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FBI Makes Political Theater Out of Tragedy Again: Another Locked iPhone Battle

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The FBI is at it again. Another shooter, another iPhone, another inappropriate request. There are two phones in question this time around. The Pensacola shooter had both an iPhone 5 and an iPhone 7. Both of these are older devices without Apple’s latest secure enclave security measures. As a result, the FBI already has the tools to unlock these phones. They could use the same method they eventually used in the San Bernardino case, an iPhone 5c, or use a newer method that successfully unlocked an iPhone 11 Pro Max with a GrayKey.

That’s right, the FBI already has everything they need to unlock this shooter’s phone. So why are they pressuring Apple? It’s the same reason they did it the first time. This isn’t about security, it’s not about fact finding, it’s about control. Because what the FBI and now Attorney General William Barr and President Donald Trump are pushing for isn’t willing compliance. It’s legislative and judicial jurisdiction over what people write, the software we make. If you’re worried about the FBI, attorney general, and president coming after basic first amendment rights, welcome to the discussion.

In fact, if you’d like to get caught up, here are a few resources:

The Usual Suspects

Donald Trump at the RNC

Photo: AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

So who’s fighting consumer rights this time? In the later days of the Obama administration and early days of Trump’s, it was FBI Director James Comey and attorney general Loretta Lynch. For a brief period, Republican senator Lindsey Graham had switched sides, but—seemingly at the behest of Republican leadership—has gone back to his original position. Prior to the election, Trump took Comey’s side, which seemed to endear him to the president. Some could argue that the ill-timed release of an investigation into Hillary’s emails (which came up with nothing) prior to the election was a Hatch act violation to support Trump, in part because of is beliefs on encryption. Of course, that didn’t end up well for Comey, who Trump fired supposedly to hinder the Muller investigation into Russia’s involvement with the Trump campaign.

In his place we have Attorney General William Bar, FBI director Chris Wray, Donald Trump, and former Trump campaign advisor Steven Bannon. Don’t worry, no one’s sure how he’s still involved either, but he claims Trump could “Drop the hammer” on Apple. Again, no one’s quite sure where that’s coming from.

The rest of them have a legitimate place in the discussion.

William Barr, not to be outdone by a former Trump associate, piled on, though not with the same questionable verbiage. He stated that, “This situation perfectly illustrates why it is critical the public be able to access digital evidence.” But does it? Does the FBI need Apple to get this information?

The FBI Doesn’t Need Apple

The GrayKey iPhone hacking tool

As it turns out, William Barr is either misinformed or, again, lying. The fact is, the FBI has the tools to unlock an iPhone 5 and an iPhone 7 already. They’re the same tools they used to unlock the San Bernardino shooter’s work phone, which was actually newer than the iPhone 5 in their possession. Not only that, but the FBI has demonstrated that it can unlock even Apple’s latest iPhones. The FBI in a case in Ohio used the GrayKey to unlock the iPhone 11 Pro Max. The lawyer for the defendant in the case confirmed that the iPhone was not unlocked with his client’s face for Face ID, but that the passcode was hacked through use of the GrayKey. This means the FBI has the tools to unlock the Pensacola shooter’s iPhone, so why don’t they use it?

Politics.

The Pensacola shooting was an act that could be seen as an act of Islamic-tinged terrorism. That, like the San Bernardino shooting, carries more weight than other shooting cases would for the right-wing voter base, which is frequently Islamophobic and usually doesn’t like to think about or address mass shootings. By using these cases to try to push Apple for a backdoor, the government can rely more on Republican lawmakers to rile up their voters and force Apple to make a change. It seems to be backfiring. Now, the FBI’s cases seem frivolous, and time and time again, Apple is shown to be in the right. The FBI didn’t need this before, why should they need it now? Why should Americans give up their First Amendment rights for something the FBI doesn’t even need?

Side note: Trump’s trade war has made business difficult for Apple and other tech companies, and has hurt stock prices.

Civil Liberty Groups Speak Up

We are getting into constitutional amendment territory, and you know what that means. Civil Rights groups have spoken up. If the FBI were to get the right to force an American to write something they don’t want to write, like software to unlock iPhones, they will have violated the First Amendment of the constitution. Writing software, like writing anything else, counts as freedom of speech under the U.S. constitution. Blatantly, the FBI is asking for a violation of our most important rights.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) have all released statements supporting Apple and condemning the actions of the FBI, William Barr, Donald Trump, and other policy makers.

“There is simply no way for Apple, or any other company, to provide the FBI access to encrypted communications without also providing it to authoritarian foreign governments.”

