encrypted iPhone, Apple says no to the backdoor sought by the FBI – Tom’s Hardware

Apple will oppose with all the forces of the judiciary prompted to create a backdoor to allow the FBI to circumvent the encryption system used on the iPhone. According to CEO Tim Cook would be. “Dangerous precedent”

 
 

Yesterday, the judge who investigates the ‘ attack in San Bernardino (California) has accepted the request of the prosecution and ordered Apple to help the FBI to access the contents of the iPhone 5 one of those responsible. The story is well known: the December 2 Rizwan Syed Farook and his wife Tashfeen Malik attacked the Inland center during a Christmas party, killing 14 people.

 
 
 
 

The bottom line is that Apple devices are protected by a system password allows only 10 attempts to access (before deleting any data) and then – given the level of encryption – the “brute force” technique makes it extremely complicated. In short, even a software system that test more combinations to access the terminal would take too long to locate the correct code.

 
 

The federal judge has asked Apple to provide technical assistance to:

 
 

• circumvent or disable the Auto Erase function

 

• give the FBI a mode of access to the terminal via physical port, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or other protocol to enter the access code

 

• ensure that once inserted the codes do not become active systems that limit the attempts

 

A few hours ago Apple has released an official statement signed by Tim Cook , which reaffirms the strong opposition to the order of the judge. “For years, we use encryption to protect the personal data of our customers because we believe it is the only way to keep your information secure,” says the CEO. “ We put the data out of our control , because we believe that the contents of your iPhone are none of our business.”

 
 

Apple collaborated from the start with the investigators: “When the FBI asked us the data in our possession we supplied them,” continues the statement. “Apple has made adjustments to the legitimate requests for evidence (subpoena) and searches [...] we also made available to our engineers FBI, offered some of our best ideas on a number of investigative possibilities.”

 
 

In short, the company seems to have done everything possible within the law . But now the FBI would want it to be a new version of the operating system, that bypasses several security features, and was installed on the specific iPhone found to unlock access.

 
 
 
 

“In the wrong hands, this software – which no longer exists – potentially would be able to unlock any iPhone “. According to Apple would be a permanent instrument of backdoors, which could be used not only once but many times and on any model.

 
 

What’s more – says Apple – it would be a law forcing because the FBI is apparently trying to “expand his authority” by exploiting All Writs Act of 1789. In short, it would be a ploy to circumvent the rules laid down by Congress and pave the way to a widespread invasion of privacy.

 
 

“While we believe that the FBI’s intentions are good, it would be wrong for the government to force us to build a backdoor into our products,” yet says Cook. “And in the end we are afraid that this request would undermine the very freedom that our government wants to protect.”