Posted on 04/13/2016 10:54:01 AM PDT by Swordmaker
The FBI cracked a San Bernardino terrorist’s phone with the help of professional hackers who discovered and brought to the bureau at least one previously unknown software flaw, according to people familiar with the matter.
The new information was then used to create a piece of hardware that helped the FBI to crack the iPhone’s four-digit personal identification number without triggering a security feature that would have erased all the data, the individuals said.
The researchers, who typically keep a low profile, specialize in hunting for vulnerabilities in software and then in some cases selling them to the U.S. government. They were paid a one-time flat fee for the solution.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
White Hat crackers survive because they reveal the vulnerabilities and exploits they find and develop to the software and hardware makers. Black and grey hat crackers sell their discoveries and hacks to the highest bidders who are intending to use them for nefarious purposes such as spamming, piracy, identity theft, or out right theft of valuable commodities such as credit card numbers, etc. It is a FEDERAL CRIME carrying heavy fines and imprisonment for up to twenty years!
Such non-white hat hacking is a FEDERAL CRIME and the FBI is charged with tracking down and arresting and bringing to justice those who practice black and grey hacking to justice. If the Washington Post article is true, they the FBI not only facilitated such practices without doing their duty, they actually participated and rewarded criminals for doing it. They are complicit in this act.
Standard Operating Procedure. The FBI has been paying informants who are dirty as the day is long for as long as there’s been an FBI.
I was just going to point that out, the FBI is nothing more than a bunch of CRIMINALS
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OK, OK, I give.
The FBI is smarter than Apple.
Now —
Just what did they learn from that phone?????
No, under the law, a Law enforcement agency can pay an informant for information, but they cannot pay a criminal to do another crime that otherwise he would not be involved in. That in-and-of-iteself is another crime. First of all it is the felony of conspiracy without even involving the criminal they are going to induce to commit the crime.
Our entire government is criminal.
And they want our guns? Eff that.
“Just what did they learn from that phone?????”
I think they put out a statement about “work place violence” and something about “minimum wage”.
I am certain the FBI has done this in past sting cases.
Mossad knows all the hacks
Sorry, it was not a crime to get into that iPhone. Two issues come into play here;
1) the owner of the phone is dead and no longer has an expectation of privacy
2) the FBI had a warrant (I believe it is still sealed) to search the home of the shooter and it is reasonable to assume that the warrant was also for the contents of that phone.
SCOTUS In 2014, by a 9-0 vote, the justices said smart phones and other electronic devices were not in the same category as wallets, briefcases, and vehicles — all currently subject to limited initial examination by law enforcement. Generally such searches are permitted if there is “probable cause” that a crime has been committed, to ensure officers’ safety and prevent destruction of evidence.
That Iphone was cracked within 7 days of that terrorist mass murder attack.
And it was once again the disciples of deceit in D.C. who imported mass murdering terrorists into out towns and cities.
It’s a question of how they went about it. The legality of the method by which this was obtained appears to be dubious.
Once the FBI obtained a warrant - what cause is there to say that the action was illegal?
Total Bull Shit.
Some White Hatter gave up a million dollar prize to break Apple’s encryption?
Sure they did...
It was Farouk's work phone, apparently one he kept entirely separate from his Jihad activities. The authorities already had data on every phone call, message, email, etc, both in-and-out, related to that iPhone which was supplied by Verizon, the carrier, since the iPhone was put in service and given to Farouk. From what I understand, it showed nothing untoward or suspicious. Except for a very few phone calls from Malik, his monster wife during working hours, which match normal patterns for married personnel from their spouses, all the calls, messages and emails were related to work.
The only data that could be probative in relation to the terrorism case might be the note pad, his contact list, and GPS tracking data of where the iPhone had been in the past. The FBI hints that the message content history is important, but what could be important in messages from and to work numbers? His contact list? Most likely work numbers.
Both Farouk and Malik had burner phones they had bought from an unknown source, perhaps a QuikStop of Walmart. These phone are anonymous and the phone numbers are unregistered. Provisioning with minutes is as easy as buying more anonymous minutes with cash on a card also from a QuikStop or Walmart. These phones are sold for $60 down to as low as $8, and can be tossed or destroyed quickly and cheaply. Farouk and Malik smashed theirs with a hammer along with the hard drives which they'd removed from their laptops as well as the laptops themselves.
Early reports claimed these smashed phones, hard drives, and laptops had been thrown in a nearby lack before the attack, but it has now been revealed they were in a dumpster behind their apartment. Whichever, the data on them was hopelessly destroyed. . . including the phone numbers associated with them. Any data that could have been tracked about whom they called is impossible to track without knowing those phone numbers. The authorities do not even have a clue as to which of several carriers to start asking.
One has to ask why Farouk and Malik did not destroy this iPhone 5C in their preparation for their attack. One answer is they knew there was nothing probative on it, and it was unnecessary to destroy it. Another is one I have proposed: the iPhone was not their property and Islamic Jihadists are required to ritually clean before doing their act of Jihad. That means they bathe, shave off body hair, pray, and must NOT commit any sins prior to killing their victims (not a sin), but THEFT is a sin.
Destroying his employer's property would be such a sin, and therefore not something Farouk or Malik could do as it was not theirs to do with as they pleased. as that would constitute a theft, a sin, meaning they would not be morally clean before committing their act of Jihad. Frankly, even using the employer's phone for personal or Jihad use would be sinful. Ergo, nothing useful is on that iPhone.
Besides, it takes only five minutes to erase an iPhone back to a factory blank status, with all data gone.
That's not my point. I have no problem with Search Warrants. . . so long as they are executed legally. Law enforcement is permitted to use all legal means to facilitate such searches. They are NOT permitted to use ILLEGAL means. To require a CRIMINAL act to break into something, to induce an act that is by FEDERAL LAW another crime in, and of itself, to facilitate the search, is not ALLOWED.
I am not objecting to the unlocking of the iPhone, I am objecting the FBI using illegal means and the creation of a new crime to do so.
That's not my point. I have no problem with Search Warrants. . . so long as they are executed legally. Law enforcement is permitted to use all legal means to facilitate such searches. They are NOT permitted to use ILLEGAL means. To require a CRIMINAL act to break into something, to induce an act that is by FEDERAL LAW another crime in, and of itself, to facilitate the search, is not ALLOWED.
I am not objecting to the unlocking of the iPhone, I am objecting the FBI using illegal means and the creation of a new crime to do so.
In sting cases they induce the criminals to come in expecting something and then ARREST them. Here they accepted the criminals' criminal act, PAID the criminals, and sent them on their way. Big difference.
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