Apple Defies Court Order
Friday, February 19th, 2016February 19, 2016
The Apple store on Fifth Avenue in New York City. Apple is protective of its customers privacy on its devices. Credit: © Radoslaw Drewek, Dreamstime
On Tuesday, February 16, a United States federal judge ordered Apple Inc. to help the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to break into the iPhone of a deceased terrorist. The iPhone has an optional feature that allows a user to set a 4-digit passcode to unlock the phone, and the phones can be programmed to erase any stored data after 10 unsuccessful guesses as to the passcode.
The phone in question belonged to Syed Rizwan Farook, who—along with his wife—killed 14 people in San Bernardino, California, in December 2015, before being killed by police. The couple had indicated support for the terrorist group Islamic State, and the FBI wants to see the data Farook stored on the phone to further its investigation. Apple, however, claims that the court order, if followed, would set a precedent (an action that may serve as an example or reason for a later action) with troubling consequences for privacy and computer security.
The FBI is not asking Apple to break into the phone directly. Instead, they want Apple to modify the software that causes the phone to erase its data after 10 unsuccessful passcode entry attempts. The FBI could then break into the phone by using a brute force attack (repeatedly guessing the passcode). The FBI also asked Apple to allow them to enter the passcode electronically, rather than by physically tapping numbers on the screen, thus making a brute-force attack easier.
Apple has characterized the government’s request as an attempt to require Apple to build a back door, a technological term for a special method created to allow a government to access private citizens’ encrypted data. Many groups have applauded Apple’s stance, arguing that back doors would facilitate unwanted access by government and criminals. Computer security experts have long argued that any “back door” is simply another name for a security gap, which nongovernmental wrongdoers would inevitably use as well. Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook, stated: ” The government suggests this tool could only be used once, on one phone. But that’s simply not true. Once created, the technique could be used over and over again, on any number of devices.”
The government, however, has argued that its request is not overly burdensome on Apple and would only apply to the suspect’s specific iPhone, which is now the legal property of the United States.
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