– ACLU

 

“Electronic Frontier Foundation general counsel Kurt Opsahl agreed, telling Business Insider in a statement that the FBI’s request “imperils millions of innocent Americans and others around the globe, and is a poor trade-off for security policy.”

– EFF

“It’s not some simple trade-off that somehow increases national security at the cost of one person’s individual privacy.”

“People have apps on their phones that control the security systems in their homes. What’s more unsecure [sic] than a criminal being able to unlock your phone and therefore literally unlock your front door?”

– EPIC

Infighting in the FBI?

The FBI’s attitude towards tech companies isn’t just bothering civil liberty groups, liberals, or actual computer scientists (ahem). It’s upsetting some within the FBI. The harsh language used by politicians and William Barr undermines the fact that the FBI is still getting a lot out of these companies. Apple, cell phone carriers, and other tech companies still hand over a large amount of data that law enforcement can use to catch criminals. The fact is, the FBI needs Apple, Google, and others. Without their help, many crimes would go unsolved.

According to sources speaking with the Wall Street Journal, a number of senior FBI officials have taken issue with the way we’re discussing encryption on personal devices. Going after companies that have already been helpful in the investigation may not be “worth the cost in terms of time, effort, and damage to the FBI’s relationship with the tech sector,” according to those within the FBI. Speaking as a software engineer, you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who wants to move from tech’s private sector or from school into the FBI, mostly because of these problems. The FBI recruits from the private sector, but they’re struggling to fill government positions under this administration. The perception of the FBI has changed. No one wants to go work for the “bad guys” coming after your first amendment rights or your rights to privacy and security. No one wants a boss who refuses to try to understand the work that you do. Why would anyone want to work for someone who can’t understand basic security concepts? Why should anyone who doesn’t understand basic security concepts be in charge of protecting the people of this country?

“It’s not clear to me why this fight is advantageous to anybody.”

– Former Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Michael Certoff

They Just Don’t Get It

Christopher Wray speaking from behind a podium with the Department of Justice/FBI insignia on the podium.

FBI Director Christopher Wray. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

One commonality I’ve seen among all pundits, politicians, and FBI directors pushing for Apple’s “help” has been the way they phrase it. Each and every one of them has tried to minimize the problem. They say things like, “Apple should just unlock the iPhones.” It’s the equivalent of saying, “We should just turn the keys at the same time,” instead of, “We’re going to launch the nukes.” First, Apple cannot just unlock an iPhone. They simply can’t. That’s how encryption works. Without the encryption key, the data is garbled and means nothing. The key, a password, turns that encrypted data into something readable. Apple cannot unlock these iPhones. Period. It would be like asking them to change the gravitational pull of the moon to get some sick waves to surf. It’s really that absurd.

Next they try to say that Apple should make a version of iOS that can be used to unlock iPhones, though they try to avoid this point because there are so many problems with the discussion. First, newer iPhones cannot get an iOS update without being unlocked already.

That brings us to the second problem, Apple would have to bake this backdoor through encryption into every iOS device. To do this would ensure extremely weak security on every electronic device with it. Encryption can only be unlocked with one key. If Apple makes a backdoor, there will be just one key into your phone and every other phone forever. Your passcode won’t actually do anything to protect your device. Furthermore, if that key leaks, Apple won’t be able to secure older iPhones. Everyone will just be vulnerable. It wouldn’t just be American citizens who are vulnerable either. It would be politicians, intelligence assets, ambassadors, and more. Everyone would be vulnerable.

I’m sure you can see how that would be dangerous, yes?

A portion of Microsoft's "Golden Key," a key used to unlock the Windows bootloader

Microsoft’s “Golden Key” was leaked after the FBI debate had begun.

Finally, beyond security ramifications, they introduce the issue of leaking and thieves. Any master key leaks. That’s why you can buy the iPhone hacking tools that are only for police and the FBI online. These tools, these keys, they will all leak. Microsoft accidentally leaked their own key for signing legitimate copies of Windows, and that was just one organization involved. Just one person made that mistake, and it means security of Microsoft’s platform and profitability are compromised. Imagine if every single local police department worldwide had the key. Hundreds of thousands of individuals. It would leak in minutes.

Once those keys are out there, anyone can use them. That includes your run of the mill iPhone thieves, scammers, blackmailers, and more. Everyone will have access to the encrypted information on your device. If someone has a back door, everyone has a back door.

Again and again, these mostly right-wing officials hide the fact that what they’re asking for has global ramifications. They try to phrase this just as “Apple will just unlock the iPhone.” It’s not that simple. The problem, for many, is that they know that it’s not that simple. However, it’s a power grab, and though they’re trading away your privacy and security, they’re gaining a lot of power over regular citizens. That’s something they do want.

Do you want that?

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