Apple ordered to break into San Bernardino shooter's iPhone
Apple ordered to break into San Bernardino shooter's
iPhone
A federal judge has ordered Apple to help the FBI break
into an iPhone belonging to one of the San Bernardino shooters.
By Kevin Johnson and Jessica Guynn, USA TODAY 12:39 a.m.
EST February 17, 2016
WASHINGTON — Apple must help the FBI break into an iPhone
belonging to one of the killers in the San Bernardino, Calif., shootings, a
federal judge ordered Tuesday.
Tashfeen Malik and her husband, Syed Rizwan Farook, shot
and killed 14 people in December. The couple later died in a gun battle with
police. The iPhone was recovered from their vehicle in the aftermath of the
attack.
The ruling from U.S. Magistrate Sheri Pym requires Apple
to provide "reasonable technical assistance" to the FBI, namely,
software that can disable the security feature that erases data from the iPhone
after too many unsuccessful attempts to unlock it.
Federal prosecutors told the court they could not access
the phone used by Farook because they don’t know his passcode. With the
security feature disabled, they can attempt as many combinations necessary to
unlock the iPhone.
The iPhone in this case was not the property of Farook,
but of his employer, San Bernardino County, which consented to the search.
Apple did not respond to a request for comment.
FBI director James Comey could not be immediately reached
for comment.
Last week, Comey told a Senate panel that investigators
still have not been able to unlock the encrypted cellphone of one of the
terrorists who carried out the attack, which also left 20 others wounded.
"We still have one of those killer's phones that we
haven't been able to open," Comey told members of the Senate Intelligence
Committee during a hearing on threats to the homeland. "It's been over two
months now. We are still working on it."
Comey made the comments in response to questions from
senators about how encrypted cellphones and other electronic devices can hinder
investigations because they cannot be unlocked, even by the companies that made
them.
Comey could not be immediately reached for comment.
The encryption debate, which often pits security hawks
against privacy advocates, has intensified in the wake of the terrorist attacks
in San Bernardino and Paris.
Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr, R-N.C., is
working with Vice Chairman Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., on legislation that
would compel tech companies to provide encrypted data to law enforcement
agencies.
Following Tuesday’s ruling, Los Angeles U.S. Attorney
Eileen Decker said the move to unlock the phone represented an attempt to
“exhaust every investigative lead in the case.’’
"We have made a solemn commitment to the victims and
their families that we will leave no stone unturned as we gather as much
information and evidence as possible,’’ Decker said. "These victims and
families deserve nothing less. The application filed today in federal court is
another step — a potentially important step — in the process of learning
everything we possibly can about the attack in San Bernardino.”
The Obama administration has held high-level discussions
with Silicon Valley companies to press Apple, Facebook and others to do more to
prevent terrorists from using the Internet to spread propaganda, incite
violence and attract new recruits. Companies, sensitive to the fallout from
government spying revelations by former National Security Agency contractor
Edward Snowden, have been wary of being seen as aiding the government to spy on
users.
A major point of contention: law enforcement's concerns
that tech companies provide encrypted communications that terrorists can use to
hide their activities.
Apple has five business days to respond to the order.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation is considering filing
an amicus brief in support of Apple and expects other digital rights groups to
do the same, said Kurt Opsahl, general counsel for the Electronic Frontier
Foundation.
"If the U.S. government can force Apple to do this,
why can’t the Chinese or Russian governments? Other countries will ask for this
same power. Do we want to have this be universal?" Opsahl said.
The risk? If Apple creates a program to break into this
iPhone, it will essentially be a "master key" for other iPhones, he
warned.
"It would be possible for the government to take
this key, modify it and use it on other phones," Opsahl said. "That
risks a lot, that the government will have this power and it will not be
misused."
Comments
Post a Comment