FBI Agrees to Help Arkansas Prosecutor Unlock iPhone and iPod in Homicide Case

[MacRumors]

The FBI has agreed to help an Arkansas prosecutor unlock an iPhone and iPod that belong to two teenagers accused of killing a couple, reports the Associated Press. The move comes days after the FBI announced that it had unlocked the San Bernardino shooter's iPhone.

Faulkner County Prosecuting Attorney Cody Hiland said the FBI agreed to the request from his office and the Conway Police Department Wednesday afternoon. A judge on Tuesday agreed to postpone the trial of 18-year-old Hunter Drexler so prosecutors could ask the FBI for help. Drexler's trial was moved from next week to June 27.

Hiland said the FBI agreed to help less than a day after the initial request was made. "We always appreciate their cooperation and willingness to help their local law enforcement partners," Hiland said. Patrick Benca, Drexler's attorney, said he was notified the FBI agreed to help and that he was "not concerned about anything on that phone."

The prosecuting attorney said that they had heard the FBI had been able to unlock the San Bernardino shooter's iPhone and wanted to see if they could help, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Drexler, along with 15-year-old Justin Staton, are accused of killing Robert and Patricia Cogdell last July. The couple raised Staton as their grandson. After the two teens were arrested in Texas and brought to Arkansas shortly after the shootings, prosecutors gained possession of Drexler's iPhone. Last week, Staton's defense attorney was ordered to hand over his iPod, which was in the defense attorney's evidence locker.

Prosecutors argue that Staton had indicated on phone calls that he had used his iPod to communicate about the murders and that further evidence might be on the device. It's unclear which iPhone and iPod the suspects used and which iOS version they're running.

An FBI official told the LA Times that the FBI is unlikely use the tool that was used to unlock the San Bernardino shooter's iPhone for criminal prosecutions because the method could be discovered during a trial. Furthermore, the method used to unlock that phone might not work with other phones, according to the official.

"In a criminal case, if the FBI uses a technique, there's going to be questions about divulging that technique or chain of custody to the defense," Eric Crocker, Electronic Frontier Foundation staff attorney, told the LA Times. "So my instinct is this might be something different."

Last week, shortly after the Department of Justice said that it discovered a "possible method" for unlocking the San Bernardino shooter's device, it was reported that the FBI enlisted Israeli firm Cellebrite to unlock it.

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Article Link: FBI Agrees to Help Arkansas Prosecutor Unlock iPhone and iPod in Homicide Case

 

[dannyyankou]

"Just this one phone"

 

[Apple_Robert]

I think Apple needs to get to work building a stronger encrypted OS.

 

[mariusignorello]

Lock iOS down so tight even Apple can't hack their own OS. But really, "just this one phone". A load of BS.

 

[JoelTheSuperior]

I have to suspect this is an older iPhone yet again.

Reason I say this is, the newer models with the 'secure enclave' are likely uncrackable, unlike the older ones with the vulnerability mentioned previously where one could reset the lock screen attempt counter.

 

[Rob198612]

and it starts! now the FBI starts unlocking countless of phones. can't wait for apple to make IOS even stronger

 

[Z400Racer37]

"We only need it just this one time. Promise."

 

[Shirasaki]

So then, FBI has found a way to crack such tough phone. Mourn the end of an era which iPhone is just safe.

 

[Andres Cantu]

FBI: the Federal Bureau of iPhones.

 

[D.T.]

Attorney: "OK, we're at the screen asking for the passcode."

FBI: "Good, good, type 1 2 3 4 5 6"

Attorney: "We're in!"

FBI: "Excellent, don't tell anybody else the secret ..."

 

[Tubamajuba]

So then, FBI has found a way to crack such tough phone. Mourn the end of an era which iPhone is just safe.

As long as the phones with secure enclaves remain uncracked, the era has only just begun.

 

[gsmornot]

So, do you guys turn on the option to erase the phone after so many failed tries?

 

[ck2875]

So, do you guys turn on the option to erase the phone after so many failed tries?

I didn't until the FBI started this whole hullabaloo. If nothing else, it made me realise my security could be better.

 

[sshambles]

I didn't until the FBI started this whole hullabaloo. If nothing else, it made me realise my security could be better.

Same here.

 

[Renzatic]

So, do you guys turn on the option to erase the phone after so many failed tries?

There are ways around that. Any decently equipped law enforcement agency that deals with things like homicide and terrorist activities will have ways to clone the contents of a phone's memory to another drive, and then copy it back to the source when they need to.

See, I don't have a problem with local law asking the FBI for help cracking a phone. That's a part of law enforcement. The biggest issue was that the FBI asked Apple for a backdoor, an easy way to crack into every iPhone they come across. That's wrong for a slew of reasons that are entirely separate from this.

 

[ProjectManager101]

Yes, but I went to the FBI last year to report a drug dealer, I gave pictures, connections, phone numbers, everything! And the drug dealer still having a blast.

 

[ZMacintosh]

smug bastards

 

[mariusignorello]

So, do you guys turn on the option to erase the phone after so many failed tries?

I have mine set to 5 attempts.

 

[Bubba Satori]

#murdererslivesmatter

 

[CrAkD]

The FBI probably watched one of those
YouTube videos on how to get by the passcode haha.

 

[Soccertess]

Just one phone eh?

 

[japanime]

The slope is getting more and more slippery.

 

[jbernie]

So did Apple really win? They won't need to create the back door the FBI was asking for but on the other hand the FBI now has a way to get in (older phones/iOS versions only??) without Apple knowing what it is.

Would it be better to have full control or no control at all? Apple will probably look better to the consumer not having control but then do we feel better knowing the FBI can bypass them?

 

[lenard]

So, do you guys turn on the option to erase the phone after so many failed tries?

I been doing that ever since the feature was available. I encrypt everything, all backups and file vault my Mac. Gave up backing up to iCloud for my iPhone and iPad and I have nothing to hide. Just don't like the idea that the government wants to look at peoples data weather they have the reason to or not.

 

[HEK]

I have mine set to 5 attempts.

Most important part is to set a long complex passcode. Letters, numbers, symbols, 20 characters long. Let em brute force that. You will be ash in your grave before they guess the combination.

Edit....I was way too long with 20 characters. If you use just 12 numeric digits. It would take a computer checking at 80 millisecond rate over 2,500 years to try each possibility.

Time to try each code based on Numeric digits only.
8 digits = 92 days
9 digits = 2.5 years
10 digits = 25 years
11 digits = 254 years
12 digits = 2,537 years