Tim Cook’s Open Letter Prompted by the FBI Going Public
Apple’s spat with the FBI over building a cracking tool for an iPhone linked to the San Bernardino terrorism case has taken an interesting turn. The New York Times reports that while Apple had asked the FBI to file its request under seal, the government chose instead to make it public. That supports the theory that the FBI is using this high-profile case of domestic terrorism to pressure Apple into compromising the security of its products. Faced with this PR onslaught, Apple saw no choice but to take its case for supporting encryption to the public in Tim Cook’s open letter. Sadly, this fight between the FBI and Apple could have been avoided had the assailant’s employer used standard mobile device management tools to maintain passcode control over the work iPhone in question.
I don't think it matters whether mobile device management tools were used. I think the FBI is looking for a high-profile test case to force Apple to backdoor iPhones. The FBI could spend a few hundred dollars to buy an IP Box, a black box that bypasses the 10-try limit by cutting the power before the phone can increment its counters (https://www.intego.com/mac-security-blog/iphone-pin-pass-code/). It works with the iPhone 5. So they could have already unlocked the phone if that's what they really wanted to do. It seems clear that what they really want to do is force Apple to write a backdoor.
Our point was merely that if MDM had been used, the FBI wouldn't have been able to use this as an excuse because the employer would have been able to unlock the phone easily.
I agree that it shouldn't matter if their employer used management tools. If my employer pays for my iPhone, then it has the right to do whatever it wants with it. It's not mine and I have no expectation of privacy on that device.
However, if they ask me to load information (email access, etc) so they can contact me, I don't want my employer to have a kill switch to a device for which they didn't pay.
I despise terrorists as much as anyone. However, I feel strongly that this was a fight that Apple had to take on if they believe in privacy for all of us. I'm just hoping that some sanity prevails in this argument, but I'm not optimistic.
Bob C