When Apple refused to hack the iPhone 5c of the San Bernardino
mass Shooter, the FBI decided to ask someone else. This third-party hacker was
able to successfully get what the FBI wanted, which did not make Apple very
happy. Now Apple wants to know how this third-party hacker accomplished it. It
was no surprise that the FBI won’t tell Apple how it was accomplished. They did
decide to share another security flaw that was found, but Apple had already
found and addressed this problem. This flaw only relates to older iPhones and
Macs that are not using the newest versions of iOS and OS X.
The FBI says that they can’t share how the phone was hacked
because they apparently don’t know how it was done. So they decided to share
the flaw of the older software to show people that they do share
vulnerabilities with tech companies so that those flaws can’t be exploited.
My view on this situation is that the FBI does know how the phone
was hacked and just don’t want to share the vulnerability in case they have
another situation like this. This phone was a key piece of evidence in the
case, that is why they wanted it open so badly. They would not have handed it
over to someone without being informed exactly how it would be done. They probably
also had someone watching over the process so that no data was deleted,
destroyed, or altered.
If they really have no idea how it was done why wouldn’t
they let Apple know who the third-party was so they can discuss how it was done
with them. Apple not knowing how it was done leaves all users vulnerable, this
would include Apple users it the FBI.
What can be learned from this is that users need to always
stay up-to-date with software updates. The vulnerability in the older software
was found but not fixed. If you are using an older version of the software, you
still have a vulnerable phone.
I agree. It makes the argument that the FBI was making to Apple seem suspect. Make you wonder what was the real motive.
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