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San Bernardino jihad murderer’s iCloud password changed while iPhone was in government possession

Feb 21, 2016 7:15 am By Robert Spencer

“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.”

It appears that the Obama Administration is after more than just the contents of the jihadis’ iPhone — it wants to be able to get into anyone’s iPhone. Given its overall insidious agenda, Apple is right to stand firm — there must be other ways to get the data on the jihadis’ phone, without compromising everyone’s.

Meanwhile, the fact that the password changed while the phone was in government possession demonstrates either ineptitude or subversion. Given the level of infiltration and willful ignorance in the Obama Administration, the latter is very much a possibility.

malik_farook_airport

“San Bernardino Shooter’s iCloud Password Changed While iPhone was in Government Possession,” by Jack Date, ABC News, February 19, 2016:

The password for the San Bernardino shooter’s iCloud account associated with his iPhone was reset hours after authorities took possession of the device.

The Justice Department acknowledged in its court filing that the password of Syed Farook’s iCloud account had been reset. The filing states, “the owner [San Bernardino County Department of Public Health], in an attempt to gain access to some information in the hours after the attack, was able to reset the password remotely, but that had the effect of eliminating the possibility of an auto-backup.”

Apple could have recovered information from the iPhone had the iCloud password not been reset, the company 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.

Apple executives say the iPhone was in the possession of the government when iCloud password was reset. A federal official familiar with the investigation confirmed that federal investigators were indeed in possession of the phone when the reset occurred.

Missing the opportunity for a backup was crucial because some of the information stored on the phone would have been backed up to the iCloud and could have potentially been retrieved. According to court records, the iPhone had not been backed up since Oct. 19, 2015, one-and-a-half months before the attack and that this “indicates to the FBI that Farook may have disabled the automatic iCloud backup function to hide evidence.”

The development comes as the Justice Department is pushing forward with its legal fight against Apple, urging a federal judge to compel the tech giant to help the FBI crack open an iPhone left behind by Farook.

Farook, who along with his wife, Tashfeen Malik, launched a deadly assault on Dec. 2, 2015, killing 14 of Farook’s coworkers at a holiday party.

The Justice Department has asked Apple to turn off the feature that erases an iPhone’s data after 10 failed attempts to unlock the device so that investigators can run all possible combinations to break the four-digit passcode on Farook’s phone. A federal judge ordered Apple to help the FBI but the company has said it plans to fight the order.

Prosecutors said Farook’s device could be encrypted to the point that its content would be “permanently inaccessible,” and, “Apple has the exclusive technical means which would assist the government in completing its search.”

After the court order, Apple quickly vowed to challenge the decision.

“The United States government has demanded that Apple take an unprecedented step which threatens the security of our customers,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a statement to customers Tuesday night. “[T]his order … has implications far beyond the legal case at hand.”

“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.”

In addition, all of the personal and sensitive information on customers’ phones “needs to be protected from hackers and criminals who want to access it, steal it, and use it without our knowledge or permission,” Cook wrote….

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Filed Under: Featured, Jihad in the U.S. Tagged With: Apple, San Bernardino, Syed Rizwan Farook


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Comments

  1. Sam Hawkins says

    Feb 21, 2016 at 7:37 am

    Wasn’t the “vetting” of the wife-thing — before she transferred over from Pakistan — doomed to fail because U.S. officials were prohibited from looking at her social media postings (where she had made jihadist statements)?

    • Angemon says

      Feb 21, 2016 at 7:44 am

      I think that her social media presence was simply not looked into.

    • Jay Boo says

      Feb 21, 2016 at 8:56 am

      Exactly

      What would the FBI need from the encrypted the iPhone?

      A list of who was called, video and text messages.
      They would already have intercepted that with proper surveillance if the Obama Administration had not given the order to stand down.

  2. Angemon says

    Feb 21, 2016 at 7:42 am

    Apple could have recovered information from the iPhone had the iCloud password not been reset, the company 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.

    Is that employee being questioned?

    • PRCS says

      Feb 21, 2016 at 11:34 am

      “Is that employee being questioned?”

      http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/feb/20/san-bernadino-county-fbi-gunman-apple-account

      “But the county took the unusual step Friday night of stating that the only reason it tampered with potential evidence was because the FBI told it do so.”

      • Custos Custodum says

        Feb 22, 2016 at 3:29 am

        Good catch – thanks.

        Surely there are also multiple reports of this on CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, NYT, WSJ etc.?

      • Angemon says

        Feb 22, 2016 at 8:30 pm

        So basically it’s a “FBI said, county employee said” thing – great…

      • Angemon says

        Feb 22, 2016 at 8:31 pm

        Also, thanks for the info, PRCS.

