The Apple ID passcode for the San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone was changed less than 24 hours after authorities took possession of the device, a senior Apple executive said today.
And Apple could have recovered information from the phone had the Apple ID passcode not been changed, Apple 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 Justice Department acknowledged in its court filing that the passcode 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.”
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 phone was in the possession of the government when that passcode 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 government got a warrant to search the car and get the phone in the early morning hours of Dec. 3, 2015, at 2:27 a.m. — the day after the attack.
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 a cellphone left behind by one of the San Bernardino, California, shooters.
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.
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.
If the battle between the FBI and Apple continues, it’s a matter that could work its way up to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Federal F***ing Liars.
You know…and I know…that they changed the Apple ID to plant false evidence to cover up another, in a long obvious pattern of false flag “attacks” to promote gun control.
yep
Yep, here too. Any more than 2 layers on a rotten onion and the average ‘merican isn’t bright enough or doesn’t care enough to look or think any further.
Don’t worry, ‘mericans. Your gov’t has your back.
HEY EVERYONE …..LOOK OVER THERE!………..
(all dumb sheeple look away from govt cointelpro operations)
nsa/fbi/cia/atf…….all togther change iphone passcode to cover up false flag operations…………. OK PUBLIC……NOTHING TO SEE HERE…….MOVE ALONG………..passcode changed……false flag successfully covered up.
Accurate and well said. What a bunch of scum sucking cockroaches we have in the praetorian guard. The FBI are truly anti-American swine.
“Wabbit season!”
“duck season!”
Wabbit season!”
“Duck season!”
Shhhh.
I’m hunting bunny wabbits.
I love it.
Amazing. I was just thinking of this very sequence the other day.
Thanks for posting it for me.
Right now there is an IT worker under Apple/Spook FBI surveillance.
Hiding in a dark room with pizza and mountain dew for chaser.
Probably an h1b1…worker.
Stoned wondering what the fk he or she has gotten into.
Don’t worry… be happy!
Just another chapter in the ongoing drama. The end result will be a court decision that provides government with back-door access to all encrypted devices.
They’re just letting the public get used to the idea slowly.