What do you think about Apple's decision to appeal's the FBI order of hacking into the iPhone?

2016-02-18T13:26:12-05:00

Response by LTC Yinon Weiss made Feb 18 at 2016 1:47 PM

2016-02-18T13:47:38-05:00

If the government is going to get in the business of forcing individuals or companies to do extra work to break into the property of US citizens, then we are going down the wrong path. This case isn't about turning over information, it's about forcing Apple to build an entire new operating system which could make millions of iPhones vulnerable. Yes, in this case the US citizen was a terrorist, but undermining the Constitution is not the appropriate way to respond to terrorism. What's next? Forcing friends to break into their friends' homes to collect information on them? Or forcing companies to plant bugs in private citizens' places because they have access to it?

Forcing a person or an entity to break into something is not part of search and seizure rights. If the government wants to, it can contract with a security company to break into whatever they think is legal, but it should be a voluntary contract. Forcing people, or organizations, to break into things against their will, is not something a free democratic country does.

Response by CAPT Kevin B. made Feb 18 at 2016 1:58 PM

2016-02-18T13:58:09-05:00

A whole bucket of two-edged swords for the Government, industry, and John Q. Citizen. Problem will be when the Government wants something so bad, a law gets passed, people suffer, and the Supremes may or may not do something about it at some point way down the road. People would hope for an early Restraining Order. I already seen a proposal that all cell phones be required to be fingerprint activated (no other means to unlock) and won't start to work unless a fingerprint is entered. That way a warrant can be utilized to force a living person to pop their phone open. A dead person can't complain. Interesting that this concept puts the phone into the same access category of a safe deposit box, etc. The next step would be iPads, desktops, etc. It's not going to be a pretty show.

BTW, I'd expect the black box side to create an imaging box that takes the exact image of all memory and then writes it to modules and then runs a brute force algorithm. When it crashes due to 10 attempts, it gets reimaged and the next ten go. The process could be fairly well optimized to say an array with the unlock solution popping out in a few weeks. The bigger the array, less time.

Response by Capt Tom Brown made Feb 18 at 2016 2:47 PM

2016-02-18T14:47:27-05:00

We strongly do not consent to the search of any device belonging to our group and thanks be to Apple for defending our right to privacy. See you soon. - Daesh

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Feb 18 at 2016 4:21 PM

2016-02-18T16:21:30-05:00

There is no right or wrong answer. Either we give more freedom to the NSA for data mining and gathering, or we slow down criminal investigations.

Response by Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS made Feb 18 at 2016 4:26 PM

2016-02-18T16:26:53-05:00

If I make safes that are designed to destroy their contents if someone attempts to break into them, because I want to guarantee MY customers their security and privacy, that is considered reasonable.

If the government then ordered me to open said safe without the contents being destroyed, how would you as a customer who purchased my safe feel?

What if that method could be repeated for ALL of my safes in the future?

What if there was no way to ensure that no one else was able to use that same method, essentially creating a set of "master keys" which was counter to the intent of the safes I had designed in the first place?

All that said, does anyone here actually TRUST our Government with this capability? Does anyone believe that they are capable of safeguarding our information, letting alone the "keys to the castle?"

Response by SrA Matthew Knight made Feb 19 at 2016 1:07 AM

2016-02-19T01:07:43-05:00

My question is why can't they just take the phone to Apple and have Apple employees open it specifically and get the FBI the data they are looking for? Known terrorists shouldn't have any protection over their devices like that but at the same time the FBI doesn't need to have the ability to break into anyone and everyone's devices either. So just come to a compromise and have Apple employees open only the terrorist's phone and provide the records from that phone alone to the Bureau.

If that is what is already being proposed then I personally don't know what the issue is.

Response by TSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 19 at 2016 2:30 PM

2016-02-19T14:30:56-05:00

What happens when Apple just can't do it? I know Apple spend millions of dollars in reverse engineering to actively hack into their own devices to ensure they are secure.

Response by Dennis Aubuchon made Feb 21 at 2016 1:19 PM

2016-02-21T13:19:29-05:00

The requests by the government regarding the phones of the terrorists in the California shooting in December is a valid request for the information they are seeking. The details of the request cross the line in that it would provide a mechanism for the government to access the information on any phone with a technology which apparently does not exist today. In addition it would provide an opportunity for our enemies to access information which should remain private concerning our conversations. Most of us have normal conversations and as such our information should be kept private free from unreasonable search by the government. The Constitution in the Bill of Rights addresses this kind of activity. From what it appears there are ways to get the information they need without going through this process. Individuals and companies should not be forced to break into the property of U.S. citizens. It is an overreach by the federal government. There is enough surveillance by the government on what we do as individuals. Getting information about terrorists is important but th Constitution and the rights we have engrained within it should not be ignored.

Response by 1LT Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 24 at 2016 4:59 PM

2016-02-24T16:59:12-05:00

I'm undecided as to whether or not Apple made the correct decision in appealing the order--my biggest concern with the appeal is that this process could take a long time and the data might be time sensitive. On the other hand, I think the FBI's order has the potential to make encryption less secure and that could have terrible consequences for the government and private sector.