  3. Ellie says

    Feb 21, 2016 at 7:44 am

    The government has used terrorism or the threat of terrorism to strip American citizens of liberties from the start. Innocent American citizens were subjected to illegal search at airports while our southern boarder was left wide open after 9/11.
    The “supreme” court decided for abortion on under the “right to privacy” guise and yet today we are told we have no ‘reasonable expectation of privacy.’
    Every mainstream media outlet is shaming Apple for this decision which shows, once again, the level of government control of media in the US.

  4. Mike says

    Feb 21, 2016 at 10:21 am

    Firstly, all of this would probably have been avoided had proper vetting procedures been in place in the first instance. Trump has it right in that vetting of known threats should be paramount and had a proper procedure been used to vet this woman its more than likely she would not have been allowed in. Like it or not, there may be a case to demand positive vetting from anyone entering a western country whether as a visitor, immigrant or whatever. Sure, it will be inconvenient but immigrants on a I-120 spouse visa have to be positively vetted so why not everyone coming in.

    On the iPhone issue, I see no technical reason why Apple cant get the data from the phone whilst retaining security aspects and just pass that to the FBI.

    • Jo Desmet says

      Feb 22, 2016 at 2:13 am

      I believe there can be sufficient technical reason: 1./ state of the attempt count maintained on the encrypted part of the iPhone; 2./ state for the software update trigger mechanism maintained on the encrypted part of the iPhone (needing an agreement). Best chance is to disable the iPhone radio to avoid any future update, and use old-fashioned hacking attempts trying to attempt to use known, and yet unknown bugs in the software (memory overwrite). Just have the NSA have a play with it.

  5. isntlam says

    Feb 21, 2016 at 11:53 am

    The government has always been able to confiscate hard drives and other information whether in digital or other form. I haven’t heard anyone complaining about that.

    • Custos Custodum says

      Feb 22, 2016 at 3:31 am

      OK, you have earned your posting fee. $6.53 will be wired to your account next period.

  6. Walter Sieruk says

    Feb 21, 2016 at 1:37 pm

    An important question: is the Quran the Word of God or is it a fabrication of a man. Thus, is the Quran the truth or a fiction and a hoax? The jihadists use many verses from the Quran as the main source of justification for their violence, mayhem and murders. There, the question is clearly given on pages 145 through 157 in THE ISLAMIC INVASION by Robert Morey in which he wrote a section on the Quran with its self-contradictions. Just two of the many he cited are the following “The Quran differs on whether a day is a thousand years or fifty thousand years in God’s sight’ and “Who was first to believe? Abraham or Moses [Sura 6:14 versus 7:143]? The above is inconsistent and illogical. Further, Morey wrote about “The fact that Judaism and Christianity broke up into different sects was used in the Quran to prove that they are not of God [Suras 30:20-32. 42:13, 14]. Yet Islam has broken up into many warring sects and therefore cannot be true if the Quran is right.” Moreover, Morey in his book shows many more contradictions and absurdities in the Quran, there are and how Muhammad incorporated extra Biblical and Jewish folklore along with pre-Islamic Arabian myth and parts of Zoroastrian and Hindu stories into the Quran. Furthermore, the Muslims claim that “the Quran is the direct, literal word of God unmodified in any way by the Prophet who uttered them at the bidding of God.” Nevertheless, in the book UNVEILING ISLAM by Ergun Mehmet and Eethi Caner has shown that the Quran was modified in the following account on pages 45. “Muhammad felt the need to improve on the words of Allah, since he changed Allah’s wisdom for his own on several occasions. A hadith tells of the nonchalant emendations of Muhammad:’ On a number of occasions he [a scribe] had, with the Prophet’s consent changed the closing words of verses. For example, when the prophet had said ‘God is mighty and wise ‘ Adbollah b. Abi Sarh suggested writing down ‘Knowing and wise’ and the Prophet answered that there was no objection. Having observed a succession of changes of this type, Adbollah renounced Islam on the grounds that revelations, if from God could not be changed at the prompting of a scribe such as himself. After his apostasy he went to Mecca and joined the Qorayshites.’ Other writers reveal that later Muhammad and his people did go war with the Qorayshites and he personally killed Abdollah. Obviously Abdollah knew too much and Muhammad wanted Abdollah’s knowledge to die with him.” In conclusion, the Quran is not only a fiction, it’s also a hoax.

  7. underbed cat says

    Feb 21, 2016 at 2:27 pm

    Clever….someone was able to change the i-cloud password connection, while it was in the governments possession…so does that remove it from the storage or does it stop it from any further information. Just wonder how many are working in our government county offices, military etc. with such loyalties, ready to subvert information, what could they have access to, just about anything. I do hope the FBI gets needed assistance. This shows that diversity hiring without information of a certain” aspect” is showing it’s abilities to connect to one another. They have too much protection and used deception which was very instrumental to get access, so the “actors”, can do their work for the caliphate and those who direct it.

