Can Apple crack the San Bernardino killers' iPhone for the FBI? Sure, if they build an 'FBiOS'

I think the FBI was counting on Apple to take this stand. Their ultimate goal isn’t to have one device decrypted, it’s to get legislation passed that will require future devices to be accessible with a court order. If Apple had just quietly decrypted this device, FBI bosses probably would have been pissed off. Now they get to play the “Apple values the privacy of a dead ISIS terrorist more than the security of the American people” card. You and I know that’s a bullshit line, but most of America is going to side with the FBI in this case.

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If you think I’m arguing that people in the US should be afraid of terrorists, I’m not. I’m personally more worried about shark attack and I live in Austin, TX.

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If the encryption is good they can not decrypt the San Bernardino phone. If they want a way to decrypt phones and computers in the future that’s a backdoor and that is a non-starter. No and if there is a backdoor I will not use it. Hardware is cheap and manufactures are many. Sorry FBI, no. Really, NO.

I think that you’re right, the main point is to gin up support for legislation to force apple to provide back doors.

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I assume his iPhone wasn’t a touch ID or they could have just used a fingerprint copy (or just cut off his thumb) to gain entrance? What about social engineering by using his Amazon account and Apple Support like what happened to Matt Honan?

Ironically, this would be way easier…

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So would it be Federal Basic Input / Output System or Federal Bureau of Input / Output System, Federal Basic Investigation / Output System? I’m puzzled and I’m not looking forward to the CiaMOS

Isn’t jailbreaking, which some random teenager seems to manage with every new iOS update, exactly what the FBI needs here?

Installing custom firmware by circumventing the need for Apple’s signature verification during an update? Seems like if Pangu Team can consistently do this in their spare time, in spite of all of the geniuses at Apple, the FBI should have the resources…

[Edit: h/t Chesterfield. Apparently, you have to go back quite a few iOS versions to get to one you can jailbreak while locked]

The thing is, if they have to crack the silicon, it’ll cost them what, maybe a million bucks a shot? If they pay Apple ten million to write FBI-OS, they’ll have it instantly available every time they want it. And whether they’ll ever actually pay the ten million (or whatever Apple says it will cost) is uncertain. They can keep that tied up in the courts forever.

No, it’s not the same thing. You can’t jailbreak a locked phone.

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Solid summary.

I think that is exactly what we are to assume.

impute, even.

No, this one was a 5C. However the fingerprint times out after 48 hrs or 5 failed attempts, and this then useless until unlocked using the passcode.

maybe he did - it was just in that apartment that they let the media run rampant in.

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I would say possibly recoverable rather than likely. You don’t make each chip different at manufacture, so the easiest way to hard code a unique number into one is to burn out a specific set of fuses on each chip putting it in an electron microscope would involve hitting the part you’re looking at with more voltage than it would take to burn the fuse, so it could be very difficult to tell whether it was already burned or you just burned it with your e-beam. There are other techniques that migh help you but most of them are destructive, so you only get one shot and it might not work. Anyway, the obvious solution( which may already exist on iPhone 6) is for Apple to make future phones impervious to this signed is update attack.

People in the US should be more afraid of the police. It should be treated like a locked box in an evidence locker without a key. Let the police figure out how to get the information themselves.

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I suspect the FBI don’t either. It’s just that this is an ideal opportunity to publicly make a noise about being unable to fully investigate a crime because of encryption —and thereby gain access to all of our devices for everything if they get their own way.

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I guess I missed the part where airbag technology was deliberately undermined by governments so they could disable it for people they don’t like.

By the way,

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I’m an Android user, but I’m very happy that Apple has taken this position. I never thought that they’d have the balls. I hope Apple comes out on top, but an unofficial poll on
today’s Today Show is 75% against Apple (and some Apple users have called for a boycott). Wouldn’t it be funny if Android users become the biggest supporters of Apple’s position?

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Why am I thinking a poll on the Today Show isn’t exactly going to reach an audience highly educated on the issues involved here?

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Exactly my point. But these “respondents” are often Apple’s customer base. I mean it seems that producers of the Today Show shill for Apple all the time. Every new Apple product is covered on this show.

I find that truly interesting.

So fine. Copy the memory contents to a backup. Make an iPhone 5 with a “socket” (or whatever) instead of the memory. Plug a copy into the socket. Power up and try ten codes. No good? The copy gets wiped. Copy the original data back onto it and try ten more codes. Repeat until cracked. A little too tedious? Make 2 “socketed” phones. Hell, make 20 and be done by lunch time. The codes are 0000 to 9999, right?

The only true security is physical access. Period.