Apple in dark over FBI hack
Unknown security breach means tech giant can’t reassure iPhone users their personal data is safe
WASHINGTON— The FBI’s announcement that it mysteriously hacked into an iPhone is a public setback for Apple Inc., as consumers suddenly discover they can’t keep their most personal information safe. Meanwhile, Apple remains in the dark about how to restore the security of its flagship product.
The U.S. government said it was able to break into an iPhone used by a gunman in a mass shooting in California, but it didn’t say how. That puzzled Apple software engineers — and outside experts — about how the FBI broke the digital locks on the phone without Apple’s help. It also complicated Apple’s work repairing flaws that jeopardize its software.
The justice department’s announcement that it was dropping a legal fight to compel Apple to help it access the phone also took away any obvious legal avenues Apple might have used to learn how the FBI did it. It is a closely held secret how the FBI hacked the iPhone, but a few clues have emerged. A senior law enforcement official told The Associated Press that the FBI managed to defeat an Apple security feature that threatened to delete the phone’s contents if the FBI failed to enter the correct passcode combination after 10 tries. That allowed the government to guess the correct passcode by trying random combinations until the software accepted the right one.
It wasn’t clear how the FBI dealt with a related Apple security feature that deliberately introduces increasing time delays between guesses.
The iPhone, issued to gunman Syed Farook by his employer, the county health department, was found in a vehicle the day after the shooting in San Bernar- dino, Calif. that claimed the lives of 14 people. The FBI was reviewing information from the iPhone, and it was unclear whether anything useful would be found.
Apple said in a statement Monday that the legal case to force its co-operation “should never have been brought,” and it promised to increase the security of its products.
The FBI’s announcement — even without revealing precise details — that it had hacked the iPhone was at odds with the U.S. government’s firm recommendations for nearly two decades that security researchers always work co-operatively and confidentially with software manufacturers so that they may a fix could be found before revealing that a product might be susceptible to hackers.