FBI Director, James Comey, revealed that after two months, they are still unable to to crack into the cell phone that belonged to the San Bernardino attackers, Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik, who shot and killed 14 people.
The FBI and US intelligence have been trying to figure out whether or not the couple were self-radicalized and if they had links to broader jihadist-inspired groups or individuals.
Clapper's
anecdote about the suspect's phone feeds into a broader campaign that
the US government is waging to persuade Silicon Valley tech giants to
give it access to encrypted devices and online files.
Consumers,
worried by cyber crime and government snooping, are increasingly drawn
to protected products and the industry is keen to serve the market,
despite official concerns that encryption empowers criminals.
"Those
devices are going to hold the evidence of child pornography,
communications that someone made before they were killed, before they
went missing," Clapper said, describing phones with a default lock.
"So
it is a big problem with law enforcement armed with a search warrant
when you find a device that can't be opened even though the judge said
there's probable cause to open it."
I chose this article because I had previously posted a blog about the encryption debate on whether or not tech companies should weaken or create a backdoor to their devices for situations like this. Although the US Government's argument makes sense and would help in this investigation and other investigations, I am still on the side for NOT weakening encryption. I think the privacy and security of our devices are critical and the tech companies who decide to go with weak encryption will take a huge hit as far as consumer support goes. It's a controversial issue that I foresee being debated for a while. The Government needs access for investigative issues and companies need to protect their consumers and keep their trust. I will definitely be following this issue closely.
Reference:
http://www.securityweek.com/us-unable-crack-san-bernardino-attackers-phone
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