    • Polk1970 says

      Feb 21, 2016 at 6:57 pm

      They should grab the County employee’s smart/cell phone(s) for contacts before,but especially,on that day of the massacre.
      The fact that he/she was in a position ,at the County level,,to effect this sabotage shows how deep the infiltration is by Muslim Brotherhood Jihadis

  8. somehistory says

    Feb 21, 2016 at 3:48 pm

    There are so many holes in this.

    First, if the password was changed before backup could take place, why can’t the guy who changed the password get into the phone?
    If the changing of the password is keeping the authorities from finding out what was on the phone that was not backed up, how will it help for the company to help them get into the phone? If the information that was on the phone is gone due to not being backed up, then how will getting into the phone now…after the password has been changed…help?

    And how can the government force a company to make something new? If the software has not yet been invented that will do what the FBI wants to do, how can they force Apple to invent the software?

    I guess much like the government forced people to buy insurance, they are forcing companies to invent new products.
    And when looking at all of the things they have done regarding names of people and information being deleted, what good will it do to know everything the dead guy and his dead wife had to say to possible terrorists not yet dead? Anything regarding the evil ialam that these terrorists said to others would be deleted, would it not?

  9. Custos Custodum says

    Feb 22, 2016 at 3:18 am

    Electronic Evidence from Cell Phone Use already Available to FBI

    Note: Islamic State, Al Qaeda and any criminal organization worth its salt all know the techniques listed below. Meanwhile, please spare a thought for hardworking and loyal FBI and other law enforcement agents – there are still many of them – who are forced to play along with these demeaning charades.

    (1) Full Location Information. Cell phone location at all times when cell phone was active, whether or not calls were made. Measured through cell tower triangulation and/or GPS (E911), available from phone service provider.

    (2) SMS Messages. Full text, time stamps, sender/recipient info is logged by phone service provider and available there. Also, cell phone location at time or sending/receipt (or any other time), see above.

    (3) Phone Call Data. Numbers called/called from, time and duration of all calls are logged by phone service provider. In addition, possibly recording of call itself e.g. if FISA warrant or informal surveillance order was in place. Also, location at time of calls (or any other time), see (1) above.

    (4) Internet IP Addresses. Phone service providers log the IP address of every website with which the cell phone interacted at any time. The IP address fully identifies the website. Many websites – e.g. Google – keep extensive records of all interactions. For example, Google or Bing would have full records of all information looked up using the pone in question.

    (5) App information. Specifically, Google Maps, Whatsapp and most other smartphone apps interact with the respective service providers who keep logs. All such interactions are logged by service providers.

    As others have noted, all this leaves the question – what information could be stored on the phone that was NOT communicated to or from the cell phone through one of the above methods? Photographs or personal notes are unlikely to be helpful – by now, we know the location where the terrorists decided to strike.

  10. Custos Custodum says

    Feb 22, 2016 at 3:23 am

    P.S.: Are we really to believe that San Bernardino County would on its own initiative and without liaising with the FBI have reset the password of a cell phone involved in a terrorist act (which claimed the lives of other county employees) ?

  11. copakeman says

    Feb 22, 2016 at 10:50 am

    This is another way our wonderful federal government is using a tragedy to takeover a private business. They will tell apple and every other business what to produce and only with the federal government’s approval. How many times have you seen on national network news that any of the past slaughters have occurred on “Gun Free Zones” ? Our government spends many trillions of $’s annually. They can’t find 1 programmer who could crack the apple code to retrieve the wanted data ? I hope Apple stands its grounds against this federal government intrusion. Don’t let the government dance on the coffins of the San Bernardino dead to take over a private industry. Don’t forget the slew of state restrictive gun control laws that were passes after that tragedy on a gun free zone in Connecticut. This is a foot in the door, a start, to control private industry.

  12. Carolyne says

    Feb 22, 2016 at 5:18 pm

    I believe this to be a ruse by the Federal Government to force Apple to invent a new system so that they can get into any IPhone, including mine and yours. A “County employee” remotely reset the Icloud password and the county says that either the phone was in the custody of the FBI or the “County employee” did it on orders of the Federal Government. Both stories cannot be true.

    I believe that the FBI, working under the DOJ’s orders is trying to get a new system so they can read any info on anyone’s phone at anytime they wish. This is the same DOJ that refused to prosecute the Black Panthers holding clubs to intimidate voters and investigating the Clock boy episode, not the Clock boy, but the school district.

    I don’t trust any of them. I think they will do anything to protect Muslims and that is why the password was changed and that is why they want the Apple information. Our government is infiltrated by the Muslim Brotherhood at the highest level. This is more of the same.

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