FBI dropped its case against Apple

In a dramatic turn of events Monday, the FBI dropped its case against Apple Inc. after the federal agency said it found a way to gain access to Syed Rizwan Farook's iPhone 5c without the tech giant's help. That ended a heated faceoff that highlighted the growing tensions between law enforcement and the technology industry.

Does anyone else find this a little strange. Do you think Apple unlocked the IPhone 5c and had a plan with the FBI all along. The plan would be, hey Apple unlock this phone and we will take credit for the hack, in return we will drop the case against you. We will both look good! A win win for the FBI or not?

a reply to: Quantum12

No, I think the FBI finally figured it out. Edward Snowden had done a talk to Arizona University over Skype recently saying the FBI definitely knows how to do it.

I think the FBI was using the opportunity to attempt to set a legal precedent and failed.

a reply to: reldra

That is a good point as well. I would like to know their method of the hack. They used a third party to crack the iPhone 5c. I wonder if now the 1,000's of iPhones used in crimes that are locked away will now be unlocked?

a reply to: Quantum12

If we are just stating what we believe with nothing to back it up...(which I am)
I believe the FBI could 'unlock' it all along.
I don't have any idea what the whole song and dance was about but,
I believe it was all a ruse...

Whatever they were after, whatever the ultimate goal was must have worked.

For now, we are here.

JMHO

a reply to: TNMockingbird

A nice point. If the FBI could have unlocked the iPhone, did they want to see if Apple would break down, write a hack, give it to the FBI or see just how far of a push they could give. What took so long to hack the phone?

I doubt the FBI will issue a statement telling the public what was on the phone!

According to an AP article, The FBI is hurting Apple with this news. Because it implies that iphones are not secure and Apple doesn't know why. Thus, will not be able to make them secure.

Did the FBI really crack the phone or are they just saying so to get out of an embarrassing legal battle and to hurt Apple in the process?

a reply to: graysquirrel

A good point you brought up. Will this make people move to android? I don't know.

Will google profit off the case of the hacked iPhone? They could.

On the other hand could the FBI hack an android?

a reply to: Quantum12
Doesn't the NSA catch all that info in real time?

a reply to: ugmold

Yes they do. Hold on! I have to go read one of your threads and give flag 1,200. Be right back. LOL

originally posted by: Quantum12
In a dramatic turn of events Monday, the FBI dropped its case against Apple Inc. after the federal agency said it found a way to gain access to Syed Rizwan Farook's iPhone 5c without the tech giant's help. That ended a heated faceoff that highlighted the growing tensions between law enforcement and the technology industry.

Does anyone else find this a little strange. Do you think Apple unlocked the IPhone 5c and had a plan with the FBI all along. The plan would be, hey Apple unlock this phone and we will take credit for the hack, in return we will drop the case against you. We will both look good! A win win for the FBI or not?

I would say that this is EXACTLY what happened. Instead of a long drawn out court case , with many appeals, Apple caved and the Feds gave them a way to save face.

a reply to: Gothmog

See I agree with you and I like how you put it that Apple "caved" nice word.
How else could the FBI and Apple solve this problem. Let's say Apple wrote
Software to unlock the phone, would people with bad plans who own iPhones
Switch to android? Could android be hacked? Sure!

They probably finally listened to the various black & white hatters that explained in careful detail exactly how to bypass the phone lock. The private key used to encrypt the phones data is stored in a very specific, easily accessible flash chip. The chip can be removed and read/written to with the right (publically available) device. So...

1) Remove chip, take a data dump which includes the private key.
2) Install chip, and try up to 3 pins (start at 000 and work your way up).
3) If you fail to guess the pin after 3 attempts, private key is deleted. Data is irretrievably lost (but not really).
4) Remove chip, restore the data backup you took in step 1.
5) Proceed to step 2 until you're able to unlock the phone.

Quick release adapters are available that would make it quick and fast to install/remove the chip. Reading it only takes a minute or two. The big stink the FBI and co were creating was purely to create a legal precedence. They were able to unlock the phone from day 1.

a reply to: LordGoofus
Ok nice post and I mean it. Thank you. Your not a super hacker are you? LOL

So the FBI could have unlocked the iPhone all along but they had to push or test how
far Apple would go.
*steve jobs flips in grave with the f word to FBI*