural bullshit detector that tells them that there is more to the story here. If you are one of the Apple disciples you might not realize it, but the truth is that Apple at this point is just as evil as the guvment. Apple's current grandstanding is a clever and cynical ploy to make us believe that the cupertino folks will watch over our data and never, ever give it to the evil FBI. Right.... dream on. That horse has left the barn a long time ago. When they finally capitulate to the justice department a few weeks from now, at least they can say that they did everything they could to resist. However, in reality they already know how to unlock this iphone and are just playing this PR opportunity for all it's worth.
Tim Cook's customer letter states "Building a version of iOS that bypasses security in this way would undeniably create a backdoor. And while the government may argue that its use would be limited to this case, there is no way to guarantee such control".
Ok,this really annoys the crap out of me. Backdoors are bad. Agreed. But this statement is complete bullshit. For example: Older insecure versions of IOS are essentially the same thing as what the FBI needs to unlock the phone. Apple can download one of those on the device if they are unwilling to build one. (and let me tell you: they already have a version ready to go). If Apple doesn't want to hand over this insecure ios version they can totally target this device with an over the air update. It does not need to be available to the FBI as a generic hacking tool.
Unlocking one phone in-house is not the same thing at all as providing the government with a backdoor to all iPhones everywhere. Again, the brainwashed Apple sheep believe everything Tim Cook says. Any critically thinking programmer deep down inside knows that all this grandstanding BS is not about the technical feasibility of unlocking that phone but is really a giant PR war so that Apple can claim in the end that they are the most "secure" and that their customers can really "trust Apple". Total nonsense. Apple IOS always had security flaws and secret little backdoors and still has them to this day. To believe otherwise is foolish indeed.
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Re: Re: Apple lies
1. Apple's creation of GovtOs will set a precedent and the FBI will keep coming back to use it for every iPhone they can't crack.
2. If GovtOs ever leaks out of Apple HQ, they have a major problem.
All this doesn't mean though that they shouldn't do it. There are ways to keep code secure. Do you have access to Apple's current ios source code? No, I didn't think so. Their corporate security is pretty tight. Also, the thing about setting precedents is not a total given. There are ways to limit the way this particular case applies to other future cases. It's a legal/constitutional issue and I'm not an expert in that (nor is any other poster on this forum btw), but if I were Apple I would negotiate a limited scope for the applicability of this insecure GovtOs. What they are doing now, grandstanding and lying to the public is going to get them hammered hard in court. Better to strike a deal and settle this quickly before it turns ugly.
Re: Re: Re; Re: Re: Re:
The problem here is that Apple is not just an amoral multi-billion dollar corporation but has somehow convinced it's customers that they are "a different, better type of company". The typical Apple customers worship the Apple products with a scary cult-like intensity. It's a very dangerous combination: Big corporate $$$ with a cult-like following. That's why the comments on this site are so over the top. A more rational person would look at this from more than one angle and see if a balance can be found to help the FBI solve individual cases without putting digital data security at risk for everyone. I'm betting you are an Apple devotee yourself the way you are using emotional defensive arguments not based on any facts.
From the article:
During the interview, Cook said, "The only way to get information, at least currently the only way we know, would be to write a piece of software that we view as sort of the software equivalent of cancer."
Responding to that quote, Sonnenfeld said, "What he's done is he's resorted to something, forgive me, but close to demagoguery. The definition of demagoguery is what you just heard there, is when you appeal to people's emotions and passions and prejudice over rational judgment."
Re: Re; Re: Re:Re:
Apple has already admitted that they can easily "create" an insecure ios version and put in on the iPhone in question. They just don't want to be in a position where the FBI and others can do it without their involvement or be constantly forced to do so on hundreds of iPhones. They are using some obfuscation to tell the world that if they do this, pandora's box will open and no iPhone will ever be secure. I happen to believe this is total bullshit. They can certainly do this. It's not even a technical challenge. They can discard/destroy the insecure ios version after they are done with it. This is obviously not the real issue. So if PEW asks in a survey if "Apple should unlock the phone", they are asking the right question. That's all Apple is asked to do and it's the only thing they should do.
Peace
Apple nonsense
"Could Apple build this operating system just once, for this iPhone, and never use it again?"
The digital world is very different from the physical world. In the physical world you can destroy something and it’s gone. But in the digital world, the technique, once created, could be used over and over again, on any number of devices.
Tim Cook: "Law enforcement agents around the country have already said they have hundreds of iPhones they want Apple to unlock if the FBI wins this case. In the physical world, it would be the equivalent of a master key, capable of opening hundreds of millions of locks. Of course, Apple would do our best to protect that key, but in a world where all of our data is under constant threat, it would be relentlessly attacked by hackers and cybercriminals. As recent attacks on the IRS systems and countless other data breaches have shown, no one is immune to cyberattacks."
Ok so Tim Cook has never heard of an "air gapped PC"? Or just put the file on a fucking USB stick and throw it in a safe. ???? Apple can't even figure out how keep one insecure version of ios9 out of the hands of hackers, how are they going to protect all their customer's data? What a joke....
Re: Re: Re: Re:
If you are one of the Apple disciples you might not realize it, but the truth is that Apple at this point is just as evil as the guvment. Apple's current grandstanding is a clever and cynical ploy to make us believe that the cupertino folks will watch over our data and never, ever give it to the evil FBI. Right.... dream on. That horse has left the barn a long time ago. When they finally capitulate to the justice department a few weeks from now, at least they can say that they did everything they could to resist. However, in reality they already know how to unlock this iphone and are just playing this PR opportunity for all it's worth.
Apple lies
Ok,this really annoys the crap out of me. Backdoors are bad. Agreed. But this statement is complete bullshit. For example: Older insecure versions of IOS are essentially the same thing as what the FBI needs to unlock the phone. Apple can download one of those on the device if they are unwilling to build one. (and let me tell you: they already have a version ready to go). If Apple doesn't want to hand over this insecure ios version they can totally target this device with an over the air update. It does not need to be available to the FBI as a generic hacking tool.
Unlocking one phone in-house is not the same thing at all as providing the government with a backdoor to all iPhones everywhere. Again, the brainwashed Apple sheep believe everything Tim Cook says. Any critically thinking programmer deep down inside knows that all this grandstanding BS is not about the technical feasibility of unlocking that phone but is really a giant PR war so that Apple can claim in the end that they are the most "secure" and that their customers can really "trust Apple". Total nonsense. Apple IOS always had security flaws and secret little backdoors and still has them to this day. To believe otherwise is foolish indeed.
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