58 Issue 1404
A
fter the war on terrorism, the new target seems to
be the war on privacy – or more specifically the war
on encryption.
A recent focal point for these events is a spat between the
FBI and Apple, because the agency would like Apple to hack
its own encryption, which it designed to be unbreakable.
Understandably, Apple doesn’t want to use itsresources to do
that, to prove that it lied to its customers when it told them
their information was 100% secure.
If you’ve watched the news on this subject, you’ll already
have a handle on how important these events are, even if very
few people commenting appear to have any handle on what this
argument isreally about.
When those bidding to become president of the USA were
quizzed on the issue, it soon became very apparent that not
one of them actually understood it or had anything useful to
contribute at all.
There is, however, plenty about this story that hasn’t been
well publicised, which might well put a fresh perception on it if
peoplerealised whatreally went on.
If you haven’t followed this story, then I should explain that
the FBI is investigating a terrorist incident in which Rizwan
Farook and his wife killed 14 co-workers in San Bernardino,
California, before themselves being gunned down by local
law enforcement.
Afterwards, Farook’s iPhone became a critical piece of
evidence, as those investigating the case wished to find out who
might have known about the couple’s intentions or perhaps
aided in its inception and execution.
The phone technically wasn’t owned by Farook; it was
a device provided to him by the San Bernardino Health
Department, so Apple considered it to be the device’s ‘owner’.
But Farook did secure the iPhone with a four-digit numeric
password, a protection that has entirely stumped the collective
resources of the FBI. Therefore, it has asked Apple to circumvent
the protection, so it can access the contents of the phone.
Apple hasrefused, despite the FBI getting a court order.
That pretty much sums up the story as presented in
mainstream press, but those facts are
actually the least interesting aspects of
this tale.CountdownTo Fiasco
For those who don’t own an
iPhone, I should point out that
Apple’s encryption on it is pretty
sophisticated stuff, and by default
all phones come pre-encrypted.
Four digits also might not sound
like much to hack, with just 10,000The FBI Vs Apple
Inside Story
Mark Pickavancereveals someofthe verytelling subtext toastorythatmainstreammediaand politicians can’t grasp