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beltsbear said:

suddenly newton said:

It sounds like Apple is being asked to install software that prevents the built-in code that auto-deletes/destroys the phone's content when too many bad password are attempted (brute force attack).

In other words, it will give the FBI an unlimited  number of password retries.

To paraphrase Mission Impossible:
"This phone will self-destruct in 5 seconds."

Apple can sort of do this with specialized tools.  The phone memory can be imaged.  Then a new phone with the same serial numbers and other parameters can run that copy and do a few tries.  It would be labor intensive but the limited retries can be gotten around by extreme measures. 

I don't think so. Apple uses a dedicated chip to store and process the encryption. They call this the Secure Enclave. The secure enclave stores a full 256-bit AES encryption key.

Within the secure enclave itself, you have the device's Unique ID (UID) . The only place this information is stored is within the secure enclave. It can't be queried or accessed from any other part of the device or OS. Within the phone's processor you also have the device's Group ID (GID). Both of these numbers combine to create 1/2 of the encryption key. These are numbers that are burned into the silicon, aren't accessible outside of the chips themselves, and aren't recorded anywhere once they are burned into the silicon. Apple doesn't keep records of these numbers. Since these two different pieces of hardware combine together to make 1/2 of the encryption key, you can't separate the secure enclave from it's paired processor.

The second half of the encryption key is generated using a random number generator chip. It creates entropy using the various sensors on the iPhone itself during boot (microphone, accelerometer, camera, etc.) This part of the key is stored within the Secure Enclave as well, where it resides and doesn't leave. This storage is tamper resistant and can't be accessed outside of the encryption system. Even if the UID and GID components of the encryption key are compromised on Apple's end, it still wouldn't be possible to decrypt an iPhone since that's only 1/2 of the key.

The secure enclave is part of an overall hardware based encryption system that completely encrypts all of the user storage. It will only decrypt content if provided with the unlock code. The unlock code itself is entangled with the device's UDID so that all attempts to decrypt the storage must be done on the device itself. You must have all 3 pieces present: The specific secure enclave, the specific processor of the iphone, and the flash memory that you are trying to decrypt. Basically, you can't pull the device apart to attack an individual piece of the encryption or get around parts of the encryption storage process. You can't run the decryption or brute forcing of the unlock code in an emulator. It requires that the actual hardware components are present and can only be done on the specific device itself.

The secure enclave also has hardware enforced time-delays and key-destruction. You can set the phone to wipe the encryption key (and all the data contained on the phone) after 10 failed attempts. If you have the data-wipe turned on, then the secure enclave will nuke the key that it stores after 10 failed attempts, effectively erasing all the data on the device. Whether the device-wipe feature is turned on or not, the secure enclave still has a hardware-enforced delay between attempts at entering the code: Attempts 1-4 have no delay, Attempt 5 has a delay of 1 minute. Attempt 6 has a delay of 5 minutes. Attempts 7 and 8 have a delay of 15 minutes. And attempts 9 or more have a delay of 1 hour. This delay is enforced by the secure enclave and can not be bypassed, even if you completely replace the operating system of the phone itself. If you have a 6-digit pin code, it will take, on average, nearly 6 years to brute-force the code. 4-digit pin will take almost a year. if you have an alpha-numeric password the amount of time required could extend beyond the heat-death of the universe. Key destruction is turned on by default.

Even if you pull the flash storage out of the device, image it, and attempt to get around key destruction that way it won't be successful. The key isn't stored in the flash itself, it's only stored within the secure enclave itself which you can't remove the storage from or image it.

Each boot, the secure enclave creates it's own temporary encryption key, based on it's own UID and random number generator with proper entropy, that it uses to store the full device encryption key in ram. Since the encryption key is also stored in ram encrypted, it can't simply be read out of the system memory by reading the RAM bus.

