Shooter's iPhone Could Harbor 'Dormant Cyber Pathogen', Claims San Bernardino DA

[megadon]

Not sure why the government is making such a big deal out of this. Seems like a waste of time to draw this out in public.

They just need to pass legislation that makes it illegal for apple not to had over the info instead of creating this battle in the public.

The government pretty much can do whatever it wants, if you even look at US patent laws, if you come up with an invention, the US govt has the power to take that patent from you, force you to sign a confidentiality clause, and charge you if you go public with the info regarding your patent.

Apple is fighting this just for PR.

 

[Parasprite]

The fact that we have someone in an official position that still uses the word "cyber" is appalling.

 

[usarioclave]

Damn, the aliens from Independence Day 2 have invaded San Bernadino and have stashed their killer cyber-pathogen on an iPhone!

That's even more reason to just destroy the damn phone now. If you unlock it you'll unleash the alien cyber-pathogen!

 

[2984839]

The fact that we have someone in an official position that still uses the word "cyber" is appalling.

Well, the government's insistence on backdoors already shows they still live in the 90's.

 

[jblagden]

Michael Ramos is not an idiot. Please give this man a break. Phones containing DCP must be destroyed AS, AP.

Then they should just destroy it instead of making such a big deal about it.

 

[mytdave]

Not sure why the government is making such a big deal out of this. Seems like a waste of time to draw this out in public.

They just need to pass legislation that makes it illegal for apple not to had over the info instead of creating this battle in the public.

The government pretty much can do whatever it wants, if you even look at US patent laws, if you come up with an invention, the US govt has the power to take that patent from you, force you to sign a confidentiality clause, and charge you if you go public with the info regarding your patent.

Apple is fighting this just for PR.

You are one of those folks we refer to as a "low information voter" or "useful idiot".

 

[AZREOSpecialist]

It might also contain a magic pumpkin with Cinderella inside...

 

[sehix]

Not sure why the government is making such a big deal out of this. Seems like a waste of time to draw this out in public.

They just need to pass legislation that makes it illegal for apple not to had over the info instead of creating this battle in the public.

The government pretty much can do whatever it wants, if you even look at US patent laws, if you come up with an invention, the US govt has the power to take that patent from you, force you to sign a confidentiality clause, and charge you if you go public with the info regarding your patent.

Apple is fighting this just for PR.

1. Apple can't hand over the contents of the iPhone 5c; they would have to write a tool (in this case, a hacked version of iOS) to do it. There are a couple of Bill of Rights issues at play there.

2. Apparently the government can't get into the phone's hardware, even with the full efforts of the FBI, NSA (according to Director Comey's testimony in front of the Judiciary committee a few days ago), etc. So much for actually doing "whatever it wants". Subverting federal laws is the easy part, then it gets complicated.

3. Apple seems to be expending an awful lot of time, effort and money "just for PR". There certainly do seem to be a lot of amicus briefs being filed in support of Apple's position, and from some unexpected quarters, at that. They seem to see the issue as more than just "Apple PR".

 

[LizKat]

a lot of amicus briefs

Yah. They know it's not about this phone. It's about precedent for forcing the creation of a toolbox.

 

[TsMkLg068426]

So Anthrax in a iPhone? Is Donald Drumpft president already?

 

[bpeeps]

This is just an "attempt" to swing this issue from "its over and done with" to something more sinister like "if we can't access it now, people will die later"....I believe Fox network tried this on the tv show "24".....

I'm screaming from this comment. Ahahaha.

 

[LizKat]

They should wipe it with a cloth.

The Clinton server recipe? Hah, good one!

How I dismiss common pathogens from lettuce is 90 seconds in white vinegar... that would FIX THE PHONE PROBLEM FOR GOOD.

 

[APlotdevice]

I am suddenly reminded of that mid-nineties movie "Hackers".
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It might also contain a magic pumpkin with Cinderella inside...

Oh dear... She shouldn't have been in there after midnight.

 

[Peace]

No need to worry about that pathogen. The San Bernadino county has a crack crew working on it and may have found a way to keep it from being released into the infrastructure.

