San Bernardino Shooter's Apple ID Passcode Changed While in Government Possession, Apple Says

ABC News ^ | 2/19/2016 | Jack Date

[rpierce]

The Apple ID passcode for the San Bernardino shooter's iPhone was changed less than 24 hours after authorities took possession of the device, a senior Apple executive said today.

And Apple could have recovered information from the phone had the Apple ID passcode not been changed, Apple said.

If the phone was taken to a location where it recognized the Wi-Fi network, such as the San Bernardino shooters' home, it could have been backed up to the cloud, Apple suggested. ... The auto reset was executed by a county information technology employee, according to a federal official. Federal investigators only found out about the reset after it had occurred and that the county employee acted on his own, not on the orders of federal authorities, the source said.

[rpierce]

So the county IT guy decided to get creative and set an unfortunate chain of events in motion. Sucks to be him right about now.

[DoughtyOne]

[Sasparilla]

Stranger and stranger.

[chae]

Seems more and more like this isn’t about getting into this phone, so much as being able to get into everyone’s phone

[Iscool]

So the county IT guy decided to get creative and set an unfortunate chain of events in motion. Sucks to be him right about now.

Wonder if he's a muzlim...If he is, he's probably in Pakistan right now...

[dirtboy]

This is getting really confusing. I am told Apple could not retrieve this info, now they are telling me they could have if the passcode had not changed. I am keeping an open mind on this, but this just keeps getting stranger.

[UB355]

The phone was county property

[DoughtyOne]

Not necessarily.

Trying to access the password three times will prompt for a new password.

They probably reset it trying to work on the phone.

[Vic S]

The FBI probably changed it so they could use it as a way to force apple to give them a way to get in all iPhones. Anyone who still trusts that we’re being told the whole truth and has made up their mind should slow down.

[digger48]

How is it that the phone could be in the hands of a county guy?

Weren’t the Feds there on the scene immediately?

[smokingfrog]

Ruh-roh!

[rpierce]

I can commiserate somewhat with the county IT guy. You can find yourself off a cliff fast in the world of Apple device security management. (Ever bought a used Mac and got into the firmware lock hell?).
Still, on a (very) high-profile criminal case, I think I'd have not changed anything on the device and enlisted the help of the big boys.

[precisionshootist]

"The phone was county property"

Yet many on this board think the court can order Apple to conduct a search on this device that they do not own and had nothing to do with this crime.

[BfloGuy]

The phone was county property

Doesn't matter. The article makes it sound as if it does.

But it doesn't.

[big'ol_freeper]

It’s the FBI’s responsibility to get the data from the phone, not Apple’s.

[doc1019]

Trying to access the password three times will prompt for a new password.

So, you just enter a new password and you are good to go?

[WENDLE]

BOYCOTT APPLE!!! Trump is right!! Get that data on that one phone or send them to jail!!

[gaijin]

See?

It’s NOT about reading HIS stuff, nope!

It’s about reading OUR stuff. Always. Arbitrarily.

The druggy McAfee volunteered to decrypt the phone for Da Gummint FOR FREE, and no takers.

Surprised?

I think they read ALL his stuff and are using this massacre.

“Never let a crisis go to waste...”

[Tucker39]

Is any of his names Mohammed?

[Captain Peter Blood]

It was a remote change by the county guy. He never had the phone.