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FBI Says It Can't Release iPhone Hacking Tool Because It Might Still Be Useful (zdnet.com)
Justice Dept. officials say that details of a hacking tool used to access a terrorist's iPhone should not be released because it may still be "useful" to federal investigators. From a report: The government is fighting a case against three news organizations, including the Associated Press, which are fighting to release details of the hacking tool that FBI agents used to unlock a passcode-protected phone used by San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook. Details of the hacking tool have remained classified, not least because the Justice Dept. believes the tool may could still be used by the FBI in similar cases. "Disclosure of this information could reasonably be expected to cause serious damage to national security as it would allow hostile entities to discover the current intelligence gathering methods used, as well as the capabilities and limitations of these methods," said David Hardy, section chief of the FBI's records management division, in a court filing released late Monday.
I wonder if this is part of the "adult conversation" about encryption that FBI director James Comey mentioned last year that he was preparing to have this year. Also when ever mentioning that fucking iPhone it should also be pointed out that nothing of value was found on it. This way it becomes clear that encryption wasn't something that hampered the case in any way so they can't trot out that old saw to try and make their case against the public having access to strong encryption.
Time to offend someone
It's supposed to be a joke.
It's a play on the Star Trek: Deep Space 9 episode where Commander Pikard is abducted by Romulans and subjected to mental torture. They keep telling him that two plus two equals six, but he denies this. Each time he denies it they smack him around. Then Captain Data and his star ship get there just in time and teleport Commander Pikard out, just like happens in pretty much every sticky situation in that series.
In this case 3 - 1.1111111111111111111 equals 2.99999999999999999. So if you think in terms of integers then 2.99999999999999999 becomes 2 and so 2 + 2 = 4, but in this fellow's program 2.99999999999999999 + 2.99999999999999999 = 5.888888888888888 when is rounded up to 6. So it outputs "2 + 2 = 6", and then you're supposed to laugh because it's supposed to be funny, or something like that.
To me, there is definitely solid reason to classify intelligence sources and methods. However, I think that we have to continue to resist the blurring of lines between foreign intelligence and law enforcement. Certainly law enforcement gathers intelligence (really, they gather information) as part of the investigative process. Our standard for evidence should allow for two possible choices on the part of the government:
Foreign intelligence is used to make strategic, operational, and tactical military decisions as well as national policy decisions, while information gathered in the course of a law enforcement investigation could be used to support criminal prosecution.
This way the spooks and feds get to argue to higher authority (probably the AG, DNI, and National Security Council) which is more important: continued use for foreign intelligence or disclosure to support criminal prosecution. That way the decision makers get to earn their keep and everything stays on the up and up.
If they reveal the tool, and it is revealed it is faulty/suspect in anyway, then the information they "recovered" from the phone(s) all become untrustworthy. That does not support the verse the authorities are trying to play out to the general public. So instead of being proactive and helpful, we get innuendo, and "trust me" type comments, with no hope of verification/validation by the public.
New math. Understand what you are doing rather than get the right answer.
Have gnu, will travel.
If the use of the tool and the workings of the tool can't be examined in court, then any evidence provided by the tool or any evidence found because of any information provided by the tool can't be trusted in court. "Trust us" isn't good enough in a court of law.
"Grab them by the pussy" -- President of the United States of America
The FBI, et al. would rather exist in a world that is very dangerous and they alone possess the tools to (sometimes, maybe) protect us, than live in a world that is a little safer and no one has those tools. This is in the interests of the FBI and not necessarily in the interests of the society it is tasked to protect.
" And the most worrisome attack on national security and counter intelligence agencies is the idea that the US should extend the protections of the Constitution and Bill of Rights to foreigners operating internationally or domestically."
Fucking aye right we should extend these to foreigners. The bill of rights is a basic template of right that all human beings should have not just citizens. How can we be any kind of example if we say "Nope, you're French so no freedom of speech for you." or "Nope, you are here on a visa so you don't have "habeas corpus" right so we can imprison forever without redress."
Nothing in the Bill of Rights inherently limits these rights to only US citizens.