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The Apple case may show that the FBI lags in tech smarts The Apple case may show that the FBI lags in tech smarts
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The U.S. government’s revelation that it had accessed the San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone without the help from Apple that it had so desperately sought indicates the FBI was either disguising its technical capabilities, or its agents and employees remain outmatched by tech workers in the private industry, according to current and former bureau officials and legal scholars. The U.S. government’s revelation that it had accessed the San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone without the help from Apple that it had so desperately sought indicates the FBI was either disguising its technical capabilities or its agents and employees remain outmatched by tech workers in the private industry, according to current and former bureau officials and legal scholars.
The bureau in recent years has launched a recruiting blitz to attract employees with cyber expertise, and the National Science Foundation has even made scholarship money available to students who study cybersecurity and later work in government. But former FBI officials said the bureau will always face an uphill battle against private firms, which can offer much more money, a less rigorous code of conduct and more opportunities to do creative work.The bureau in recent years has launched a recruiting blitz to attract employees with cyber expertise, and the National Science Foundation has even made scholarship money available to students who study cybersecurity and later work in government. But former FBI officials said the bureau will always face an uphill battle against private firms, which can offer much more money, a less rigorous code of conduct and more opportunities to do creative work.
“We had trouble retaining top talent, that’s for sure,” said Leo Taddeo, a former FBI special agent in charge of cyber investigations in New York. “The private sector pays better, it has opportunities to do more cutting edge activities in some cases, it has certainly some lifestyle benefits for its employees.” “We had trouble retaining top talent — that’s for sure,” said Leo Taddeo, a former FBI special agent in charge of cybersecurity investigations in New York. “The private sector pays better. It has opportunities to do more cutting-edge activities in some cases. It has certainly some lifestyle benefits for its employees.”
[FBI has accessed San Bernardino shooter’s phone without Apple’s help][FBI has accessed San Bernardino shooter’s phone without Apple’s help]
That bureau officials were able to access Syed Rizwan Farook’s phone allows the government to avoid — at least for now — a showdown with Apple over the extent U.S. law compels the company to help in a criminal investigation. It also, according to the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office, gives investigators “more answers” about the San Bernardino attack. That bureau officials were able to access Syed Rizwan Farook’s phone allows the government to avoid — at least for now — a showdown with Apple over the extent U.S. law compels the company to help in a criminal investigation. It also, according to the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles field office, gives investigators “more answers” about the San Bernardino, Calif., attack.
Lawyers and those in the tech industry say the FBI’s sudden about-face — only a month ago, it was claiming it could not get into Farook’s phone without Apple’s help — raises questions about whether Justice Department officials intentionally misled the American public. And if officials are taken at their word, the case seems to provide a dramatic example of how far the FBI is lagging behind the tech industry when it comes to some technical capabilities. Lawyers and people in the tech industry say the FBI’s sudden about-face — a month ago it was claiming it could not get into Farook’s phone without Apple’s help — raises questions about whether Justice Department officials intentionally misled the American public. And if officials are taken at their word, the case seems to provide a dramatic example of how far the FBI is lagging behind the tech industry when it comes to some technical capabilities.
“I think the bureau is absolutely in an uphill battle, desperately trying to keep up pace, and they are not,” said Ron Hosko, a former assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Criminal Division who is now president of the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund. “I think the bureau is absolutely in an uphill battle, desperately trying to keep up pace, and they are not,” said Ron Hosko, a former assistant director in charge of the FBI’s criminal division who is now president of the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund.
The FBI devotes significant resources both to cyber investigations and its Operational Technology Division, which is responsible for handling digital forensics and technical gadgetry. Its fiscal 2017 budget proposal asked for $85.1 million more money for cyber (on top of the $541 million in current spending) and another $38.3 million for an initiative meant to help investigators beat encryption when appropriate (on top of the $31 million in current spending.) The FBI devotes significant resources to cybersecurity investigations and its operational-technology division, which is responsible for handling digital forensics and technical gadgetry. The bureau’s fiscal 2017 budget proposal asked for $85.1 million more for cybersecurity (on top of the $541 million in current spending) and an additional $38.3 million for an initiative meant to help investigators beat encryption when appropriate (on top of the $31 million in current spending.)
Robert Anderson, a former Executive Assistant Director of the bureau’s Criminal, Cyber, Response, and Services Branch who now works as a managing director at Navigant, a business consulting firm, said two years ago, the bureau began an “unbelievable nationwide hunt, search and hiring program” for those with computer expertise, and the effort paid off. The bureau, he said, was not lacking in technical know-how. Robert Anderson, a former executive assistant director of the bureau’s Criminal, Cyber, Response and Services Branch who now works as a managing director at Navigant, a business consulting firm, said that two years ago, the bureau began an “unbelievable nationwide hunt, search and hiring program” for people with computer expertise, and that the effort paid off. The bureau, he said, is not lacking in technical know-how.
“It’s the best in its 100-plus year history,” he said. “It’s not even a question.” “It’s the best in its 100-plus-year history,” Anderson said. “It’s not even a question.”
Joshua Zive, general counsel for the FBI Agents Association, said despite the hiring and spending, the FBI still needs the private sector’s cooperation. Joshua Zive, general counsel for the FBI Agents Association, said that despite the hiring and spending, the FBI still needs the private sector’s cooperation.
