AppleInsider Staff
Apple is inundated with so many requests from law enforcement agencies to decrypt seized iPhones that officials must endure a waiting list before their case is handled.
The waiting list was revealed in a judge's recent court decision that was spotted by CNet and highlighted on Friday. U.S. District Judge Karen Caldwell revealed that the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives had contacted Apple for assistance in decrypting a particular seized iPhone, but the agency was placed on a waiting list.
An ATF agent turned to Apple for help after discovering that the agency "did not have the forensic capability" to decrypt the phone. Once the agent reached out to Apple, they were told it would be a wait of at least 7 weeks before the case could be addressed.
Law enforcement agencies are attempting to bypass Apple's security in order to gather evidence that can be used to charge suspected criminals. But because they're unable to break Apple's encryption, agencies are forced to seek assistance from the iPhone maker.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration also issued a memo last month calling Apple's iMessages platform a "challenge" to intercept. DEA officials attempting to tap into suspects' text messages have run into problems with iPhone-to-iPhone iMessages, which are securely encrypted.
Apple's strength of security has iOS on track to gain security clearance from the Department of Defense. Specifically, iOS 6 is expected to gain approval for use among Pentagon employees.
Malcolm Owen
Amber Neely
Christine McKee
Chip Loder
Marko Zivkovic
60 Comments
Sounds like a catch-22. Federal departments won't use the iPhone unless it has good security, but yet, other Federal departments are having problems breaking that security because criminals use it.
Why can't they use an external program like iExplorer to access the iPhone's file system?
It really does speak to the inherent value of the produce, whether it be hardware or software.
Hopefully Apple is billing the various agencies for each case. Why should Apple be doing the police's work for them for free? And I also read that Apple delivers the results on a USB thumb drive. Apple should be making money off of each police request and charging appropriately. Apple should be making a reasonable profit margin on each request.
It's good that the DEA has a hard time tapping into suspect's messages, as this proves that iPhone to iPhone messages are very secure.
In the future, people should be able to buy weed directly from within an app, with one click and zero hassle. The DEA is wasting their time and wasting our tax payer money. Hopefully they will have to wait a lot longer than 7 weeks for each request. The DEA should be downsized or dismantled completely. Talk about a useless and worthless job.
And who pays for Apple employees to handle this huge task? Law enforcement agencies? Or are there laws that make Apple responsible for providing them this service "for free"?