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Comment by phicoh | Hacker News Reader

Basically Apple created the current problem by making it possible to push new firmware to a locked phone. I'm not saying that Apple is worse than industry standard, just that the backdoor already exists.

So what prevents the FBI from asking Apple to have a team visit the Apple offices, get access to all code that runs on the iPhone and the docs and signing keys?

The team will then unlock the phone and leave with nothing but the unlocked phone.

All of this, get Apple to appear as a third party witness already exists in the law.

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I agree with you that a more secure device could have been created. However, Apple did not write this poll, and that's what I'm focused on in the above comment.

> So what prevents the FBI from asking Apple to have a team visit the Apple offices, get access to all code that runs on the iPhone and the docs and signing keys?

I believe the DOJ would like to set a precedent here of having Apple weaken its own security. If the US wins this case and Apple is compelled to write special software, then Apple may be expected to provide a back door to any other of its present or future devices. That is much more powerful than having the FBI grab source code and hack the system themselves. They'll simply expect Apple to do it for them.

The FBI doesn't just want to unlock one phone. They want a system to unlock all iPhones. This case is just a convenient way for the FBI to force Apple to comply with their greater goal.

The legal precedent set would compel Apple to do this for every phone the FBI brought them. The process of unlocking the phone doesn't matter. It's the precedent set that is at issue.

Are you advocating for the government positions here? It sounds like you are, but it's not 100% clear.

I'm saying the government framed it in a weird way. The court case compels Apple to act. That's clearly wrong.

However, Apple is a neutral third party that holds information needed in an investigation. And there are ways to use this information securely. And the phone is clearly connected to a crime.

So it should be easy for the government to formulate a request that Apple cannot refuse under the law.

Why the FBI asked for something else, I don't know.

What Apple should do now is as soon as possible to roll out a firmware upgrade that locks them out of all phones that are currently in use. Then next time, it will be impossible for Apple to help.

>>However, Apple is a neutral third party that holds information needed in an investigation.

No, they may have the technical ability to weaken a product they made, which may hold information needed in the investigation. They already provided the information they actually have access to (the iCloud backups).

If they are indeed forced to do this, I expect the market cap of AAPL will drop significantly (billions of dollars, most likely) to reflect the weakened security of their product. Is that a reasonable thing for the government to require of a neutral third party?

The whole conversation is being muddied by people who insist that every observation and line of thinking is a form of advocacy for one of two positions, and should be interpreted through this. Witness the responses to Gate's comments.

The situation is more nuanced than the loudest voices would want us to believe.

It would be helpful to identify the nuances you aren't seeing.

That's exactly why I'm asking the question - it's unclear.

Or put it another way, pretend Apple runs a storage facility. The FBI wants access to a particular storage locker, but Apple is refusing to cut the padlock on the door. Very few people would argue that Apple is justified in that situation. I'm personally not sure why digital privacy shouldn't follow the same laws as physical privacy.

By Apple giving itself the ability to unlock the phone (through a new firmware push) they now have to justify why they shouldn't use that ability. If Apple never had that ability, they could simply say "It isn't possible" and could never (legitimately) be accused of obstruction of justice. Apple put itself in this position.

It's harder than pushing a firmware. You need to write and validate a special firmware with a specific weakening of some measures, and then add a protection to lock it to that specific phone so it can't be used as a master-unlock and verify that. Because of how the FBI is pursuing this, Apple will have to take all the risk. If the update bricks the phone or fails to recover the data, Apple's reputation suffers.

As for storage lockers, like safe-deposit boxes, it's only reasonable for the government to ask the provider to open the locker/box because the business has the means for this. Non-payment results in eviction and probably "every day" they have a maintenance person sawing locks off. On the other extreme, Apple doesn't need to have a way to decrypt and evict your data for their general business so it's unreasonable to expect them to be able to provide this.

If the government wants this lock sawed off, it needs to do it itself. (Or pay a hardware-reverse engineering company do it for them.)

Not really. It's more like the FBI wants access to a particular storage locker and has the ability to open it, but wants apple to build a new kind of saw for that door so they can use it on other doors later.

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