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Information Privacy

Edd

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Ooo, I hadn't seen this letter. I'm a bit torn, considering the tragedy that's occurred. I don't see the harm in Apple creating the tool for the back door and then just keeping it to themselves. Once they hand it over to the FBI, it's out there.

So maybe if the FBI needs something they can go to Apple to crack it? I'm not a computer expert, by a long shot.
 

Funky_Catskills

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They would have to create a brute force "back door" and once that's created - it's there.. If it doesn't exist then all my data is safe on my phone.. If it does exist - someone will find a way in..

There's no harm until it exists...
 

deadheadskier

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Don't judges subpoena phone records? I'm not sure I understand the difference.

I'm all for privacy rights, but don't you forfeit those rights when you commit a crime?
 

Edd

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This is all great PR for Apple in terms of feeling secure about your personal info.

Does this imply that Android phones are currently hackable by the FBI?
 

prsboogie

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Apple, I'm quite sure, already has the ability to get into that phone. They need to have the FBI bring it to them and unlock it to get the info they need. Freedom is never free!
 

dlague

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I think the grandstanding by Apple is deplorable! Have Apple get into the phone and reset the password.
 

Funky_Catskills

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Don't judges subpoena phone records? I'm not sure I understand the difference.

I'm all for privacy rights, but don't you forfeit those rights when you commit a crime?

big difference..
Phone companies can only give you metadata - who called whom - when - from where. Not the actual message..
They want Apple to create a way to access iPhones that have been encrypted.. And that doesn't exist.
I make a living encrypting things.. It's not easy to bypass. It takes luck - power and brute force...
If I owned a Droid - I'd use encryption as well.. And they wouldn't be able to break that if i use strong encryption(AES256) with a strong encryption key..

edit: Apple uses strong encryption(AES256) as well as hashing( SHA-1 cryptographic hash function) - not easy to break at all...
 
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Domeskier

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nope... why would they?
You assume that the Govt scoops up all the smart people... But they all end up at places like Apple and Facebook..

There are a lot of very smart people at Google et al. sitting in cubicles and hoping for a huge payday while grinding out code to make it easier to download porn to a driverless car, but I assume that most elite mathematicians and computer scientists are actually affiliated with our nation's top research universities, where they frequently consult with, advise or otherwise find themselves on the payroll of government agencies. My guess would be that even if the NSA, etc. had the capacity to crack an iPhone or whatever, the tech would be so highly classified that local police and the courts would never even know about it, much less have the authority to get their hands on it.
 

skiNEwhere

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I don't think apple has a problem with cracking the phone in and of itself. It's the fact that they don't want to set a precedent that they will do this, because then the FBI and other government organizations will keep coming back with other phones to crack. Apparently the shooter set the phone up so that it will erase its contents after 10 failed login attempts. What I find interesting is that I'm sure the NSA or some other government organization has the capability to unlock it, but it's probably classified Top Secret/SCI so they can't help out the FBI. Apple probably doesn't want to give out an IOS with a backdoor because it could be reverse engineered and used again. Apple is a publicly traded company and it would only take one FBI employee to destroy years of technological advances by inadvertently releasing a backdoor ios.
 

Funky_Catskills

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There are a lot of very smart people at Google et al. sitting in cubicles and hoping for a huge payday while grinding out code to make it easier to download porn to a driverless car, but I assume that most elite mathematicians and computer scientists are actually affiliated with our nation's top research universities, where they frequently consult with, advise or otherwise find themselves on the payroll of government agencies. My guess would be that even if the NSA, etc. had the capacity to crack an iPhone or whatever, the tech would be so highly classified that local police and the courts would never even know about it, much less have the authority to get their hands on it.

Once a back door is created - legions of hackers will be looking to find and exploit.. It's only a matter of time..
 

Funky_Catskills

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I don't think apple has a problem with cracking the phone in and of itself. It's the fact that they don't want to set a precedent that they will do this, because then the FBI and other government organizations will keep coming back with other phones to crack. Apparently the shooter set the phone up so that it will erase its contents after 10 failed login attempts. What I find interesting is that I'm sure the NSA or some other government organization has the capability to unlock it, but it's probably classified Top Secret/SCI so they can't help out the FBI. Apple probably doesn't want to give out an IOS with a backdoor because it could be reverse engineered and used again. Apple is a publicly traded company and it would only take one FBI employee to destroy years of technological advances by inadvertently releasing a backdoor ios.

I think what they want Apple to do is to change the 10 password attempts and it becomes a useless brick..
If that gets "back door'd" then it a matter of brute force and luck to break into the phone..
 

skiNEwhere

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I think what they want Apple to do is to change the 10 password attempts and it becomes a useless brick..
If that gets "back door'd" then it a matter of brute force and luck to break into the phone..

I once had to figure out the combo to an old 4 digit (0-9) combination lock I found in my house. Took 2 hours with a brute force attack of trying every combo, and that was due to the misfortune of the combination starting with the number "9" and trying 95% of the wrong combos before getting the right one. So it's not hard to brute force it at all (just incredibly tedious) and would probably only take an hour on average.
 
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