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FBI Gripes "We Can't Read Everyone's Secrets" (reuters.com)

Posted by yaelk on from the secret-time dept.

New submitter rdukb writes: FBI Director James Comey told the Senate Intelligence Committee that investigators still can't access the phone contents of one of the San Bernadino killers. He went on to argue that the phenomenon of communications "going dark" due to more sophisticated technology and wider use of encryption is "overwhelmingly affecting" law enforcement operations, including, not only the San Bernadino murders, but also investigations into other murders, car accidents, drug trafficking and the proliferation of child pornography. This might increase pressure on Apple to loosen the backdoor restrictions. Will the industry relent and allow Government access to data from these devices?

12 of 175 comments (clear)

  1. Sure. Force Apple and Google to add backdoors by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    What could POSSIBLY go wrong?

    Um...maybe fifteen minutes after the first OS release, the Darknet will have utilities published to take advantage of them?

    Captcha: "contempt"

  2. If you open that backdoor... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    You will just force me to find other means to encrypt, making my device even DARKER than it already is...

  3. No by Kohath · · Score: 5, Insightful

    People made that mistake before. We learned our lesson. Government can't be trusted. They demonstrate it a new way every day.

    1. Re:No by Darinbob · · Score: 5, Insightful

      "Overwhelmingly affecting" law enforcement. Really? What did they do when people didn't have technology and just whispered their secrets to each other? Did they whine that they couldn't hear the secrets and tried to pass laws that required everyone to shout? We have always had secrets that law enforcement could never figure out and we always will. There have always been unsolved cases, and there always will be. Law enforcement has always whined that it could do more if only they had more power, and they always will.

  4. Boo Hoo!! by fred911 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "overwhelmingly affecting" law enforcement operations"

      Including extra-legal warrantless, domestic, mass surveillance. Go cry somewhere else, the US intelligence
    complex made this bed, now go lie in it.

      We need more end to end encryption to be used as a daily matter of fact, because it's been proven time and time again you aren't trustable.

    --
    09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B - D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 45 5F E1 04 22 CA 29 C4 93 3F 95 05 2B 79 2A B2
  5. more FBI lies by dltaylor · · Score: 5, Insightful

    FBI directors lie to Congress as part of their normal job duties.

    This is just more of the same.

    1. Re:more FBI lies by PolygamousRanchKid+ · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Well, now that the FBI employee directory is out. Concerned citizens can call or email the FBI Director directly, to voice their concerns.

      --
      Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
  6. Dear FBI by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Dear FBI,
    Backdoors will only let you catch the dumbest of dumb criminals. Encryption exists, you can't uninvent it. Taking default encryption away, hurts the privacy of the innocent and does nothing to stop the bad guys from using their own encryption. You can't have a backdoor without the possibility that others will figure out how to access that backdoor too. Just deal with it already and stop trying to destroy security.

  7. Hiring Fail by randalware · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The police are not hiring some people because they have too high of an IQ.

    Then the people they do hire, whine "Can't you make this easier ? It's too hard !"

    What do you want next ?

    Master keys to all physical locks ?
    People must use their birth names ?
    No cars that can exceed 30 mph ?
    Everyone wear hi-viz clothes and flashing lights ?
    Nation ID numbers tattooed on your cheeks ? all four cheeks ?

    If it was an easy job, stopping crooks, all our bankers, lawyers & politicians would be incarcerated.

    --
    This is my opinion based on what little I know and understand of the rumors and lies Thanks, Randal
  8. don't believe his lies by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 4, Insightful

    FBI director says investigators unable to unlock San Bernardino killer's phone content

    things one needs to unlock a smartphone:
    * fingerprint (sometimes) (difficulty: invalid)
    * dump the flash memory (difficulty: hobbyist)
    * to avoid lockout, have machines emulate the phone and try every combination to unlock the phone (difficulty: developer)

    conclusion: the investigators had a technician unlock the phone in less than an hour

    DO NOT BELIEVE HIS LIES.

    --
    Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
    1. Re:don't believe his lies by Anubis+IV · · Score: 4, Insightful

      devices sold, designed for consumers in the US have to be wiretap, plain text and voice recording friendly.

      No, they don't. Encrypted phones are used every day by the US government itself, as well as numerous businesses. Consumer-facing products such as FaceTime, FaceTime Audio, and iMessage are readily available today, are used by tens of millions of people, and are designed with end-to-end encryption that prevents wiretaps from taking place. Comparable products exist for other platforms. What you just said is an outright fabrication.

      Moreover, the Constitution's Fourth Amendment grants "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures". It does not grant the government the right to deny us security on the basis that they may one day have a reasonable cause for a search or seizure. They're left to figure out how to get access on their own, despite our right to be secure. If I put my papers in a safe, that means bringing in a safecracker, not legally obligating all safe manufacturers to put defects in their safes that make them less secure. If I put my stuff in my car, that means bringing in a locksmith, not legally obligating all car manufacturers to put defects in their safes that makes them easier to break into. And if I put my data in a smartphone, that means bringing in a hacker, not legally obligating all smartphone manufacturers to put defects in their phones that makes them easier to access.

      In this particular case, I wish the government the best, but the suggestion that we shouldn't have the right to secure our smartphone because that same right can be used by criminals to hide wrongdoing is no different than suggesting that we shouldn't have the right to free speech because that same right can be used by criminals to incite wrongdoing.

  9. The cognitive dissonance is astounding by timholman · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If James Comey thinks that the FBI could keep their backdoor decryption key secure, perhaps I could call him at his office phone using the FBI directory that just got uploaded to the net, and discuss it with him. :-)

    The FBI and the DoJ can't even keep their own databases safe from a social hack. A backdoor key would be in the hands of China and Russia before the week was out.