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.

[Mr. M.J.B.]

Hard to beat the FBI for illegaility, perversion of Justice, evidence destruction, truth obfuscation and much more. IOTW, they are USGOV law enfarcement and justice.

[Tucker39]

I think “the County Guy” is a fictitious character. This just convinces me all the more that my hunch is right. The story says the password was changed pretty quickly. That just reinforces my opinion that this brouhaha with Apple is a ruse.

My theory is that CIA, FBI, NSA, et al, have code experts every bit as clever as Apple. I think they cracked that phone pretty quickly; Got all the info that was in it; That we’ve had agents in the ME for a month or more following the leads they got off the phone. And this public squabble is for the ragheads, to assure them that anything they put on an iphone is absolutely secure, encouraging them to put more secrets on their iphones, for our ongoing discovery next time we capture one.

The idea that computer systems worth million$ can be hacked and cracked by some doofus sitting in his parents’ basement, sucking on a roach; but a $500 phone is impregnable to the Nation’s top investigative agencies, is ludicrous. JMHO.

[DBrow]

“so that the FBI can attempt to discover the passcode and unlock the iPhone.”

And once that capability is implemented, they can do that to ANY iPhone just by citing precedent. They can, by court order, send 10,000 phones per month for safe unlocking. To keep the children safe.

[DiogenesLamp]

A federal judge has given that opinion. Apple is appealing it.

Bummer they can do that, eh?

Not at all. At the very least they can get the judge to clarify the order in such a way as to protect Apple and their products.

[VRWCarea51]

#60 this whole idea that they will save the world if the crack the phone is a joke.

Someone remind us again how many times Russia warned the Feds. about the Boston boys and how many times did the feds look into them and they still went Islamic on Boston.

[Talisker]

Stop screwing around, disarm the number of password tries lock so they can super computer crunch the passwords and get after the rag headed sock suckers who killed all those people...time is wasting. Is that clear enough?

What part of "they already had the pass code" don't you understand? And if the FBI already had it, how do you know they didn't use it to get the info off of the phone before they released it to some county IT guy? Don't you see how this blows the government's credibility to shreds in this matter?

[visualops]

It sure sounds like they only care about the “subject device”. So is Apple just making hay by inferring that complying requires them to modify all future iphones or whatever?

[big'ol_freeper]

RE: A Federal Judge has made it Apple’s responsibility.

And I’m not ok with that. I believe in the Bill of Rights.

[D-fendr]

According to Apple:

“The FBI wants us to make a new version of the iPhone operating system, circumventing several important security features, and install it on [the shooter’s] iPhone,” Cook added. “In the wrong hands, this software — which does not exist today — would have the potential to unlock any iPhone in someone’s physical possession.”

[i_robot73]

I thought the same, briefly. Then I realized almost NO lawyer/judge/politician/etc. gives 2 sh!ts for the Constitution, except when it suits THEM.

Apple SHOULD have responded, “Sure. We will do what we can to crack the current encryption: When in OUR possession, in OUR labs and under OUR controls. We will then GLADLY return the non-encrypted phone to the FBI. After which, the process will be destroyed and no further customer need worry about any ‘back-door’, 4th Amendment infringements.”

Apple secures their property, judge is satisfied, FBI would have the data they requested and the FBI wouldn’t have SQUAT to further abuse the 4th for the rest of us.

I have long lost the trust of ANY govt to do anything for the benefit of The People, let alone voluntarily say “Whoa!” when trampling upon our Rights. I can think of NO slippery-slope that is not a full-on free-fall.

[Talisker]

At the very least they can get the judge to clarify the order in such a way as to protect Apple and their products.

Maybe you can call up Apple and tell them how that can be done - they seem to think it can't. Just imagine the gigantic consulting fee you could charge them, and the industry fame it would bring you, along with so many more high paying clients.

[Patriot Babe]

and that is a big and YUGE RUH-ROH!! lol

[hoosiermama]

OR it’s all a cover story. They were able.to get into it and get the information but want others involved to think they are not on the radar and will therefore continue their behavior and trip more wires thus exposing more people and actions.

Don’t believe everything we are told. Being mislead may be in our best interest.

[unixfox]

So...the feds are lying? Again?

This govt CANNOT be trusted!!! EVER!!!

[doc1019]

OIC, makes more sense. TY

[DBrow]

“get after the rag headed sock suckers who killed all those people...time is wasting.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_detail_record

They already know every call and text into and out of that phone, since the phone company is required to keep CDR and metadata for several years. They should look into who called and who was called, quickly!
.......................
“The National Security Agency (NSA) commonly records Internet metadata for the whole planet for up to a year in its MARINA database, where it is used for pattern-of-life analysis. U.S. persons are not exempt because metadata are not considered data under US law (section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act).[49] Its equivalent for phone records is MAINWAY.[50] The NSA records SMS and similar text messages worldwide through DISHFIRE.[51]
Leveraging commercial data retention

Various United States agencies leverage the (voluntary) data retention practised by many U.S. commercial organizations through programs such as PRISM and MUSCULAR.

Amazon is known to retain extensive data on customer transactions. Google is also known to retain data on searches, and other transactions. If a company is based in the United States the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) can obtain access to such information by means of a National Security Letter (NSL). The Electronic Frontier Foundation states that “NSLs are secret subpoenas issued directly by the FBI without any judicial oversight. These secret subpoenas allow the FBI to demand that online service providers or ecommerce companies produce records of their customers’ transactions. The FBI can issue NSLs for information about people who haven’t committed any crimes.

NSLs are practically immune to judicial review. They are accompanied by gag orders that allow no exception for talking to lawyers and provide no effective opportunity for the recipients to challenge them in court. This secret subpoena authority, which was expanded by the controversial USA PATRIOT Act, could be applied to nearly any online service provider for practically any type of record, without a court ever knowing”. The Washington Post has published a well researched article on the FBI’s use of National Security Letters.[52]”

[WMarshal]

I’ll bet the county IT department set it up so there was dual passcodes the phone, one for Miss traders and one cent by the user. Probably the idiot reset it without knowing what it was doing, Apple technology can be so simple it is confusing (in order to simplify the interface they’ve dumbed it down too much).

[NYer]

Ping!

[Mr Radical]

The guy who reset the password, his name wasn’t Jack Ruby by any coincidence?

[USNBandit]

The Apple ID passcode would have to be changed by somebody who knew the old passcode or could receive a passcode reset email. Not necessarily somebody using the phone itself. After the passcode is reset and the phone readfiliates with the Internet, the new passcode would be required.

Conceivably it could have been done by IT, a family member, or co-can't conspirator. It could have been done by the FBI if they had access to another computer to that the terrorist used to come communicate with Apple.