Unable to unlock gunman’s iPhones, the FBI (once again) asks for Apple’s help

[Elderberry]

ARS Technica by Dan Goodin - 1/7/2020

The request may signal a new showdown between law enforcement and tech companies.

In a move that may signal another high-stakes clash over encryption, the FBI is asking Apple for help decrypting two iPhones believed to have belonged to Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani, the man suspected of carrying out a shooting attack that killed three people last month at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Florida.

The request came in a letter FBI General Counsel Dana Boente sent to her counterpart at Apple on Monday, NBC News reported. Boente said that, although FBI investigators obtained a search warrant to examine the phones, investigators have been unable to guess the passcodes needed to unlock them and decrypt their contents. Complicating matters, 21-year-old Alshamrani fired a round into one of the phones. A second lieutenant in the Saudi Royal Air Force, Alshamrani died in the December 6 shooting. An FBI spokeswoman confirmed the sending of the letter but declined to describe its contents, citing an ongoing investigation.

In a statement, Apple officials wrote: "We have the greatest respect for law enforcement and have always worked cooperatively to help in their investigations. When the FBI requested information from us relating to this case a month ago, we gave them all of the data in our possession, and we will continue to support them with the data we have available."

More: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2020/01/fbi-seeks-apples-help-in-unlocking-iphones-belonging-to-pensacola-gunman/

[Cyber Liberty]

Apple will tell them to pound sand.  Just like last time.  I'm surprised the Feebs asked.

[roamer_1]

Apple will tell them to pound sand.  Just like last time.  I'm surprised the Feebs asked.

At that level, it really doesn't make a difference. Last time the FBI dropped the suit because they got the phone cracked otherwise.

If anyone with a big bank account wants to mess you up, be it corporate, religious, or political, it_can_be_done.

If you want privacy : Don't use electronics. Seriously. Any privacy you have is incidental, and not really a matter of privacy as much as nobody cares about your crap. If somebody DOES care about your crap, and they have money/power, your privacy is of no concern whatsoever.

I ain't all that good - and I am only fussin with encryption. But it really is no different than passwords. If I have hands on your box, and I want in, I am getting in. I can crack a windows password without even breaking a sweat - literally about as fast as I can heat my dinner up in the microwave. Most container-style files, compression files, and etc, same thing. CMOS might take a while, but I will get it done... Same with CMOS locked drives - probably about an 80% chance I will crack it. If it is a password system you probably can't stop me.

Encryption is the next gen, and very difficult. but I have successfully decrypted 3 hard drives... And one of those in the wild (Actually did it, not just controlled experiment). My current ext usb for my laptop is that trophy. It took me about a week of total obsession. But I did it.

So don't think any of this happy crap is about the tech. It is not. You have no privacy in the electronic world - And probably don't want it... Because if you truly DID have that privacy, A guy like me would not be able to fix it for you.

It is still about white hat/black hat hackers, and always will be.

[Cyber Liberty]

At that level, it really doesn't make a difference. Last time the FBI dropped the suit because they got the phone cracked otherwise.

Correct.  They hired somebody to clone a few million copies, then brute-forced passwords on them until one cracked before the max number of attempts, IIRC.

That Drive...was it bitlocker?

[roamer_1]

Correct.  They hired somebody to clone a few million copies, then brute-forced passwords on them until one cracked before the max number of attempts, IIRC.

That Drive...was it bitlocker?

Nope. Western Digital Encryption. But bitlocker can be cracked.