FBI Hacks Terrorist’s iPhone Without Apple

Hopefully the FBI got/gets the information that they needed off the iPhone they cracked.

The FBI say’s they’ve been able to use a ‘new’ method to get into the iPhone in question and then dropped the court battle.  They no longer need the assistance of Apple to make a back door.
The Justice Department withdrew its legal action against Apple after a method brought to the FBI earlier this month by an unidentified entity allowed investigators to crack the security function without erasing contents of the iPhone used by Syed Farook, who with his wife, Tashfeen Malik, carried out the December mass shooting in San Bernardino that left 14 dead.
The government maintained it was looking for access to one phone, but Apple countered that asking for a code that could access the iPhone 5c would create a backdoor to all such devices that was exploitable by other entities.

“This case should never have been brought,” Apple said in a statement released late Monday. “We will continue to help law enforcement with their investigations, as we have done all along, and we will continue to increase the security of our products as the threats and attacks on our data become more frequent and more sophisticated. … This case raised issues which deserve a national conversation about our civil liberties, and our collective security and privacy.”

n its two-page filing in a California magistrate’s court, the government noted that due to outside assistance it “no longer requires the assistance from Apple Inc.” Justice spokeswoman Melanie Newman said the FBI is reviewing the contents of the phone as “consistent with standard investigatory procedures,” and that “we will continue to pursue all available options for this mission, including seeking the cooperation of manufacturers and relying upon the creativity of both the public and private sectors.”

I am happy to see the FBI was able to pull this off without opening a huge privacy issue.  This shows the public a lot of things.  It proves they’re good at what they do and they can continue to find ways to innovate and keep up with changing times.  Hopefully they get the information that they needed off this phone, that was never what a lot of us wanted to keep from happening.  We just didn’t like how they were going about trying to get into the phone.  I’m certainly glad they used an exploit to get into the phone over needing a special  bureaucracy door.  It keeps them accountable and we’re not just signing over more freedoms for an ever expanding need.  Giving things to the government is different than having them just find a way to get it what they need.  It’s a strange way to look at it, and one I can’t really convey very well.

I believe a sincere congrats to the FBI is in order!  Congrats guys!

 

 

 

 

Eddie Dounn

Web developer by day. Enthusiast by night. Owner of VAZED

17 thoughts on “FBI Hacks Terrorist’s iPhone Without Apple

  • March 29, 2016 at 7:04 pm
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    A scare thought coming out of this is that FBI is now capable of hacking into our phones regardless how sophiscated phone manufacturers or operating system providers claim their security technology is.

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  • March 29, 2016 at 7:23 pm
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    Good for the FBI hopefully it will lead to the tracking down of other terrorist before more Americans die

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  • March 30, 2016 at 1:05 am
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    According to Apple if that one cell was hacked then all iphones are useless….Atleast that was their argument…

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  • March 30, 2016 at 1:59 am
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    If apple was smart they should have unlocked it not let fbi hack into it. Now government. Knows how to get into any apple cells next isis will have the hack down to since osluma feeds them guns n cash

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  • March 30, 2016 at 2:17 am
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    I’m skeptical of magic tricks. My thinking is the FBI and Apple made a deal and used the third party story to cover their tracks.
    Whatever. They got in.

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  • March 30, 2016 at 6:56 am
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    Ummm they hacked the 5c. Exactly the same specs as the 5. The 5s and newer I bet they can’t just Crack. Even if they bypass the the 10 attempts the processor will only allow 1 attempt an hour. It would still take a few hundred years to Crack the phone by brute forcing it.

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  • March 30, 2016 at 11:59 am
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    I’m sure that the FBI could do it the entire time, and already had cracked the iPhone before contacting Apple. Apple was contacted (as they had done numerous times in the past) in order to insure that the data would be admissible. This time Apple was trying to save face after it went public.

    Look…there are a bunch of kids out there who can hack your phone easily. I’m sure the FBI has someone who can, too…

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  • March 30, 2016 at 1:16 pm
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    So basically if the government disapproves of any aspect of your personal activities then they can marginalize you by calling you a terrorist and justify doing whatever they want to.

    Oh well he’s a “terrorist” so it’s OK to violate HIS rights.

    Those who trade liberty for security will have neither. The 9/11 attackers achieved their goal with the passage of the Patriot Act.

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  • March 30, 2016 at 2:18 pm
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    So glad the fbi finally hacked the phone ! Personally it was pretty sad that apple wouldnt do it fu!k thier reasons when lives are on the line ( AMERICAN LIVES ) they shouldve done it ! Suppose AMERICAN TROOPS REFUSED TO DEFEND YOUR ASS because they felt police should do it . Plus not being able to open a iphone made our whole US security force look stupid ! But they say our nuclar missiles are secure really and your techs tell you this but a phone is too high tech hahahahaha

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  • March 30, 2016 at 3:23 pm
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    Doing it without a warrant can mean any evidence gathered as a result of this hack can’t be used against them.

    Reply

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