Apple reveals FBI screw-up: Tech giant says government lost access to shooter's iPhone backup by changing passcode hours after the attack - as Trump calls for brand boycott
Apple has fired back at the government saying they could have accessed the San Bernandino shooter's iPhone after the tragic incident
A spokesperson said that if the passcode had not been changed 24 hours after the phone was seized they could have gotten into the shooter's cloud
San Bernardino County Department of Public Health, who owned the phone, changed the password to gain access to some information
Apple CEO Tim Cook has refused to comply with the order to hack into one of the shooter's iPhone
Earlier Friday, the Justice Department sought to force Apple to work with the FBI to bypass the phone's passcode
Federal prosecutors said Apple's refusal appears to be based 'on its concern for its business model and public brand'
By Reuters and Ashley Collman For Dailymail.com and Associated Press and David Martosko, Us Political Editor In Pawleys Island, S.c. For Dailymail.com
Published: 15:03 EST, 19 February 2016 | Updated: 21:49 EST, 19 February 2016
Apple is firing back at the government saying they could have accessed the phone of the San Bernadino shooter had his password not been changed after the FBI seized the device.
Apple executives pointed out that Syed Farook's iCloud account had been reset with a new passcode by his employer, the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health, who owned the phone just 24 hours after the shooting.
Had that not happened his cloud would have been accessible if the phone was taken to a location where it recognized the Wi-Fi network according to ABC News.
This is just one of the four different ways Apple has offered to help the government get information from the phone they claim without using a backdoor that would allow them to hack directly into the device.
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Apple was hit twice Friday over its refusal to crack open one of the San Bernardino terrorist's iPhone with Donald Trump demanding a boycott and a fresh federal legal bid to force its hand.
The U.S. Department of Justice has filed a motion seeking to compel Apple to comply with a judge's order for the company to unlock the iPhone belonging to one of the San Bernardino shooters, according to a court document filed Friday.
Hours after the DOJ filed the motion, Trump called for a boycott on the company until it complies with the court order.
The FBI is seeking the tech giant's help to access the shooter's phone, which is encrypted. The company so far has pushed back, and on Thursday won three extra days to respond to the order.
Prosecutors said the company has chosen to repudiate a judge's order instead of following it.
WHAT INVESTIGATORS WANT
Judge Sheri Pym of U.S. District Court in Los Angeles said that Apple must provide 'reasonable technical assistance' to investigators seeking to unlock the data on an iPhone 5C that had been owned by Syed Rizwan Farook.
That assistance includes disabling the phone's auto-erase function, which activates after 10 consecutive unsuccessful passcode attempts, and helping investigators to submit passcode guesses electronically.
However, Apple says this is akin to 'a master key, capable of opening hundreds of millions of locks - from restaurants and banks to stores and homes.'
The department also says Apple designs its products to allow technology - 'rather than the law' - to control access to critical data.
Apple CEO Tim Cook first said that the company would be fighting the order in a strongly-worded statement issued Wednesday, saying complying with the FBI's orders would set a 'dangerous precedent'.
Perhaps the biggest dig at Apple in the latest motion was prosecutors' allegations that the company was doing it all to enhance its brand.
In the motion, prosecutors claim that before Apple updated the software on their iPhones, the company regularly complied with government warrants to search phones.
'Based on Apple's recent public statement and other statements by Apple, Apple's current refusal to comply with the Court's Order, despite the technical feasibility of doing so, instead appears to be based on its concern for its business model and public brand marketing strategy,' the motion reads.
While the technology to break into phones may have been present on older versions of the iPhone software, Cook claimed that the company no longer has the technological means to break into newer versions and that creating one would compromise all user security.
'In the wrong hands, this software - which does not exist today - would have the potential to unlock any iPhone in someone's physical possession,' Cook wrote.
'The FBI may use different words to describe this tool, but make no mistake: Building a version of iOS that bypasses security in this way would undeniably create a back door.
'And while the government may argue that its use would be limited to this case, there is no way to guarantee such control.'
Prosecutors addressed this concern in the motion, saying that Apple doesn't even need to turn over the software to them at all.
The story has become a hot topic on the presidential campaign trail, and on Friday, Republican front-runner Donald Trump reiterated his support for the Feds by calling for a Apple boycott.
'What I think you ought to do is boycott Apple until such time as they give that security number. Boycott apple!' Trump said at a rally at a country club in South Carolina.
'First of all, the phone's not owned by this young thug that killed all these people. The phone's owned by the government. Okay? Not even his phone! We don't have to go that far,' he added.
Trump's statement immediately became the butt of jokes online, as users on Twitter pointed out that many of the presidential candidate's tweets show they were written on his iPhone - but he then made clear he was going to use his Samsung instead.
Apple is getting support from some however, including businessman Mark Cuban who wrote about the company on his blog Friday.
'Amen. A standing ovation. They did the exact right thing by not complying with the order,' said Cuban.
'They are exactly right that this is a very, very slippery slope. And while the FBI is attempting to be very clear that this is a one off request, there is no chance that it is. '
In his statement on Wednesday, Cook noted the court order and said 'this moment calls for public discussion, and we want our customers and people around the country to understand what is at stake.'
Cook argued that the order 'has implications far beyond the legal case at hand.'
Pym's order to Apple to help the FBI hack into an encrypted iPhone belonging to one of the San Bernardino, California shooters set the stage for a legal fight between the federal government and Silicon Valley over a first-of-its-kind ruling.
The order, in which Apple is being directed to assist the FBI in breaking into an encrypted iPhone belonging to one of the San Bernardo shooters, represents a significant victory for the Justice Department.
The Obama administration has embraced stronger encryption as a way to keep consumers safe on the Internet, but struggled to find a compelling example to make its case.
Cook said that the U.S. government order would undermine encryption by using specialized software to create a back door that he compared to a 'master key, capable of opening hundreds of millions of locks.'
Josh Earnest, the White House spokesman today deferred to the Justice Department but said it was important to recognize the government is not asking Apple to 'create a new backdoor to its products.'
He said the case was about federal investigators learning 'as much as they can about this one case.'
'The president certainly believes that is an important national priority,' he said.
FBI Director James Comey told members of Congress last week that encryption is a major problem for law enforcement who 'find a device that can't be opened even when a judge says there's probable cause to open it.'
The ruling on Tuesday tied the problem to the deadliest terrorist attack on U.S. soil since the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Syed Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, killed 14 people in a December 2 shooting at a holiday luncheon for Farook's co-workers. The couple later died in a gun battle with police.
Federal prosecutors told the judge in the court proceeding - that was conducted without Apple being allowed to participate - that investigators can't access a work phone used by Farook because they don't know his passcode and Apple has not cooperated.
Under U.S. law, a work phone is generally the property of a person's employer. The judge told Apple to provide an estimate of its cost to comply with her order, suggesting that the government will be expected to pay for the work.
Apple has provided default encryption on its iPhones since 2014, allowing any device's contents to be accessed only by the user who knows the phone's passcode.
The ruling by Pym, a former federal prosecutor, requires Apple to supply highly specialized software the FBI can load onto the county-owned work iPhone to bypass a self-destruct feature, which erases the phone's data after too many unsuccessful attempts to unlock it.
The FBI wants to be able to try different combinations in rapid sequence until it finds the right one.
However, some security experts say the request is possible because the phone in question is an older iPhone 5C which does not have a fingerprint sensor or Apple's latest security feature, known as a secure enclave.
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