FBI wasn't able to unlock iPhone, even with a 'fingerprint unlock warrant' (video at Link)

CNN Money ^ | May 12, 2016: 10:24 AM ET | by Jose Pagliery

[Swordmaker]

A judge recently took the controversial step of letting the FBI force a woman to unlock an iPhone with her fingerprints. But it didn't work.

CNNMoney has learned that the FBI was unable to open an iPhone in Los Angeles.

It's an important detail when debating how new technology -- and new police methods -- affect Americans' Fifth Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination.

And it shows that while the FBI unlocked the San Bernardino terrorist's iPhone 5C, law enforcement still has trouble getting into most iPhones.

The present case sparked nationwide attention when it was highlighted by the Los Angeles Times last month. It concerned a recent criminal case in California involving Paytsar Bkhchadzhyan, the girlfriend of an accused Armenian gang member.

On Feb. 25, she showed up at a state courthouse to be sentenced to jail for identity theft, according to court records. That very same day, on the other side of town, a federal judge signed off on a warrant forcing her to push her finger on an iPhone. The iPhone had been confiscated at the Glendale home of her boyfriend, Sevak Mesrobian.

[Swordmaker]

Video at link is not related to the article but instead is about a father who attempted to use Celebrite to unlock his dead adopted son's iPhone. The son, who died apparently of cancer, did not pass on his four digit passcode and his dead fingerprint did not work for the father who attempted to unlock it. Apple told him that there was no way to unlock it. Celebrate could only allow him to look at the file structure with their attempt. There were five photos taken since the last time he saw the photos he wants to see. Naturally he thinks Apple is in the wrong to have unbreakable encryption, and it's Apple's fault he can't get in, not that his son did not share his passcode with his father.

[New Jersey Realist]

Guess I’ll have to stop watching Blindside and Scorpion. Obviously over their heads for real.

[Gay State Conservative]

WHAT DOES PRECIOUS LITTLE TIMMY COOK HAVE ON HIS iPHONE THAT HE DOESN'T WANT THE POLICE TO SEE???

One can only guess...

[Swordmaker]

Aloha from Hawai'i where I am on vacation with my girlfriend.

The Search Warrant issued by a Los Angeles 9th Circuit Court Magistrate Judge requiring a woman to unlock her iPhone with her fingerprint to permit it to be searched despite her objections did not work! Did they wait too long before making her try? Did she use another finger? Questions abound. — PING!

Pinging dayglored, ThunderSleeps, and Shadow Ace for the Slippery Slope.

Apple and the Right of Privacy v. DOJ and the FBI
Ping!

The latest Apple/Mac/iOS Pings can be found by searching Keyword "ApplePingList" on FreeRepublic's Search.

If you want on or off the Mac Ping List, Freepmail me

[Swordmaker]

WHAT DOES PRECIOUS LITTLE TIMMY COOK HAVE ON HIS iPHONE THAT HE DOESN'T WANT THE POLICE TO SEE???

One can only guess...

Projection. This has NOTHING to do with that. . . but you are fixated with your fears about your masculinity, aren't you? What ARE you afraid of? You have your little mind in the gutter.

[mass55th]

"'They forced her to use all 10 fingers to unlock the phone. But it didn't unlock the phone,' said George G. Mgdesyan, the attorney who represented the couple."

Maybe they should have forced her to use all 10 toes too, and if that didn't work, her ear lobes, and when that failed, her butt cheeks.

Sarcasm

[Buckeye McFrog]

Doesn’t matter. In five years the world will be awash in encryption they can’t break.

[Boogieman]

“And as it turns out, when a person hasn’t unlocked their iPhone using the Touch ID feature for 48 hours, the device will demand their passcode as a security measure, according to Apple.”

So for the most part, the fingerprint warrants would be completely useless, even if they are constitutional.

[justlurking]

Guess I’ll have to stop watching Blindside and Scorpion. Obviously over their heads for real.

You have to suspend belief to watch those shows -- ESPECIALLY "Scorpion". I refuse to watch the latter because it is so far detached from reality.

CSI: Cyber is almost as bad.

[IncPen]

WHAT DOES PRECIOUS LITTLE TIMMY COOK HAVE ON HIS iPHONE THAT HE DOESN'T WANT THE POLICE TO SEE???

One can only guess...

If you think Cook is in any way obligated to show anyone– especially the FBI– what's on his iPhone, you're on the wrong website. FreeRepublic opposes government intrusion into the private lives of citizens.

Your odd fascinations with Cook seem to have a root cause.

[justlurking]

In five years the world will be awash in encryption they can’t break.

It already is. The only reason this encryption is "breakable" is a poor choice for a portion of the key.

A 4-digit passcode is easily breakable via brute force. Even a 6-digit code is breakable, if you can try it often enough.

The only reason fingerprints are insecure is the current precedent in US courts, that say a fingerprint is evidence, rather than self-incrimination.

[justlurking]

So for the most part, the fingerprint warrants would be completely useless, even if they are constitutional.

In this case, they got the judge to sign a warrant within 48 hours of obtaining the phone.

But one thing that I found interesting: I'm not sure they could even prove it was the woman's phone. They had seized the phone at her boyfriend's house, the same day that she made an appearance at the courthouse to be sentenced for a previous conviction for identity theft.

[Swordmaker]

Doesn’t matter. In five years the world will be awash in encryption they can’t break.

It already is. Last count: over 880 free and paid apps that can completely encrypt data on the flash drive (although not as completely as Apple's wall-to-wall system), to a 256 bit AES standard.

[Swordmaker]

Maybe they should have forced her to use all 10 toes too, and if that didn't work, her ear lobes, and when that failed, her butt cheeks.

LOL! These FBI agents are idiots!

Once you've tried four failed fingerprint attempts, you have to use the passcode to unlock the device. Of course TEN didn't work! Apple assumes the person owning the finger IS the owner of the device and knows the passcode and TouchID is merely a quick means of access, not the only means of access.

[gaijin]

Picture it:

"The Colonies do hereby declare that the scourge of the land --ENVELOPES..!-- are henceforth BANNED as the tools of dastardly conspirators, scheming against our betters, sending, as they do, letters invisible to the gaze of responsible constables...!!"

Recall any of that?

[CodeToad]

“You have your little mind in the gutter. “

Tim Cook is the one that just had to tell the world he is a mentally ill homosexual. Don’t go blaming FReepers for his mental illness.

[Gay State Conservative]

FreeRepublic opposes government intrusion into the private lives of citizens.

Those of average intelligence and a fierce loyalty to the Constitution as written understand and accept that the 4th Amendment forbids *unreasonable* searches and seizures...not *all*.

Your odd fascinations with Cook...

Neither my "fascination" with Little Timmy...nor my "fascination" with the California jihadis whose iPhone(s) started all this...are at issue.What *is* at issue is the unmistakable fact that Timmy,of all people,is siding...LOUDLY AND DEFIANTLY...with those murderous jihadis.Now given that Timmy surely understands that,if given the chance,these jihadis would behead *him* (and those like him) before they'd bother with any Jews they might come across one would assume that he's not a huge fan of those medieval knuckledraggers.

So why would he take the same position as them?

Inquiring minds want to know!

[Mark17]

Thanks for all the good work. When I was in the Sacramento area, I did NOT get the Iwatch, but I AM interested in the IPhone 7, whenever it comes out.

[Coronal]

Why the obsession with Tim Cook?

[WMarshal]

Good, the police should NOT be able to force you to do anything to incriminate yourself.