 

[SeattleMoose]

DORMANT CYBER PATHOGEN!!!

Our self-serving government and their shills continue to show their childish ignorance by making up new terms whose very utterance will turn us (they hope) into obedient pools of jello.

Fear Fear Fear

What next...Appearance on DWTS by Sauron?

 

[JHUFrank]

It could also hold the...
Secrets to Life, the Universe, and Everything (42)
Nuclear Launch Codes (000000000 - Kennedy was afraid that he would forget them)
The lost books of the Bible (What did Moses and Jesus do on their days off?)
The highest word score possible for a good game of Scrabble (No, JXQUIZ isn't a word)
What the San Bernardino terrorists had for lunch that day (wait, that's already on Facebook)
How men can know what women are thinking (If this makes you mad, well, how was I supposed to know?)
The sports scores for every T-Ball game for the next 50 years (Back to the Future reference)
My lost homework from 8th grade (Started a downward trend that kept me off of the volleyball team)

...
***edit*** I will be adding to the list, but it'll be in the same vein...

So this is where Nicolas Cage put the roll of microfiche he found in "The Rock"...

 

[Scarpad]

Next they'll be saying its haunted

 

[lostngone]

If it has a 'Dormant Cyber Pathogen' in it, shouldn't it be immediately destroyed?!?
If it is dormant why risk activating it by poking it.

 

[BruiserBear]

This case is a perfect example of how we've arrived at a point in time where our governments think they have the right to snoop on anything they want to, and track every piece of data they wish to have.

You've got paranoid people in positions of power, and they think they should be able to do anything they want if it's under the umbrella of "keeping people safe". You get the feeling though that it's really just a power trip to some degree. They're told they can't have something, and that just makes them want it more, to the point where they're creating fantasy possibilities like "dormant cyber pathogens".

 

[aaronvan]

When does "Dormant Cyber Pathogen vs. Predator" hit the theaters?

 

[nt5672]

Oh my, that just nails it, this phone is really just tooooo dangerous to let anyone's rights get in the way. Lets all just abdicate our privacy to the DAs of the world, the FBIs of the world, the NSAs of the world, they'll protect us.

 

[laurim]

"dormant cyber pathogen"

Sounds like an STD the Terminator would get

 

[techwhiz]

This District Attorney is in need of an enema from Harvey Specter!

I love the "Suits" reference.
"Dormant Cyber Pathogen"? Too bizarre to be made up.
Talk about reaching. Sheesh...... SMH!
[doublepost=1457120288][/doublepost]

Not sure why the government is making such a big deal out of this. Seems like a waste of time to draw this out in public.

They just need to pass legislation that makes it illegal for apple not to had over the info instead of creating this battle in the public.

The government pretty much can do whatever it wants, if you even look at US patent laws, if you come up with an invention, the US govt has the power to take that patent from you, force you to sign a confidentiality clause, and charge you if you go public with the info regarding your patent.

Apple is fighting this just for PR.

You don't get it.
Apple can't just "hand over" the the info.
Apple can't get the info without inventing something that does not currently exist.

 

[JohnGrey]

I'll give the county a pass. They have only been acting on the instructions of their big boss the FBI.

That excuse didn't work at Nuremberg and it doesn't work now. Their responsibility in securing the rights of their constituents is no less incumbent on them because those at a higher level of government don't have the desire to do so.
[doublepost=1457122178][/doublepost]

This smacks of desperation...

That's precisely what it is. In every instance where the goal of the government has been to introduce or expand an overreach into our civil rights, it is always framed in increasingly apocalyptic rhetoric until they receive capitulation. Recall when TARP failed to pass the first time, the heads of the big banks and regulatory agencies met with the Bush administration and said that there would be tanks in the street by week's end if they didn't pass it. Instead of doing the proper thing, which was to jail them for terroristic threatening, they capitulated. No surprise they're attempting to use a tactic that has work so famously for them.

 

[KALLT]

This is just like watching all those TV series on TV where the government agencies talk tech ...... A combination of really cool sounding words that mean nothing....

Indeed. Like this one.