“That’s an arms race that will always be very difficult for any government agency to win, given that you’re going up against the largest and wealthiest companies imaginable,” Zive said.“That’s an arms race that will always be very difficult for any government agency to win, given that you’re going up against the largest and wealthiest companies imaginable,” Zive said.
Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, were killed in a shootout with police after they launched an attack that killed 14 people at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, Calif., in December. Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, were killed in a shootout with police in December after they launched an attack that killed 14 people at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino.
The bid to access Farook’s phone was meant to further the FBI’s investigation, although it was controversial from the start. The Justice Department obtained a court order compelling Apple’s assistance under the All Writs Act, a centuries-old law that gives courts the power to “issue all writs necessary or appropriate in aid of their respective jurisdictions and agreeable to the usages and principles of law.” The bid to access the phone used by Farook was meant to further the FBI’s investigation, although it was controversial from the start. The Justice Department obtained a court order compelling Apple’s assistance under the All Writs Act, a centuries-old law that gives courts the power to “issue all writs necessary or appropriate in aid of their respective jurisdictions and agreeable to the usages and principles of law.”
Federal prosecutors said initially they had no way into the phone without Apple’s help. Apple resisted, arguing that the FBI was asking them to make their products less secure and that complying with the government’s request would hurt customers’ privacy. Federal prosecutors said initially they had no way into the phone without Apple’s help. Apple resisted, arguing that the FBI was asking them to make their products less secure and that complying with the government’s request would infringe customers’ privacy.
[Apple vows to resist FBI demand to crack iPhone linked to San Bernardino attacks] [Apple vows to resist FBI demand to crack iPhone linked to attacks]
Last week, on the eve of a hearing in the case, prosecutors for the first time suggested there might be a way in without Apple, writing in a court filing that “an outside party demonstrated to the FBI a possible method for unlocking Farook’s iPhone.” The method apparently worked; federal prosecutors wrote in another court filing Tuesday they had “successfully accessed the data stored on Farook’s iPhone.” Last week, on the eve of a hearing in the case, prosecutors for the first time suggested there might be a way in without Apple, writing in a court filing that “an outside party demonstrated to the FBI a possible method for unlocking Farook’s iPhone.” The method apparently worked; federal prosecutors wrote in another court filing Monday that they had “successfully accessed the data stored on Farook’s iPhone.”
The FBI has not disclosed how it got in — other than to say it no longer needed Apple’s help in doing so — and officials there and at the Justice Department did not return phone and email messages seeking comment Tuesday.The FBI has not disclosed how it got in — other than to say it no longer needed Apple’s help in doing so — and officials there and at the Justice Department did not return phone and email messages seeking comment Tuesday.
Alex Abdo, a staff attorney with the ACLU, said “the speed with which they were able to verify this new technique is a reason to be skeptical” of their previous claims. Alex Abdo, a staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, said that “the speed with which they were able to verify this new technique is a reason to be skeptical” of officials’ previous claims.
“The FBI sat on this phone for two months, then made a deliberate decision to very publicly fight with Apple over the unlocking mechanism, and then made very strong statements about their inability to get in without Apple’s help, and on a dime, that all changed,” Abdo said. “There’s smoke there. Whether’s there’s fire, we don’t know.” “The FBI sat on this phone for two months, then made a deliberate decision to very publicly fight with Apple over the unlocking mechanism, and then made very strong statements about their inability to get in without Apple’s help. And, on a dime, that all changed,” Abdo said. “There’s smoke there. Whether’s there’s fire, we don’t know.”
FBI and Justice Department officials have bristled at the notion that they misled the public, or that agents were not working hard to access the phone on their own. Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates said at a recent news conference that FBI agents had “been working hard all along” to access the phone, and officials at the Justice Department were “a little surprised” to learn there might be another solution. FBI and Justice Department officials have bristled at the notion that they misled the public or that agents were not working hard to access the phone on their own. Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates said at a recent news conference that FBI agents had “been working hard all along” to access the phone and that officials at the Justice Department were “a little surprised” to learn there might be another solution.
[As encryption spreads, U.S. grapples with clash between privacy, security][As encryption spreads, U.S. grapples with clash between privacy, security]
FBI Director James B. Comey wrote in a letter to the Wall Street Journal that he was “not embarrassed to admit that all technical creativity does not reside in government.”FBI Director James B. Comey wrote in a letter to the Wall Street Journal that he was “not embarrassed to admit that all technical creativity does not reside in government.”
“Lots of folks came to us with ideas. It looks like one of those ideas may work and that is a very good thing, because the San Bernardino case was not about trying to send a message or set a precedent; it was and is about fully investigating a terrorist attack,” Comey wrote. “Lots of folks came to us with ideas,” Comey wrote. “It looks like one of those ideas may work and that is a very good thing, because the San Bernardino case was not about trying to send a message or set a precedent; it was and is about fully investigating a terrorist attack.”
That the FBI got in without Apple’s help leaves unresolved a critical question: can the government use the All Writs Act to compel others to take the steps it wanted Apple to take. That matter, legal experts said, will be left for Congress or another court case. That the FBI got in without Apple’s help leaves unresolved a critical question: Can the government use the All Writs Act to compel others to take the steps it wanted Apple to take? That matter, legal experts said, will be left for Congress or another court case.
In the interim, the government will be forced to wrestle with another, difficult choice: whether to tell Apple how it got in, so that Apple might close the vulnerability for all its users. In the interim, the government will be forced to wrestle with another, difficult choice — whether to tell Apple how it got in, allowing Apple to potentially close the vulnerability for all its users.
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