Senator Reveals FBI Paid $900K for Hacking Tool Used to Open San Bernardino Shooter's iPhone

[sudo1996]

That's a crapton of money. I'll bet Russia pays someone $10K to do that job, except for something more important.
[doublepost=1494295665][/doublepost]

Perhaps something like how much money the government is wasting on wild goose chases shouldn't be classified at all considering we are running a deficit.

I agree wholeheartedly, but we have to make this the law. Elected officials ought to follow the rules and be penalized when they don't. Besides, we don't want to have to rely on illegal whistleblowers who might themselves be lying.
[doublepost=1494296015][/doublepost]

What?

Cellebrite is an Israeli firm that specializes in breaking into devices for law enforcement. Now personally I don't like them because they are funded by the Israeli intelligence agency (and you can bet they get a sweet chunk of the black budget from the NSA on consulting), but they aren't "hackers" that the government would be prosecuting because they work for governments.

I'm sure they're ultimately funded by U.S. tax money and just got double paid.

 

[jeremiah256]

No, Apple challenged a lawful court order and would have probably lost in court based on standing legal precedents. The only reason the FBI backed away was because they were able to get into the phone through other means and no longer needed Apples help. Don't kid yourself that this battle over encryption is over. It's not. By Sen. Feinstein's comments, the Congress is in no mood for Apple's BS, and she's not the only one. Congress could easily pass a bill that would compel tech companies to unlock encrypted devices and President Trump would sign it. What will you do then?

1. The DOJ could take Apple to court any time they want to try and force them to provide a backdoor. That wasn't the only unhackable iPhone in their possession. I'm sure they have newer models in their possession right now they'd like to access that aren't vulnerable to the hack they purchased. They don't take Apple to court because they would lose.

2. My Senator (Feinstein) and others can be annoyed by Apple all they want. But, there are enough voices of reason on both sides that know this would be struck down by the Supreme Court, especially this conservative bench. So no, I don't accept your belief that this could easily pass. Nothing controversial easily passes both the House and the Senate.

3. I know the battle for liberty and freedom isn't over. It'll still be going on when I'm dust. In fact, we (fairly) recently went through this with Bill Clinton and the Clipper Chip, where they also wanted to create a backdoor. The response? It never passed and hackers created PGP and other products as a direct response, making law enforcement even harder than it was at that time.

4. If, by some horrific tragedy this does go through, you will see companies in the EU take advantage of the hobbling of American companies. You will see the startup communities in the United States move overseas. You will see the America public, already upset enough to elect a total outsider like President Trump, lose it's freaking mind as unemployment is affected, yet again, by Congress unintentionally creating incentives to leave the US.

5. What will I do personally? Protest. Vote. Support candidates that understand both the Constitution and tech. Maybe even run for office myself.


Edit: Removed a sentence at the bottom that was no longer needed.

 

[darksithpro]

No, Apple challenged a lawful court order and would have probably lost in court based on standing legal precedents. The only reason the FBI backed away was because they were able to get into the phone through other means and no longer needed Apples help. Don't kid yourself that this battle over encryption is over. It's not. By Sen. Feinstein's comments, the Congress is in no mood for Apple's BS, and she's not the only one. Congress could easily pass a bill that would compel tech companies to unlock encrypted devices and President Trump would sign it. What will you do then?

That's a little overly simplistic, and somewhat inaccurate. The inaccurate/accurate part is when the Gov told Apple to unlock the phone and Apple said they couldn't unlock, because they designed the security software with no back-doors, where Apple itself didn't have the master encryption key to decrypt. As explained by Apple, that would mean they would be forced to re-program their OS software to put in a backdoor, where none existed in the first place. You made it sound as if they had the ability to unlock in the first place, in which they didn't.

 

[drewsof07]

Several points here...
Domestic communications do not fall under FISA. (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act)
So no, the FBI cannot get a FISA warrant to read domestic communications.
And there is no way in hell the feds can collect ALL domestic comms. It's physically impossible to collect and store that much information in a database.
The CIA, by it's charter, is forbidden from performing any domestic surveillance. The FBI is the primary agency when it comes to domestic issues.

