Turkish authorities seeking Apple's help to unlock iPhone 4s found on assassin

Following the assassination of the Russian ambassador to Turkey, Apple has reportedly been asked to unlock the shooter's iPhone 4s recovered after the gunfight for more information regarding the man, and insight on his colleagues.

According to MacReports, the iPhone 4s owned by the killer is protected by a four-digit passcode, and will be scavenged for potential co-conspirators to the shooting that garnered international attention, and drew parallels by media to the start of World War I. Reportedly, attempts to penetrate the device have been unsuccessful by local law enforcement.

It is unknown what path Apple will take regarding the request, but given history the company is expected to refuse to help the situation beyond providing whatever resides in any iCloud backup. Also unknown is what version of the iOS the device is running.

Regardless, the Russian government is reportedly sending a technical team to assist with the unlock effort.

The request on the surface is similar to that made by the FBI demanding that Apple assist in penetrating the San Bernardino shooters' county-owned iPhone 5c. Neither phone contains Apple's "secure enclave" which debuted with the iPhone 5s A7 chip.

Ultimately, the FBI obtained the help of a third party at exorbitant cost, thought to be Israeli company Cellebrite, but also rumored to be a vague group of "grey-hat" hackers. No useful data linking the San Bernardino shooters to other suspects or deeper ties to terrorist organizations was discovered.

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36 Comments

Soli

said about 7 years ago

Why wouldn't this assassin wipe his phone right before the attack or make sure there was nothing on it that could lead him to anyone else?

tyler82

said about 7 years ago

Turkey should be vetting its police officers better. Anything to distract attention away from them being partly to blame for this. I hope Russia makes them their B.

knowitall

said about 7 years ago

Why would Apple refuse to help?
This was clearly an inhumane act and it is possibly they can help.
Apples conflict with the FBI had to do with a demand to help, possibly backed up by the law.
This is a request, if I understand correctly, so Apple will help I think.

knowitall

said about 7 years ago

tyler82 said:

Turkey should be vetting its police officers better. Anything to distract attention away from them being partly to blame for this. I hope Russia makes them their B.

U.S. soldiers turned to the 'dark side' and killed 'their own', so it seem this can happen to any country.
But it might be a good idea to investigate whether it was (gross) negligence on the recruiting and/or psychological support part.

apple jockey

said about 7 years ago

Apple must tread carefully with this request from Turkey. While Apple instinct is to deny requests for such technical help if it threatens customer privacy or privacy policy in general, Turkey and other repressive and intolerant governments are looking for reasons and excuses to excise threats to their totalitarian tendencies. This would be the perfect feign for bringing that hammer down on Apple.

I believe that in this case and others similar I am aware of, Apple should provide expertise to authorities. This could take place within Apple approved guidelines and would be easier to safely and securely roll out with an Apple designated 'go team' that would assist on a case by case basis, guided by Apple policy. The team would come in, privately solve the problem and move on.

This need is going to continue to increase, Apple has a responsibility to provide help at times and at others, to hold firm.

If Apple does not develop this flexibility, governments will find ways to shut them down, with out thinking twice, al la Chinese limitation of several tech companies.