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iPhone Encryption Hampers Investigation of Texas Shooter, Says FBI (chron.com)

Posted by EditorDavid on from the you-said-that-last-time dept.

"FBI officials said Tuesday they have been stymied in their efforts to unlock the cellphone of the man who shot and killed at least 26 people at a church here on Sunday," reports the Houston Chronicle. Slashdot reader Anon E. Muss writes: The police obtained a search warrant for the phone, but so far they've been unable to unlock it. The phone has been sent to the FBI, in the hope that they can break in... If it is secure, and the FBI can't open it, expect all hell to break loose. The usual idiots (e.g. politicians) will soon be ranting hysterically about the evil tech industry, and how they're refusing to help law enforcement.
FBI special agent Christopher Combs complained to the Chronicle that "law enforcement increasingly cannot get in to these phones."

A law professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology argues there's other sources of information besides a phone, and police officers might recognize this with better training. As just one example, Apple says the FBI could've simply just used the dead shooter's fingerprint to open his iPhone. But after 48 hours, the iPhone's fingerprint ID stops working.

8 of 240 comments (clear)

  1. Try police work not phone unlocking by sunyjim · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If only there was some sort of Police Work that could be done to solve these crimes without taking away everyone rights of privacy...

    1. Re:Try police work not phone unlocking by Darinbob · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I think they whole reason FBI is whining is for political purposes. They want the laws to allow them to search more with fewer impediments. Thus they don't ask Apple for help since that removes the ability to whine about it.

      That said, why the 48 hour time? Does that mean living people must use the fingerprint sensor every 2 days or they're locked out?

    2. Re: Try police work not phone unlocking by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      Not locked out, but after 48 hours you have to input the password.

    3. Re:Try police work not phone unlocking by TheGratefulNet · · Score: 5, Insightful

      basically, the FBI, CIA, NSA all are just a bunch of cron jobs.

      every 'n' days, they wake up, cry about not being able to stroll thru ALL our communications, find some trendy 'scare' story of the day and bind to it so that they can emotionally keep attacking our personal freedoms and privacy.

      every fucking time, that cron job fires, we try to silence it. but its persistent and as some have said, they're playing a long-game, here. they will KEEP trying until they find an emotional weakness and get an 'open' to create even more restrictive anti-privacy laws.

      many of us see this. but it does not matter. those that see it are not in a position to stop it. and those that can stop it,do not EVER want to stop it. they are addicts on a power trip and there's no cure for their hunger ;(

      --

      --
      "It is now safe to switch off your computer."
    4. Re:Try police work not phone unlocking by Paradise+Pete · · Score: 5, Interesting

      hus they don't ask Apple for help since that removes the ability to whine about it.

      Not only didn't they ask for help, but Apple reached out to them immediately and they refused the help . Perhaps because they had been waiting for an opportunity to complain about encryption.

  2. What do you need to know? by Snotnose · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Guy busted his kid's skull. Guy took weapons on base. Guy spent a year in the brig. Guy got dogs off Craigslist to shoot for target practice.

    Guy was a major asshole with huge red flags over his head who should have been found and neutralized years ago. If only the Air Force had followed existing laws that would have prevented him from buying guns. But no, we need more gun control and backdoor encryption.

    The phone? The fibbies knew there was a 48 hour timeout on the fingerprint thing. The fibbies knew without that they didn't stand a chance of getting into the phone (or they have a way in they don't want us to know about).

    This is just the government narrative of "we have to have backdoor encryption cuz this dude".

  3. What is there ti investigate? by fermion · · Score: 5, Insightful
    A weak pathetic white guy who liked to beat his wife and crack his infants skull went in a shot a lot of people. It happens often enough? What else do we need to know.

    We know the USAF gave him a minimum sentence for cracking his babies skull, did not give him a dishonorable discharge, and chose to protect this baby beater by not entering his information into the criminal database. If there is anything to investigate, it is whey the USAF protect wife and kid heaters. The USAF, in fact, could have put him in jail for fiver years, given him a dishonorable discharge, and made his crime public record. The reason that dozens of people are dead is because they chose not to.

    The iPhone thing is just another effort to continue to erode our rights to privacy. It is not going to bring the dead back. It is not going to prevent the air force from releasing another trained killer, maybe this time a baby killer, back into society to murder even more people.

    --
    "She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
  4. Uh huh... by Vegan+Cyclist · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Phone encryption is the problem here, not how easy it is for any lunatic to get a gun in the US. Sounds like just another distraction from the real issue.