The head-on collision between Apple ‘s FBI for the release of’ iPhone of one of those responsible for the massacre of San Bernardino has had in recent days a twist: the Bureau announced that it had perhaps found thanks to external collaborators, the method to circumvent the security of the device without the need of the bitten apple house. What has been some interest, giving rise to a question: who is helping the FBI?
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in fact it is hard to believe that, in the United States or anywhere else in the world, there of hackers eager to lend a hand to the FBI, in this or other cases . More likely this help is coming from some companies specialized in the field of information security: According to a report appeared in recent hours on the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth citing the usual anonymous well-informed sources, the company in question could be the Cellebrite .
This is a company based in Petah Tikva, specializing in the development of technologies that enable the police to the extraction of data from electronic devices . Cellebrite is a trusted partner of the US government, according to the database of federal contracts, the Israeli company closed several contracts with various agencies, 198 of which with only the FBI for orders of at least two million dollars.
it’s not all: the last of these agreements concerning the unspecified “Information Technology Software”, was signed on March 21 this year, a few hours before the FBI communicated to the district court of California the opportunity to have found a method to access the iPhone Syed Farook without the intervention of Apple. Case solved, then? Not necessarily.
First, the contract in question has a value of only $ 15,278.02 (approximately EUR 13,675): This is a fee rather poor for what is undoubtedly a ‘particularly complex operation . Moreover, as the main place of performance that will be provided is indicated Chicago, not San Bernardino.
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the FBI declined to comment on these rumors, while Cellebrite has not responded to requests for information of our UK edition . However, an Israeli company executive gave an interview to Haaretz that does nothing but increase the uncertainty: “The level of complexity [the iPhone] release is exponential and is at a point where it is becoming difficult. But if anyone can do it, that’s us, “said executive vice president Leeor Ben-Peretz. A statement that can mean everything and nothing.
Some people believe that these rumors may just be an attempt to Cellebrite to get free advertising . As everything is possible, it seems unlikely: the companies operating in this sector, though often unknown to the general public, are well known to those in need of their services, or government agencies. The hundreds of contracts closed with only the US government are there to prove it, not to mention that the Israeli company claims to sell its products in over 100 countries around the world.
At the time, name Cellebrite is the only emerged among the potential “helpers” FBI , then Israeli society is inevitably the “number one suspect”, being the only one. Indeed they will be to provide its own contribution to the Bureau to unlock the iPhone 5c Farook? Undoubtedly you can, but we do not scommetteremmo lightly our last euro.
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Another question that at the time they are enthusing many people is what could be the method that will be tested to unlock the iPhone killer . Clues about are not many: FBI Director James Comey, during a hearing in Congress he said he was confident that government experts have considered all the options available before making the request to Apple. Which means that the procedure that will be tested is not one of the more obvious that could be used in these cases.
According to Jonathan Zdziarski, computer scientist in the forensic field, difficlmente may be a highly experimental method , since the FBI has asked the court just two weeks before providing an update on the tests (the next hearing was set for April 5).
The method according to the most plausible time Zdziarski is the so-called “chip cloning” . The procedure involves melting soldered NAND (flash memory) from the iPhone card and insert it into a card reader to save into a file all data from the memory chip but also the the memory chips, such as its serial number. This data would then be copied back to a similar chip, which would be in effect a clone of the original.
Zdziarski compares this method to Super Mario Bros : The most annoying thing for those who used the original version of the game with the Nintendo console was the inability to save (memory cards would arrive later).
“This technique is how to save the game, allowing you to play the same level again and even after he died, “says the computer. “ Only instead of playing, they are trying different combinations password. It is possible they made the hardware modifications to their test devices to add an outlet, which would allow him to quickly replace the chip, or they are using hardware to simulate the presence of this chip so they do not even replace it. “
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