They don't have to warehouse it, ISPs are doing it for them.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PRISM_(surveillance_program)

 

[CrystalQuest76]

Perhaps something like how much money the government is wasting on wild goose chases shouldn't be classified at all considering we are running a deficit.

If your family members were killed by these criminals you just might feel differently. Investigations after terrorist events have show that that the perpetrators have often had support. It was very reasonable to search for evidence if the San Bernodeno event also had support and prosecute them as well.
I like my privacy, but i want criminals and their support structure in jail and stopped from victimize others.
[doublepost=1494343398][/doublepost]

There was nothing on the phone that they didn't already have.

But the investigators did not know that until they were able to open the device.

 

[CrystalQuest76]

[doublepost=1494280348][/doublepost]Apple didn't want to crack their own encryption thereby allowing access to all iphones. Good for them.

Apple is run as a business. The encryption and security practices the executives are fighting for is to give customers the appearance that the apple product is secure and would make a better purchase than the competing product.
Believe it or not, the average government security worker just does not care what you are doing with your phone. They are idealistic individuals that want to catch bad guys/galls. If they accidentally get your information, they are going to see it's innocent and then they are going to move on to the bad people. And yes there are bad people. We have seen the carnage that they have committed on the news nearly every day.

 

[tgara]

What a misleading statement!!!!!

You sounds like that Apple has the PIN but refused to give it to FBI. The truth is, no one has the PIN. And, FBI used this chance to ask Apple to create a backdoor to all iPhones, which for sure should be rejected, by any company with the slightest bit of commonsense (about how corrupted FBI is) and righteous.

No, it was completely accurate. Apple didn't say they couldn't open the phone. They said they won't unlock the phone. Two very different things. The FBI was investigating a terrorist attack where innocent Americans were killed. Obviously, the death of people in a terrorist doesn't seem to bother you, but it bothers a lot of other people.

 

[tongxinshe]

If your family members were killed by these criminals you just might feel differently. Investigations after terrorist events have show that that the perpetrators have often had support. It was very reasonable to search for evidence if the San Bernodeno event also had support and prosecute them as well.
I like my privacy, but i want criminals and their support structure in jail and stopped from victimize others.
[doublepost=1494343398][/doublepost]
But the investigators did not know that until they were able to open the device.

Yes, for the same reason, all of the people who had contact with San Bernardino should void their privacy and go through thorough mind search, so does their relatives and their relatives. No matter how slightly that possibility you would have finding useful clues over this process, theoretically that possibility still exists.

Oh, by the way, there is an Israeli company sell a “mind search” tool, for $2 billion for every up-to-10 usage. We should definitely fund FBI for buying this tool, with unlimited usage privilege, because we are so rich that we never worry about money.

(Oh, by the way, this Israeli company was originally funded by CIA, but CIA kindly waived the liability. To show their thankfulness, after this company turned profitable, this company gave a list of NSA/CIA/FBI top executives each 1%-5% share of the company’s stock.)

 

[Jimmy James]

Apple is run as a business. The encryption and security practices the executives are fighting for is to give customers the appearance that the apple product is secure and would make a better purchase than the competing product.
Believe it or not, the average government security worker just does not care what you are doing with your phone. They are idealistic individuals that want to catch bad guys/galls. If they accidentally get your information, they are going to see it's innocent and then they are going to move on to the bad people. And yes there are bad people. We have seen the carnage that they have committed on the news nearly every day.

I agree that AAPL's resistance may have merely been a marketing ploy. Nonetheless, they didn't cave.

 

[theelysium]

Since my question was about her comments in the article, I reread it but didn't see anything about a coot or a retirement home anywhere. That's so weird. It's got to be in there somewhere...

.... Phht ok, my reply was hilarious... your retort, nawwwww!

 

[applelover4u]

Wow so iphones are crackable?