iPhone hacking coming to a police department near you

Remember how the FBI needed to hack into an iPhone “just this once” because of terrorism. Well, now that the agency figured out how to break into the device, it’s ready to share its new skill with cops throughout the nation.

Last week, FBI officials announced they were dropping the agency’s court battle with Apple because with the help of another party investigators were able to pull data from the iPhone of San Bernardino gunman Syed Farook.

Almost immediately, requests for help breaking into iPhones began flowing into the agency from police departments throughout the nation.

As The Guardian reported Friday:

The FBI now faces a series of tough questions after it announced to the world that it has a technique for hacking into Farook’s iPhone – something Apple says shouldn’t be possible on current models without a user’s passcode. Naturally, a lot of other people – from local police to parents – say they could benefit from the technology.

The technique is a closely guarded secret at FBI headquarters. It probably relies on a security flaw in Apple’s mobile operating system. Because of that, the bureau realizes that the more widely it’s shared, the more likely Apple could learn about the technique and patch it.

Such a calculus can be hard to fathom for people who just want access to a locked iPhone. A father in Italy is asking Apple to unlock his dead son’s phone – so he can reminisce through his son’s stored pictures – or he will try to find whatever tool the FBI used. On Wednesday, a local prosecutor in Arkansas told the Associated Press that the bureau had agreed to share its technique with him in a murder case involving an iPhone and an iPod.

And the FBI is signaling that it plans to continue working with law enforcement to crack iPhones because “the absence of lawful, critical investigative tools due to the ‘Going Dark’ problem is a substantial state and local law enforcement challenge.”

“As has been our longstanding policy, the FBI will of course consider any tool that might be helpful to our partners,” the agency said in a letter sent to local police throughout the nation. “Please know that we will continue to do everything we can to help you consistent with our legal and policy constraints.”

The post iPhone hacking coming to a police department near you appeared first on Personal Liberty®.

from PropagandaGuard https://propagandaguard.wordpress.com/2016/04/04/iphone-hacking-coming-to-a-police-department-near-you/

from WordPress https://toddmsiebert.wordpress.com/2016/04/04/iphone-hacking-coming-to-a-police-department-near-you/