While Donald Trump has just urged Apple to unlock the two killers of the Pensacola military base, doubts are raised about the merits of the similar request by the FBI and the United States Minister of Justice.
Several security experts and a former Apple executive interviewed by the New york times and Bloomberg, there are common solutions in the industry to unlock iPhone 5 and 7 (relatively old models that do not benefit from the latest advances in security), without creating a hidden door, as demanded by the American authorities.
A Cellebrite Kiosk, used to extract data from a locked smartphone. Image Cellebrite.These solutions could come from Cellebrite or Grayshift, two companies that provide law enforcement around the world with tools to extract data from iPhones and other smartphones.
Their tools, named UFED and GrayKey respectively, take advantage in particular of security vulnerabilities to break the limit for entering unlock codes and thus carry out a brute force attack.
Justice Minister William Barr argued that every opportunity had been taken to unlock the iPhones, to no avail, without giving details of the attempts. According to New york times, frustration and skepticism reign within the Apple team responsible for managing this sensitive matter, one wonders if the authorities have really tried all third-party tools.
Even if the damage suffered by one of the iPhones would prevent third-party tools from working, security researchers believe that Apple would also be blocked by damage.
As Donald Trump's statement on Twitter further showed, the U.S. government believes that Apple has not decided whether or not to help unlock these iPhones. Respect for privacy has never been a fundamental right of the American Constitution, said William Barr in a speech last October.
Apple executives were surprised by the rapid escalation of this case, which recalls that of San Bernardino in 2016, according to the New york times. Also according to the newspaper, Apple is preparing a legal battle with the Minister of Justice to defend the encryption of the iPhone.
