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Apple Deluged By Police Demands To Decrypt iPhones
New submitter ukemike points out an article at CNET reporting on a how there's a "waiting list" for Apple to decypt iPhones seized by various law enforcement agencies. This suggests two important issues: first, that Apple is apparently both capable of and willing to help with these requests, and second, that there are too many of them for the company to process as they come in. From the article:
"Court documents show that federal agents were so stymied by the encrypted iPhone 4S of a Kentucky man accused of distributing crack cocaine that they turned to Apple for decryption help last year.
An agent at the ATF, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, 'contacted Apple to obtain assistance in unlocking the device,' U.S. District Judge Karen Caldwell wrote in a recent opinion. But, she wrote, the ATF was 'placed on a waiting list by the company.' A search warrant affidavit prepared by ATF agent Rob Maynard says that, for nearly three months last summer, he "attempted to locate a local, state, or federal law enforcement agency with the forensic capabilities to unlock' an iPhone 4S. But after each police agency responded by saying they 'did not have the forensic capability,' Maynard resorted to asking Cupertino. Because the waiting list had grown so long, there would be at least a 7-week delay, Maynard says he was told by Joann Chang, a legal specialist in Apple's litigation group. It's unclear how long the process took, but it appears to have been at least four months."
You're kidding, right? The real issue is that Apple has a backdoor to decrypt its customers' private information. That is outrageous.
It is irrelevant how much Apple spends to operate that backdoor.
You understand that in this case the police HAD a warrant. What's your complaint?
You're kidding, right? The real issue is that Apple has a backdoor to decrypt its customers' private information. That is outrageous.
It would be, were that the case. But it's all but certainly not. There's no way Apple would put an actual back door into their products.
If you had read the article, you'd notice that the process takes four months. If they had a back door, it would take a few minutes. Also, had you read the article, you'd notice that Google will reset the password and send that to law enforcement.
But I'm sure that's not outrageous. Lol!
It is irrelevant how much Apple spends to operate that backdoor.
That's true, but only if there was an actual back door.
However, in all fairness, if you have proper evidence that Apple has a back door, I'll be right there with you. That would be wholly unacceptable.
No, the backlog is 4 months. Nobody knows how long actual decryption takes, but the nature of these things is that it will either be minutes or thousands of years with a supercomputer dedicated to the task. Apple claims that it uses AES with a 128 bit key, so if they can unlock it that quickly they MUST have a backdoor to the encryption key.
This is absolute proof that they have your encryption key on file somewhere. Others have already verified that they do indeed use AES 128.
To cover themselves legally Apple will have to evaluate every request that comes in, handle the evidence securely (maintaining the chain of custody) and then handle the potentially sensitive and illegal decrypted data in a way that doesn't expose its staff. It's no wonder there is a backlog.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
Until now, there is no way to safeguard our secret stored in i-Device from the prying eyes of Apple Inc
If you want something kept secret, you're a fool if you put it on your phone.
You understand that in this case the police HAD a warrant. What's your complaint?
That encryption is not encryption if Apple can "undo" it.