Government pressure for Apple to bypass iPhone encryption reduced as owner enters guilty plea

PCWorld ^ | October 30, 2015 | By John Ribeiro

[Swordmaker]

The development removes pressure on a New York court for an expedited decision on the dispute

Jun Feng, a defendant in a criminal case, has entered a guilty plea, removing pressure from a New York court to decide quickly whether Apple is required to aid investigators by bypassing his iPhone 5s passcode.

Feng had been indicted on three counts related to the possession and distribution of methamphetamine. The U.S. Department of Justice had asked the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York for an expedited decision so as to secure evidence in a trial scheduled to begin on Nov. 16.

But on Thursday, DOJ informed the court that Feng has entered a guilty plea. “The government persists in the application pending before the Court, but in view of the guilty plea, no longer requests expedited treatment,” U.S. Attorney Robert L. Capers wrote in a letter to Magistrate Judge James Orenstein.

[Hodar]

With only a 4 digit passcode I would think that it could be easily bypassed since I don’t think touch is required once you input the 4 digit code.

You need to use the code, if the phone is restarted, before the TouchID will work. But even with a 4 digit code, there is still a customer failsafe. You can tell your phone to auto-wipe itself after 10 failed attempts at the 4 digit code. You phone wipes itself, and if it's iOS8 or better - is then essentially an unusable brick, until the phone is connected to the AppleID and the iCloud, and released BY THE OWNER.

This makes stolen phones essentially worthless. But, only if you - the USER - enable this security.

[Hodar]

What if you want a physical keyboard?

Sure, no problem. There are plenty of Blu-tooth enabled keyboards that work for iOS, supporting AppleTV, iPads, iPhones and the iPod Touch

[Swordmaker]

Crap,I was hoping having old s@it made fly under the radar

No, with that iPhone, your best bet is for YOU to fly under the radar. . .

[Elle Bee]

the Govt gave the guy a great plea deal to prevent an daverse ruling to their request to open the iphone

yes they are that corrupt - they would rather let a meth dealer go lightly than lose a chance to get into your phone

.

[Swordmaker]

yes they are that corrupt - they would rather let a meth dealer go lightly than lose a chance to get into your phone

I think you are misapprehending this, Elle Bee. With the guilty plea, the attempt to get into the iPhone dies. It becomes a moot point. The prosecution no longer has any standing to demand access to the defendants iPhone, as there is no longer any probative purpose in opening it for prosecutorial purpose. Ergo, they drop their demand the court order Apple to cooperate in opening the phone. The government loses an opportunity to get a precedent for use in the next case.