Turkish authorities seeking Apple's help to unlock iPhone 4s found on assassin
Following the assassination of the Russian ambassador to Turkey, Apple has reportedly been asked to unlock the shooter's iPhone 4s recovered after the gunfight for more information regarding the man, and insight on his colleagues.
According to MacReports, the iPhone 4s owned by the killer is protected by a four-digit passcode, and will be scavenged for potential co-conspirators to the shooting that garnered international attention, and drew parallels by media to the start of World War I. Reportedly, attempts to penetrate the device have been unsuccessful by local law enforcement.
It is unknown what path Apple will take regarding the request, but given history the company is expected to refuse to help the situation beyond providing whatever resides in any iCloud backup. Also unknown is what version of the iOS the device is running.
Regardless, the Russian government is reportedly sending a technical team to assist with the unlock effort.
The request on the surface is similar to that made by the FBI demanding that Apple assist in penetrating the San Bernardino shooters' county-owned iPhone 5c. Neither phone contains Apple's "secure enclave" which debuted with the iPhone 5s A7 chip.
Ultimately, the FBI obtained the help of a third party at exorbitant cost, thought to be Israeli company Cellebrite, but also rumored to be a vague group of "grey-hat" hackers. No useful data linking the San Bernardino shooters to other suspects or deeper ties to terrorist organizations was discovered.
According to MacReports, the iPhone 4s owned by the killer is protected by a four-digit passcode, and will be scavenged for potential co-conspirators to the shooting that garnered international attention, and drew parallels by media to the start of World War I. Reportedly, attempts to penetrate the device have been unsuccessful by local law enforcement.
It is unknown what path Apple will take regarding the request, but given history the company is expected to refuse to help the situation beyond providing whatever resides in any iCloud backup. Also unknown is what version of the iOS the device is running.
Regardless, the Russian government is reportedly sending a technical team to assist with the unlock effort.
The request on the surface is similar to that made by the FBI demanding that Apple assist in penetrating the San Bernardino shooters' county-owned iPhone 5c. Neither phone contains Apple's "secure enclave" which debuted with the iPhone 5s A7 chip.
Ultimately, the FBI obtained the help of a third party at exorbitant cost, thought to be Israeli company Cellebrite, but also rumored to be a vague group of "grey-hat" hackers. No useful data linking the San Bernardino shooters to other suspects or deeper ties to terrorist organizations was discovered.
Comments
This was clearly an inhumane act and it is possibly they can help.
Apples conflict with the FBI had to do with a demand to help, possibly backed up by the law.
This is a request, if I understand correctly, so Apple will help I think.
But it might be a good idea to investigate whether it was (gross) negligence on the recruiting and/or psychological support part.
I cannot obviously think of all the organizational structures and process for such a group, but I would envisage it as being mostly funded by Apple, and will probably have a separate board and oversight process. I am sure better minds than mine can think up more sensible and substantive structures that simultaneously combine integrity, respect for privacy, and the ability to deal with the case-by-case read-offs between privacy and security.
I think it would be real innovation, and one that shareholders would gladly support. Think of it as part of the ecosystem that Apple offers. It would not be that different from Apple's investments in environmental and supplier responsibility. Think of it as investments in "security and privacy responsibility" that makes the company's products and services more attractive in the consumers' minds.
Time for Apple and Tim Cook to sign the Sokovia Accords.
In Soviet Russia, your B finds *you*.
The fact is that if Apple is telling the truth, they have no way of breaking into the phone, EXCEPT for downloading a new OS to the phone that doesn't have a limit on the number of password tries. But aside from that, there's supposedly nothing they can really do.
Rather than going after Apple, let the authorities go to their own courts and get permission to force the phone's owner to use their finger. If their own courts deny that because it's an infringement of civil liberties or constitutional rights, then why should Apple help?
In New York City, the Manhattan D.A. has several hundred phones he wants Apple to break into. Where does it stop? If there isn't any other evidence tying someone to a crime, then they've got a very weak case. And if there is other evidence, let them convict on that.
Also, why aren't the FBI offering to assist with the solution they have to the San Bernardino phone? It would earn them and the US government a lot of goodwill in both Turkey and Russia to at least offer to help out.
I have no idea whose life is worth more, when, why, or how. That's the kind of thing that courts and lawyers and ethicists are paid to do all the time.
And, nobody is "going after Apple." In fact, it would be a way to forestall that.
Why do they need to unlock his phone? So they can find out that he's a radicalized Islamist being influenced by other radical Islamists? Let me save you the trouble.