FBI agrees to help crack iPhone 6 and iPod tied to Arkansas murder trial, but method unknown
The Federal Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday agreed to assist prosecutors in unlocking an iPhone 6 and iPod linked to an Arkansas murder trial, but whether the agency is is leveraging its newfound iPhone exploit is unclear. in cases beyond San Bernardino.
According to Arkansas prosecuting attorney Cody Hiland, the FBI's Little Rock field office offered to lend a hand in accessing two Apple devices owned by two suspects on trial for the double homicide of Robert and Patricia Cogdell, reports the Los Angeles Times.
The agreement comes just two days after the Department of Justice announced it successfully extracted data from an iPhone 5c used by San Bernardino terror suspect Syed Rizwan Farook. Federal prosecutors consequently withdrew a motion to compel Apple's assistance in unlocking Farook's phone. Apple was resisting the court order, saying at the time it was unwilling to create a software workaround as it would weaken the security of millions of iOS devices around the world.
It is unclear if the FBI plans to apply the same exploit in the Arkansas case. The target iPhone is two generations removed from Farook's iPhone 5c, meaning it not only came stock with iOS 8, but also contains hardware protection in a secure enclave embedded into the A8 processor.
Also unknown is the operating system version running on each of the target devices. Apple introduced iPhone 6 alongside iOS 8, one of the first versions to feature end-to-end encryption. The iPod model was not immediately made public, but is presumably an iPod touch running some iteration of iOS.
"The iPod had just come into our possession a couple of weeks ago," Hiland said. "Obviously when we heard that [the FBI] had been able to crack that phone we wanted to at least ask and see if they wanted to help."
Prosecutors on Tuesday requested trial proceedings be delayed as they sought FBI assistance. That same day, Deputy Prosecutor Hugh Finkelstein told the Associated Press that murder suspect Justin Staton had used the iPod to discuss the homicide. Finkelstein believes there might be more evidence on the device.
Technical limitations aside, the FBI likely wants to protect its hard-won iPhone exploit from going public. That the agency would apply the workaround to find justice in an Arkansas murder case seems suspect.
An official, who spoke with the L.A. Times under conditions of anonymity, said the FBI was unlikely to use the San Bernardino forensics tool in a case resulting in criminal prosecutions because it would then be open to discovery at trial. Once made public, the vulnerability would likely be patched by Apple, making it much less valuable to law enforcement agencies.
According to Arkansas prosecuting attorney Cody Hiland, the FBI's Little Rock field office offered to lend a hand in accessing two Apple devices owned by two suspects on trial for the double homicide of Robert and Patricia Cogdell, reports the Los Angeles Times.
The agreement comes just two days after the Department of Justice announced it successfully extracted data from an iPhone 5c used by San Bernardino terror suspect Syed Rizwan Farook. Federal prosecutors consequently withdrew a motion to compel Apple's assistance in unlocking Farook's phone. Apple was resisting the court order, saying at the time it was unwilling to create a software workaround as it would weaken the security of millions of iOS devices around the world.
It is unclear if the FBI plans to apply the same exploit in the Arkansas case. The target iPhone is two generations removed from Farook's iPhone 5c, meaning it not only came stock with iOS 8, but also contains hardware protection in a secure enclave embedded into the A8 processor.
Also unknown is the operating system version running on each of the target devices. Apple introduced iPhone 6 alongside iOS 8, one of the first versions to feature end-to-end encryption. The iPod model was not immediately made public, but is presumably an iPod touch running some iteration of iOS.
"The iPod had just come into our possession a couple of weeks ago," Hiland said. "Obviously when we heard that [the FBI] had been able to crack that phone we wanted to at least ask and see if they wanted to help."
Prosecutors on Tuesday requested trial proceedings be delayed as they sought FBI assistance. That same day, Deputy Prosecutor Hugh Finkelstein told the Associated Press that murder suspect Justin Staton had used the iPod to discuss the homicide. Finkelstein believes there might be more evidence on the device.
Technical limitations aside, the FBI likely wants to protect its hard-won iPhone exploit from going public. That the agency would apply the workaround to find justice in an Arkansas murder case seems suspect.
An official, who spoke with the L.A. Times under conditions of anonymity, said the FBI was unlikely to use the San Bernardino forensics tool in a case resulting in criminal prosecutions because it would then be open to discovery at trial. Once made public, the vulnerability would likely be patched by Apple, making it much less valuable to law enforcement agencies.
Comments
[edit: this is a bad joke. The FBI made a huge deal about Farook's work phone like unlocking it would bring world peace or something]
Apple should have every right to know how the FBI pulled data from their products and IP.
If the FBI isn't bluffing and refuse to tell Apple how they exploited the OS, Apple can tighten security even more and when the FBI asks how they can get in tell them "we won't tell you".
The FBI trying to force Apple to write code is wrong on oh sooo many levels. The FBI learning tech and how to break it is good on so many levels.
BTW The "end world hunger" reference was a bad joke. I only said it because the FBI made it seem like unlocking Farook's work phone would bring world peace or something.
This brings up an interesting question for me. WHAT exactly did they "extract" from the phone?
Theyre being super vague and it could mean anything. Could just be call history and they're being passive aggressive to make Apple look inferior.
I read that if the DOJ pursues the NY case, where Apple is being asked to unlock a 5S belonging to an alleged drug dealer, Apple could find out the method that the FBI used to unlock the 5C.
Apple claims that the same method the FBI used in the 5C case can be used to unlock the 5S in question. If the method cannot be used, according to Apple's filing:
"If the DOJ claims that the method will not work on the iPhone here, Apple will seek to test that claim, as well as any claims by the government that other methods cannot be used"
Source: Macworld.
I agree, the whole thing is fishy!
You k ow what really scares me? One can imagine all kinds of dirty deals and evil plans, but they're very likely easily exceeded by reality.
I suspect you're hearing about this now because the press is publicizing it now after the recent Apple/FBI news to help make money for the news agencies. But I guess that doesn't play into your conspiracy theories.
Your 2nd sentence doesn't make sense. There is no questionnaire provided to potential iPhone buyers to see if they have anything to hide. There are no security checks. Either all iPhones out for sale are secure or they are not.
Every single government agency would love to have all the information they can get on their citizens. This is true for the NSA, FBI, IRS etc. True for every country all over the world. It is up to us, the citizens, to hold our politicians feet to the fire and demand more transparency. It is up to us to stay informed and to make proper decisions when voting for the next representative. You give it to them and they're going to take it. This transcends political parties, left right, liberal conservative, etc.
You think it beyond the realms of possibility that deals like this can (and do) occur on a daily basis in the world of politics?
You're probably right.
If there's anything life has taught us it's that government servants and officials are utterly trustworthy, are of outstanding moral character, and never hold grudges.