IPhone could ID unknown San Bernardino attacker

Mar 05, 2016, 12:29

As for the question of whether there was a third attacker, San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan said Friday that's something that continues to nag investigators.

"The iPhone is a county owned telephone that may have connected to the San Bernardino County computer network".

He urged USA authorities to use the Apple-FBI case as a starting point for a "much-needed profound examination of the highly complex and constantly evolving issues relating to privacy and security in the digital age".

"We believe the issues raised by the Apple case are too important to rely on a narrow statute from a different technological era to fill the government's perceived gap in current law", wrote Microsoft President Brad Smith, targeting the centuries-old All Writs Act.

Essentially, Cook said that it has already provided law agencies with what it could, and to unlock the phone further, it would have to update its operating system to allow access.

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Law enforcement officials have said that Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, were inspired by Islamist militants when they shot and killed 14 people and wounded 22 others last December 2 at a holiday party.

The FBI has called on Apple to override the auto-erase function on Farook's iPhone and a USA has ordered the tech giant to comply.

In a court filing dated Thursday and obtained by Ars Technica, San Bernardino County District Attorney Michael Ramos argued that not only may the iPhone hold key information about other potential co-conspirators in the shooting spree, but also that it may be home to malicious software that could damage county infrastructure.

These companies that are backing Apple agree with the iPhone maker's main argument, which is that the All Writs Act can not be used to force companies to create a new technology, according to Reuters.

Tech companies have generally taken Apple's side, supporting its resistance to the court order.

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"They were targeted by terrorists, plus they should know why, how this could occur", said Stephen Larson, a former judge. While a "dormant cyber pathogen" sounds scary, security experts say it's not a thing.

The FBI has said it does not want a back door, but needs Apple's help cracking the iPhone's passcode. "Some of them describe in precise detail, laying on the floor, hiding under furniture and the bodies of their co-workers, that they saw three assailants, not two, walking around in heavy boots as they carried out their murders". But, what if there is evidence pointing to a third shooter?

"What if others are attacked, and you and I did nothing to prevent it?" The relatives argued the phone might contain useful leads or even "explain the motive for this senseless tragedy".

Apple claims acceding to the request would set a unsafe precedent for the government to request similar "backdoors" in the future, and that it would undermine its reputation on security - at potentially great commercial cost.

But why are Apple, Microsoft, Google and Facebook teaming up? Personal contacts and calendars, financial information and health data, and many other rightfully private information need to be protected from criminals, hackers and unscrupulous governments who may use them against people for the wrong reasons.

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Airbnb, eBay, GitHub, Kickstarter, LinkedIN, Medium, Reddit and Twitter have also filed a joint brief warning that if the Federal Bureau of Investigation win the case, "the assistance it can request is limited only by its imagination" and judges' opinions, as well as constituting "classic compelled speech".