Justice Department Officially Drops Lawsuit Against Apple in Ongoing iPhone Unlocking Dispute [Updated]

[Buran]

So, Apple, what is being done to close this apparent security hole to ensure that I and other users will not fall victim to malicious hacking?

Is the iPhone 7 being equipped with hardware-based security measures to prevent someone from removing the retry limit by hacking into the phone's operating system, and are you going to allow me to specify a different non-fingerprint retry limit than the default 10 if we wish to? (therefore, fingerprint misreads won't cause wiping, but if you enter the password using a keyboard or the on-screen keyboard or the phone's data connector, you won't know how many tries you have.)

Are you also removing the DFU mode, or at least requiring the user to enter the passcode when using it? I no longer trust that someone will not be able to hack into my phone using that mode. I know the password lock wasn't added to DFU mode to make recovery easier, but one bad apple (pun intended) has now ruined it for everyone.

 

[Kabeyun]

Gotta love those Israelis.

 

[mcdj]

Lemme guess what they're gonna find on the phone...evidence of weapons of mass destruction somewhere in the Middle East. "Get yer boots back on boys!" - Gubmint

 

[Goaliegeek]

Tomorrow's headline: Apple purchases Cellebrite for $1 million.

 

[eac25]

It also occurs to me that this *entire* thing could have been planned by the FBI/DoJ to tarnish Apple's public image (you know, a la "terrorist sympathizers" or something like that), including this outcome. Guess we'll never know that!

 

[mariusignorello]

WE WON!!!

Oh wait.... *files numerous bug reports ASAP*

 

[Candlelight]

Ha, well done FBI. Apple really should've helped. Now they're probably panicking there's a backdoor they have to close. It's their own fault really.

 

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

And thanks to this case, Apple has certainly been working to make it even more difficult to access encrypted data that we will see in future iOS releases. Lit a fire under Apple as I'm sure an inevitable drawn out court case is not what they want.

Apple is FAR too confident of their own abilities and that is a BIG problem.

Back in 2008 I sat down and met with their iOS security team. We showed them a product we were preparing to sell to law enforcement which rips everything from a Mac and iPhone. Passwords, emails, text messages, web browsing history, wifi history, previously connected devices, app user data and much more. We wanted to work with them. Instead, they told us that iOS is totally secure and that what we were doing had no impact on them (despite the fact it showed there were very exploitable holes in their system). So without their blessing we went ahead and sold it anyways and did so with the help of Apples government sales guys who loved how it helped sell the FBI and others on brand new Mac labs.

They're far too confident in their own security even as we've continued to sell these abilities to access iOS and OS X since 2008 to government agencies around the world.

 

[foxkoneko]

Anti-climatic but better fight than the Batman V Superman one was

 

[dk001]

Lemme guess what they're gonna find on the phone...evidence of weapons of mass destruction somewhere in the Middle East. "Get yer boots back on boys!" - Gubmint

and then add this in...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...ilences-minority-opinions-according-to-study/

 

[luckydcxx]

They should have kept this to themselves. Now the hole will be patched, it was a key that they had.

 

[IbisDoc]

Looks like the iPhone is not as secure as Apple is telling everyone. So much for their attempts to dominate the lucrative terrorist cellphone market.

 

[adamneer]

America is finally safe from all future terrorist attacks. I can once again sleep with both eyes closed.

 

[bradl]

Ha, well done FBI. Apple really should've helped. Now they're probably panicking there's a backdoor they have to close. It's their own fault really.

Not necessarily.

We don't know what method Cellebrite (assuming that's who did this) used to get into the phone. Keep in mind that the argument and legal action here was to compel Apple to modify iOS to include a backdoor for the FBI to use to get past any encryption, not simply get access to the phone.

If the method used was any hard hack (read: physical disassembly of the hardware) then there is nothing Apple really can do about it at the OS level.

BL.

 

[dk001]

America is finally safe from all future terrorist attacks. I can once again sleep with both eyes closed.

and my Glock within reach.

 

[rdowns]

This is far from over. Some law enforcement agency will pick up the mantle or worse, Congress will pass a law.

 

[Marshall73]

This case served its purpose. Watch now as they push a bill through to mandate encryption back doors so that these meddlesome private companies can't dictate policy to the government.. Or some similar bull..

 

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

Next you'll have Apple asking how. Followed by the DOJ using it for their 12. Then LEOs nation wide for their thousands of devices. Then FOI submittals. Then someone at the FBI dropping the dime and it gets out everywhere.

Still think this is a wool blanket the FBI is attempting to use.

You'd be surprised how little that happens. There are lots of tools that the forensic community has been using for years which have never made their way to the public. Good luck finding even the most common tools like FTK in it's current version anywhere online (short of dropping a couple thousand dollars to buy it retail).

The people who have access to these tools are good guys. They aren't the type that are going to share them around or throw them on BitTorrent. It simply doesn't happen. On top of that, they generally have sophisticated copy protection (usually involving keyed dongles) which prevent just anyone from using them.

 

[SMIDG3T]

It's good that this case has come to a close but as many people have said already, Apple must figure out how that iPhone was broken into. Granted, it was by a specialist company but the fact is, there is a loophole somewhere.

 

[Eraserhead]

This is far from over. Some law enforcement agency will pick up the mantle or worse, Congress will pass a law.

Fortunately Congress doesn't pass laws these days.

 

[btrach144]

My prediction is that they didn't get in through software but that they used a micron laser to strip away the security enclave's cover and manually pulled the security data off bit by bit. AKA they manipulated the hardware.

Of course the FBI is never going to tell Apple.

 

[Alenore]

Now I'd really love to know what, if anything, they found there!...

And I'd also love for them to tell Apple how they got in, but my guess is that won't happen. The FBI is now publicly in the phone hacking business (along with other government departments like the NSA).

Because Apple let them so much choice outside of hacking it with a foreign company.

(Anyway, it seems this big security breach Apple was afraid to create already exists, since it was unlocked)

 

[Jeremy1026]

Remember everyone, the blackphone was hacked too. It's a matter of time for anything you have physical access to. Keep your phone in your possession and your data is safe on iOS8+ for the time being. Keep updating so you always have the best security, and to stay one step ahead of the bad guys.

 

[iapplelove]

It may seem like a small win for now, but things are sure to change in the future. The feds usually just don't give up that easy. And they have just as much money to blow as Apple does. Eventually they will want their back door into iOS.

 

[Rogifan]

How do we know the FBI isn't lying?

 

[Bryan Bowler]

The FBI finally figured out that the passcode was 1111.