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As I said a while back.

What would be safer for everyone?

Apple, under their own total control accessing the data themselves and presenting just the data to the FBI.

Or some third party team working out how to access data on iPhones?

If we presume SOME 3rd party will be able to recover data at some point in time, which of the two scenarios do you feel would be preferable ?

Yes, what would be safer for everyone?

Apple, the phone manufacturer, creating a backdoor exploit for all iPhones - a backdoor in the posession of 'only' the US government - and an exploit that, since it has been deliberately programmed, has a much higher chance of being discovered by other hacking organisations. A legal outcome which means all future iPhones will require a backdoor.

Or some 3rd party working out how to hack an iPhone (which has been happening for ages, by the way -- ever heard of jailbreaking?), by finding an exploit or utilising a technique that Apple will patch in the near future.

Which of the two scenarios do you feel would be preferable?

EDIT: plus your argument almost seems to imply that with one, the other can't exist. It's a preposterous logical fallacy. If Apple created an iOS backdoor, that doesn't stop 3rd party hackers. Rather, it encourages them to find the backdoor or steal the custom version of iOS.
 
Ah Cellebrite, the company whose website mysteriously disappeared a few weeks ago (I was looking into them because of mentions of the company in certain leaked documents) but has a long history of building and selling the equipment for security states around the world.

They played a role in the systems used during the Arab Spring, the uprising in Tunisia, etc. This is a company who's products for surveillance are sold indiscriminately to dictators around the world to dragnet their citizens.

Good to see who the US security apparatus is in bed with.

Oddly enough, I think it was the TV show "Mr. Robot" that I first heard of that company. Or possibly some other TV show.
 
As I said a while back.

What would be safer for everyone?

Apple, under their own total control accessing the data themselves and presenting just the data to the FBI.

Or some third party team working out how to access data on iPhones?

If we presume SOME 3rd party will be able to recover data at some point in time, which of the two scenarios do you feel would be preferable ?

This is probably better. You presume that the FBI would've let Apple fetch the data for the FBI and never giving them the "master key" they wanted. The FBI also wanted Apple to revert their security back to iOS 7 standards. So now they would be able to access phones on a case by case basis.

This is the sort of innovation that the FBI should've been able to come up with on their own in the first place though. It's really a shame that our own people lack the imagination to do things properly.
 
The second. You have no idea how this works.

You know how you shouldn't use the same password on every website, because then if it's compromised once, it's compromised everywhere? Same deal with this. If Apple made one password that unlocked every iPhone, then the moment one person figures it out, they've compromised every iPhone.

Further, anyone who wants to hack the iPhone to get that secret password would be able to legally buy an iPhone and do whatever they want with it to figure out that universal secret password.

Do you honestly have an idea how this works? I don't ask with snark. Genuine curiosity. I read a post yesterday containing a link to some interesting information that disputes the necessity of your one password solution. The assertion in the link was Apple could target that particular phone without compromising the security of all phones. The assumption of a universal password is, at it's best, unrealistic. At it's worst, it's basically fear mongering.

I happen to agree with Apple's stance in principle and policy. But I refrain from "end of iPhone privacy" anecdotes and analogies because I simply don't know enough to comment intelligently. I strongly suspect the vast, vast, vast majority on this forum don't know either. But when has a lack of knowledge actually stopped us from rendering strongly definitive statements as if they are facts.

edit: found it - https://marcan.st/2016/03/untangling-ios-pin-code-security/
 
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Yeah and what exactly would 3rd parties stop from trying anyway?

trying and succeeding are two different things.
Being sponsored and financed by the US government is different.
If it's Apple - it's in a controlled environment. And as they figure out how to break their OWN OS, they can find ways to fix it. However - there's no guarantee that if a 3rd party finds a way - that Apple will be able to.
 
Yes, what would be safer for everyone?

Apple, the phone manufacturer, creating a backdoor exploit for all iPhones - a backdoor in the posession of 'only' the US government - and an exploit that, since it has been deliberately programmed, has a much higher chance of being discovered by other hacking organisations. A legal outcome which means all future iPhones will require a backdoor.

