Published in Mobiles

FBI cracked iPhone

by on29 March 2016


And the Tame Apple Press said it was impossible

All those people who claimed that Apple's "superior, super, cool security" was impossible to crack woke up to a dose of reality this morning when the FBI said it had managed to do it, and did not need Jobs' Mob's help.

For those who came in late, the FBI asked Apple for help cracking into the iPhone of a terrorist mass-murderer and Apple said no. Apparently Apple said that would set a dangerious precedent, which was even more dangerious than one of the shooter's mates going on a killing spree.

Even if it wanted too, Apple said, it was impossible to crack the iPhone's superior security without creating a different version of the iOS which had all the security features removed. Apple said it did not want the government to have such a tool at its disposal because it would effectively breach its users privacy.  The FBI got a court order and Apple still said no. 

However no one in the press ever questioned three fundemental flaws in the Apple court case. No-one in the security industry thought for a moment that Apple needed to rewrite the iOS to crack the phone, the iPhone security system has holes which can and have been exploited and lastly the FBI wanted the data from one user, it did not want a backdoor into the iPhone.

If Apple did not help, then all the FBI had to do was find a security company which knew of a flaw in the iOS which would fit its problem. What happened was that one of Apple's partners Cellebrite cracked the phone for the FBI.  

The government asked a federal judge to vacate a disputed order forcing Apple to help the FBI break into the iPhone, saying it was no longer necessary. 

What then became amusing was seeing the amount of butt hurt among the Tame Apple Press which had been told by Apple that it had the best security in the world and was uncrackable without rewriting the operating system. 

Time magazine really could not believe that Apple’s security really was that pants when “Apple has invested millions of dollars to build into its flagship product?”  

“The surprise development also punctured the temporary perception that Apple’s security might have been good enough to keep consumers’ personal information safe even from the U.S. government — with the tremendous resources it can expend when it wants to uncover something,” moaned Time.

Apple did its best to patch up the silly situation it had created. It issued a statement claiming that the FBI should never have gone to court demanding its help. As we pointed out before, the entire fiasco has given the FBI a backdoor into any iPhone it wants.  All it has to do is pay a security company a few thousand dollars. 

 

 

Last modified on 29 March 2016
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