Apple

Apple Encryption Under Fire: Judge Says FBI Can Force Apple to Hack its Own Encryption Systems

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passcodeBy Brennen Johnson

The fight is back on between Apple and the FBI over encryption technology. In June 2014, we first covered Apple’s move to encrypt iOS 8 phones that could stump even the FBI. But the FBI wasn’t happy about it. Last November, we covered how the FBI sought a court order to force Apple to develop a method for breaking the encryption on these phones with “brute force.” However, the phone in that case ran older software that Apple could simply unlock, iOS 5, so the FBI wasn’t able to use the case as a stepping-stone to win the fight over encryption.

But as of last Tuesday, February 16, the heat turned up when a Federal Magistrate Judge ordered Apple to provide the FBI with software and technical support to help crack an iPhone of one of the San Bernardino shooters. Authorities recovered the iOS 9 phone after a married couple, Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik, shot and killed 14 people and wounded 22 others last December. After the judge issued the order, Apple CEO Tim Cook called the order a “dangerous precedent that threatens everyone’s civil liberties,” while other tech giants, like Google, stated their own support for Apple: Continue reading →

Taking a Bite Out of the Big Apple: Law Enforcement and the Apple iPhone

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iphoneBy Michael Huggins

On October 26, 2015, the United States government argued before a federal magistrate judge in New York that it should be able to force Apple to unlock an iPhone as part of a criminal investigation. The federal government filed a request for a court order to compel Apple to comply pursuant to the All Writs Act— an 18th Century law that allows federal courts to issue orders to effectuate otherwise valid court orders. The government argues that the federal courts can use the All Writs Act to force Apple to assist the government in investigating users of the software. Apple refuses to comply with the order.

Apple argues that the situation would not be any different than if the government used the All Writs Act to force a safe manufacturer to travel around the country, unlock safes, and give the contents of those safes to the government. Apple argues that the government wants Apple to do the investigative work for them. Judge James Orenstein, the federal magistrate judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, agreed with Apple’s logic. Assistant U.S. Attorney Saritha Komatireddy believes that Apple’s refusal to unlock the phone represents a surprising reversal from Apple’s previous willingness to unlock phones for the government. When Judge Orenstein asked Apple why it did not challenge the previous search warrants, Apple’s attorney Marc Zwillinger replied that the company had only recently become more cognizant of the harms to high-profile data breaches and that the company has had a change of heart. But even if Apple was willing to unlock the phone, it cannot do so because each individual contains a very specific password/key to unlock the phone. Continue reading →

If At First You Don’t Succeed (at passing a cybersecurity intelligence sharing law), Try, Try Again.

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UntitledBy Brennen Johnson

Lawmakers in the U.S. Senate just passed CISA (the “Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act”) on Tuesday, October 27. If the White House does not veto it, CISA will allow tech companies to share internet traffic information with the government without fear of liability for the disclosure of private or sensitive data. Not only would the law potentially allow companies to violate their own privacy statements with users, but also it would allow them to hide the fact that they are sharing information with the government.

So what is CISA, where did it come from, and why does it matter? This is not the first time that lawmakers have brought this type of information-sharing scheme before Congress. Back in 2011, lawmakers introduced CISPA (the “Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act”) in an attempt to help prevent cyber attacks. The basic premise behind the bill was that quickly sharing information about threats and vulnerabilities could help prevent attacks. The House of Representatives passed CISPA, but it failed in the Senate, due to a lack of confidentiality and civil liberties safeguards. The White House even proclaimed that it would veto the bill should it be passed. CISPA was reintroduced by the House in 2013, where it again failed to pass the Senate. Continue reading →

Winner Winner, Apple Dinner: Federal Circuit Issues Injunction Against Samsung for Patent Infringing Devices

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samsung-apple211By Vijay Kumar

Another chapter of the Apple/Samsung cell phone wars was written earlier this month when the Federal Circuit ruled that Apple Inc. should have been granted an injunction against Samsung Electronics Co. devices for certain patent-infringing features. The ruling is significant, not only because of its effect on the two biggest cell phone manufacturers, but also because it will likely have a significant effect on a patentee’s ability to get injunctions granted. Samsung is appealing the decision to a Federal Circuit en banc panel.

The technology at issue dealt with features of mobile phones including spelling correction, linking phone numbers in a document to a dialer, and slide-to-unlock features. This appeal stems from a May 2014 district court decision from the Northern District of California, in which Apple was awarded $120 million in damages, but denied an injunction. Continue reading →