The FBI is Trying to Unlock Another Terrorist’s iPhone

Maura · Oct 7, 2016

FBI has iPhone of Minnesota terrorist.JPG

Wired reports that following on from the controversy earlier in the year when the FBI got a court order to try to force Apple to help it to unlock the iPhone 5c that belonged to the San Bernardino shooter (Apple refused to help and the FBI eventually cracked it on its own, paying more than $1.2 million in the process), a similar situation has now emerged in Minnesota.

Yesterday the FBI held a press conference in St. Cloud, Minnesota, where special agent Rick Thorton said that the FBI has in its possession the iPhone of the terrorist who killed 10 people in a Minnesota mall back in September, prior to being shot by an off-duty police officer.

Just as with the San Bernardino shooter, the iPhone has been locked with a passcode, and according to Torton, the FBI is still working out how to unlock the phone.

“We are in the process of assessing our legal and technical options to gain access to this device and the data it may contain,” Tornton told reporters at the press conference.

Torton did not reveal what model iPhone the FBI was dealing with, but they will be hoping that it is not running iOS 8 or later (it most likely is), as since iOS 8 in 2014, iOS devices have been encrypted in such a way that not even Apple can decrypt them, even if they agreed to do it.

Source: The FBI wants to get Into the locked iPhone of another dead terrorist

ardchoille · Oct 7, 2016

Stop and think for a moment.. what purpose did this press release serve? Why would the FBI inform the public that they have an iPhone that they cannot unlock, and in the process show the public that the government has inadequacies which tarnish the reputation of the government? What purpose does this "playing the victim" serve.. except to hopefully pluck at the heartstrings and gain the attention of people (read "voters") that can actually change the law in the FBI's favor?

Do you see what's really happening here? They're not trying to unlock an iPhone, they're trying (again) to gain sympathy from an unsuspecting public in order to change the law. They know that a court order forcing Apple to comply is a waste of time, been there.. done that.. it didn't work. Now, they're trying to change public opinion.

When it comes to government, there's always a hidden agenda.

Dear FBI..

KevinJS · Oct 7, 2016

I agree, and it's notable that Apple is once again the target. Samsung would simply tell the FBI where to get off.

If Apple can be forced to build back doors into phones, foreign manufacturers will have no choice but to comply.

Maybe they shouldn't have killed the guy?

ardchoille · Oct 7, 2016

KevinJS said:
I agree, and it's notable that Apple is once again the target. Samsung would simply tell the FBI where to get off.

If Apple can be forced to build back doors into phones, foreign manufacturers will have no choice but to comply.

Maybe they shouldn't have killed the guy?

Or maybe they could get off their backsides and do some actual work. I was a law enforcement officer before losing my hearing, we didn't have phones to probe.. we had to go out and engage in real investigative work.

I'm guessing they have a desk full of iPhones and will bring up one every now and then to try to prove a point. What they don't seem to understand is that, if they can easily get into the iPhone system, criminals will stop using iPhones. When was the last time the government had a difficult time getting into an Android phone?

KevinJS · Oct 7, 2016

I used to believe if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing too fear.

These days I'm not quite so naïve.

scifan57 · Oct 7, 2016

KevinJS said:
I used to believe if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing too fear.

These days I'm not quite so naïve.

I believe this quote is appropriate in dealing with this situation.

ardchoille · Oct 8, 2016

This was a local incident in a local Mall involving local law enforcement. Why is the FBI involved at all? They chose to involve themselves because this type of thing promotes their agenda of forced backdoors in software.

scifan57 · Oct 8, 2016

It seems like nowadays, all you have to do is sneeze in the wrong place and it's a terrorist attack.

bear7962 · Oct 8, 2016

And once it has the tinge of terrorism, it becomes the jurisdiction of the FBI.

scifan57 · Oct 8, 2016

It's all about expanding the powers and scope of the FBI's jurisdiction. What may or may not be on the iPhone in question is unimportant.

KevinJS · Oct 8, 2016

The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion, but allow very lively debate within that spectrum....

Noam Chomsky

brixtonboy · Oct 8, 2016

scifan57 said:
It's all about expanding the powers and scope of the FBI's jurisdiction. What may or may not be on the iPhone in question is unimportant.

I have so many mixed feelings on this topic, we are an iPhone forum but in my view that doesn't matter.
I feel the FBI and the UK want the power.
I have posted before my feelings about terrorism, l give them the power to crack any phone they capture, Samsung, etc. But with the help of the companies involved.
If it was your Mother, Daughter, Son, Father maybe your thoughts would change. Imagine them sitting outside having a nice evening meal and some person, comes by and blows them to little pieces.
Can you really say that you would not deny getting info who this persons friends are ?
Police do this all the time, with or without a handy.
As and end note l would like to say, l am a very quiet person and like to have a laugh and joke.
But Family always comes first. Well it used to East London