Or some 3rd party working out how to hack an iPhone (which has been happening for ages, by the way -- ever heard of jailbreaking?), by finding an exploit or utilising a technique that Apple will patch in the near future.
You're conflating two different 'hacks': jailbreaking is done by the device owner with full access to the device; in the San Bernardino case, the FBI do not have full access to the device. By conflating the two, you're using obfuscation to promote FUD, which there's enough of in the world already without it being artificially generated (is your username just a happy coincidence or do you recognise that you do this a lot?)
 
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For an organization with as many resources at its disposal as the FBI, this seems trivial to me. They could make a single purpose machine which does nothing but continually restore the memory and makes password guesses.
If I understand the situation correctly, this approach would work only for phones like the iPhone 5C, which store the password retry counter in NAND memory.

For newer iPhones, which have a secure enclave, copying and restoring the memory could prove much more difficult, and the risk of bricking the phone could be much higher.

Also, a 6-digit passcode (Apple's default) would take up to 100 times as long to crack by brute force as a 4-digit one, and an alphanumeric password of unknown length could take centuries to crack that way.
 
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Cellebrite?! Lmaoo anyone who has work in an Apple Store knows about their horrid technology.
Yeah they have been around along time. All this assumes a number password was used. Smart people with something hide use the complex password option, or a flip phone.
 
As I said a while back.

What would be safer for everyone?

Apple, under their own total control accessing the data themselves and presenting just the data to the FBI.

Or some third party team working out how to access data on iPhones?

If we presume SOME 3rd party will be able to recover data at some point in time, which of the two scenarios do you feel would be preferable ?

If this company cracks the iphone then the FBI will pay them to make a backdoor program for all future iPhones. Good job, Apple!.
 
3rd party for sure.. In that case, Apple can always work towards securing future versions of iOS and iPhone. Once they start going down the path of helping the government there is no turning back.

In addition did you read the part about sawing off the lid and drilling down micron by micro as one of the methods. We've known they could do this since the first computer chips. They don't teach that in hacker 101 because it is expensive and not very practical for an individual, so I'm confident that capability will not be used frivolously against law abiding citizens (at least right now).
 
As I said a while back.

What would be safer for everyone?

Apple, under their own total control accessing the data themselves and presenting just the data to the FBI.

Or some third party team working out how to access data on iPhones?

If we presume SOME 3rd party will be able to recover data at some point in time, which of the two scenarios do you feel would be preferable ?

I'd rather the US Government not try to forcibly draft a private company to become a forensic arm of law enforcement.
 
I thought the issue they were claiming was "National Security"? Interesting solution...
There is no national security. They wanted more power, now they are just covering their tracks. There is nothing on the phone, the personal phones were wiped so the terrorists were smart enough to make sure the work phone was clean. You don't even need a high school education to reason this out.
 
Yes the US government are not exactly pushing to allow badly done to Mordechai Vanunu release from Israel.

Yet I bet if Belize wanted to question John McAfee they would say 'NO WAY'.

One rule for one another rule for the rest of the world.

I don't understand the connection here. Vanunu is an Israeli citizen and the crime he committed was against his country. Where does the U.S. come in here?

OTHO McAfee has never been formally charged with a crime in Belize and therefore no extradition request has been made for the U.S. to deny.

Also Vanunu is a criminal. McAfee is mostly an eccentric kook.
 
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You're conflating two different 'hacks': jailbreaking is done by the device owner with full access to the device; in the San Bernardino case, the FBI do not have full access to the device. By conflating the two, you're using obfuscation to promote FUD, which there's enough of in the world already without it being artificially generated (is your username just a happy coincidence or do you recognise that you do this a lot?)

Hmm, certainly poor wording on my account with the jailbreaking comment - it was broadly meant to highlight that there are always going to be some bugs in software that can be used to gain access or 'hack' a device; be that with or without full access to the device. Although deep down, I think you knew exactly what I meant, and you're being deliberately obtuse.

Nonetheless, I don't see how that impacts the rest of the argument. You yourself picking up on a fallacy to disregard the rest of my argument without answering the other points doesn't validate your comment in the slightest.

So what's your point?
 
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