The only way I can possibly see to potentially unlock the phone without the unlock code is to use an electron microscope to read the encryption key from the secure enclave's own storage. This would take considerable time and expense (likely millions of dollars and several months) to accomplish. This also assumes that the secure enclave chip itself isn't built to be resistant to this kind of attack. The chip could be physically designed such that the very act of exposing the silicon to read it with an electron microscope could itself be destructive.

It comes down to: "Do you want to allow criminals to access your iPhone so that law enforcement can also access a criminal's iPhone?" I certainly don't.

The feds would get further doing some social engineering on the guy, or building one of these.

FileMakerFeller said:

Why are they not also going after Sony and other platforms that charge 30%?

Sony allows transactions to bypass their store, mostly because Sony sells and makes more money from the platform & installed player-base rather than singular companies and services. i.e, Sony gets their $60 through the player buying PSN+.

auxio said:

Granted, you couldn't see a biased statement if it smacked you in the face.
Please define good.  Seems like his definition is whatever fits his little corner of the universe.  Maybe he needs to get out and interact with average people more to realize that he's in a very niche group, and demanding that the world bend to his will by spouting insults just makes him seem like an immature child.

The guy's being purposefully antagonistic. It's like complaining that a Lambo is shit because it can't go offroad; different computers have different purposes.

The annoying this isn he isn't wrong, but If he worded himself slightly differently I'd have a touch more respect for the statements. No mac line is a gaming powerhouse.

Epic: Please lower your cut for our games
Apple: No

Facebook: Please allow us to spy on your users
Apple: Sure

Good, and should take it a step further and block/ban the platform. Couldn't give a shit what happens to Facebook.

SpamSandwich said:

According to Wikipedia coverage, Sweeney owns something less than 50% of the company and “Tencent” holds 40% (Tencent is a China-based company that owns “WeChat”, which is one of the apps to be banned from the US).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epic_Games

Sounds like with the large China part ownership of the company, they could be a national security risk and they need to be banned from US app stores anyway.

Should this also extend to League of Legends, Call of Duty, Clash of Clans (et. all), World of Warcraft, PUBG, AMC cinemas, GE Appliances and Legendary Pictures?

tht said:

Red switches tend to have the quietest click and a soft key press during typing, while blue switches tend to be the loudest and require more force to depress the keys. Brown switches fall in the middle of the other two switch types offered.

What’s the buckling action like at the end of the key stroke, between these key types?

I like a light stroke combined with a clear buckling action and noise at the end of the stroke. I’m one of the few people who like the butterfly keys over the scissors keys on Apple’s laptops. The scissors key are a little mushy and a soft buckling imo while the butterfly keys have a clearer buckling action I like. 

I like the butterflies too, feels rare to find someone that does.

But if you're that picky about keys - I'd recommend just buying your own switches, making some custom caps and building your own keyboard. Once you've done it once you won't go back.

ericthehalfbee said:

Please provide me with a list of manufacturers and the actual reported sales numbers (or shipments if you wish) for each.

Instead f shouting about how you don't like a source because it disagrees with you, do you have a source to counter them?

franklinjackcon said:

fallenjt said:

Lucky I don't use dropbox. I can't trust any cloud beside Apple iCloud.

If you use icloud, you're trusting the clouds of Amazon, MS and Google too as that's where your data sits.

iCloud is a combination of Amazon and Microsoft services, Dropbox is exclusively Amazon.

sflocal said:

Blaster said:

I didn't know Amazon Web Services had OS X Server available.

Is Apple even using OS X Server for any serious, heavy-duty back-end stuff?  

No, OSX server simply doesn't have the support or capabilities that Windows or Linux/Unix-based server farm is capable of. There's a tremendous amount of money from various companies that cumulatively far outweigh the entire worth of Apple that go into Developing Linux/Unix-based server solutions, and judging by Apple's job postings, that's exactly what the bulk of Apple's servers are.

From 2011: Steve Jobs showed pictures inside of a Datacentre. There's brief analysis there, and that's a lot of HP hardware.