Implications For Farmers And The Apple Letter 'dispute'

Myco · Feb 23, 2016

Smokey503ski said:
I'm with the government on this one.
If my family or friends were killed by some Fuck stick I would want them to be able to do a full investigation.
Same with Apple, if some shooter came in and did the same thing, I bet they would comply.

Some family members of some of the victims have come out and said they support Apple, some have said they back the FBI.

Quite frankly I wouldn't care. We already know those cunts' motivations in the shooting. What will cracking their iPhone really achieve? It's not bringing anyone back, and my guess is that it won't even uncover any valuable information.

Keeping privacy intact as much as possible for the greater good would be more important to me. Whether or not this is just a big show by the government, whatever, but taking everything at face value I think I side with Apple.

jumpincactus · Feb 23, 2016

Like @fishwhistle said this would set a precedent and give an already way overeaching fed gov more power than they deserve. When is enough going to be enough. How much more will we the people give up to feel a little safer, when indeed we are more likely to be killed by own own police than a frikkn terro***

While I undestand the title what this means to growers, bnut lets not forget what it would mean to hundreds of millions of people.....

Check out the latest. The implications are chilling.......

ENCRYPTION TRUTH: What The FBI Aren’t Telling You About Their Battle With Apple And San Bernardino

Earlier this week Apple CEO Tim Cook publicly rejected an unprecedented US Federal Court order that would force the company to decrypt an iPhone linked to one of the San Bernardino shooters – a move that would have vast implications…

‘PRIVACY & PROTECTION’ – Apple CEO Tim Cook challenges FBI court order to unlock private data of users. (Photo iphoneitalia.com)

Breaching Public Privacy

In a published open letter entitled, “A Message to Our Customers, ” Apple CEO Tim Cookstrikingly opposed a recent federal court ruling that would unlock a phone that’s been connected to the San Bernardino Mass Shooting case.

The FBI ruling stipulates that Apple must provide access for one time only. However, cyber security experts and technology companies insist this is a virtual impossibility and a guarantee that cannot be made.

In theory, the decryption of the phone would be opened via a newly created operating system that would give the FBI a backdoor into the device. But according to many skeptics, this type of backdoor feature could set a very dangerous precedent, while possibly making it much easier for invaders (either government, or hacker) mining for data well into the future.

In addition, the new iOS (not yet in existence) proposed in the wake of the San Bernardino shooting would give US law enforcement agencies broader access to consumer communications and other private information according to many in the tech industry. This reality was confirmed by Apple’s chief executive Cook, who outlined the staggering privacy implications this past Tuesday:

“The FBI wants us to make a new version of the iPhone operating system, circumventing several important security features, and install it on an iPhone recovered during the investigation. 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 essence, the FBI’s court order demand appears to bypass basic privacy rights, and when seen in a bigger picture outside of the San Bernardino case, it could be viewed as a violation of the public’s 4th Amendment.

Challenging The Ruling

Over the past 48 hours, there’s been a social media frenzy, as Facebook, Twitter and Google have all expressed their support for Apple’s court battle with federal authorities. This has also included the often entertaining if not perplexing, self-proclaimed ‘cybersecurity legend’ John McAfee of McAfee Inc., who wrote an op-ed published with Business Insider, that dissects the potential fallout of the federal court ruling in similar fashion to that of Cook.

Here’s some of what the controversial cyber guru turned libertarian presidential hopeful had to say about the dire security circumstances facing Apple and the world at large:

“Using an obscure law, written in 1789 — the All Writs Act — the US government has ordered Apple to place a back door into its iOS software so the FBI can decrypt information on an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino shooters.”

“It has finally come to this. After years of arguments by virtually every industry specialist that back doors will be a bigger boon to hackers and to our nation’s enemies than publishing our nuclear codes and giving the keys to all of our military weapons to the Russians and the Chinese, our government has chosen, once again, not to listen to the minds that have created the glue that holds this world together.”

Continuing, cyber expert McAfee, offered up a glimpse what could transpire in the event of ablackmail scenario if such a digital backdoor were to exist:

“In spite of the FBI’s claim that it would protect the back door, we all know that’s impossible. There are bad apples everywhere, and there only needs to be in the US government. Then a few million dollars, some beautiful women (or men), and a yacht trip to the Caribbean might be all it takes for our enemies to have full access to our secrets.”

‘ANTIVIRUS PIONEER’ – John McAfee, well-known American computer programmer. (Photo businessinsider)

McAfee then summarized his op-ed with a ready-made-solution to the FBI’s demands by offering his services, “I will, free of charge, decrypt the information on the San Bernardino phone, with my team,” over a three-week period.

On the surface, a sensational gauntlet has been thrown down, calling for the court of public opinion to weigh in on a very important topic concerning privacy rights. But there’s much more to it…

This latest “privacy crisis” might be viewed through a more cynical lens, should readers choose to view this drama as a story featuring controlled opposition – especially when considering the pedigree of those supposedly opposed to the FBI’s recent court order.

Is it possible that Apple and others have staged opposition to this court decree as a way to bolster their public image, before eventually allowing the rights of private citizens to be abused? Both Cook and McAfee have direct links to companies plagued with security baggage such asLockheed Martin and IBM, both of which have had their ethics put to question over the years.

While there is nothing conclusive here, the public should consider this other side to the story and eliminate inconvenient possibilities in an effort to find the reality of the present circumstances, even if high profile tech leaders may appear to be saying the right things in public, purportedly in the interest of the general population.

In an article featured here at 21WIRE from January of 2015, we learned of another privacy threat that should concern the public regarding biometric IDs – as facial and emotional recognition software has already been rolled out without public consent:

“More Orwellian technology is being rolled out, not just to make you into more of a commodity than you already are, but also to ‘profile’ your emotions. With no regulation on this issue, corporations are basically writing the privacy rules as they go along. Do you trust them? Where is this really heading?”

“In realty, they have no control over how third parties using their software might use images of people’s faces and digital signatures of your ’emotions’, storing, sharing and selling that data across macro platforms. Sure, it’s just another new wing of Big Data. Even social media data trawlers like Facebook has already begun moving into facial recognition of their users.”

So while it is compelling, and quite welcome to hear tech giants calling out the FBI’s overreach, it appears that many in the technology sector have already pledged support for a growing police state apparatus by virtue of developing privacy invading software. For the moment though, it appears technology innovators Cook and McAfee, along with other social media companies, seem to be working on behalf of the public’s interest, even though it could be out of concern for marketability rather than true worry about where the field of technology has been heading.

Apple’s iPhone and tablets introduced a biometric ID system with its thumb print login scan in 2013 – a system which will store millions of biometric identifiers on Apple cloud servers. It wasn’t long after the system was launched before hackers cracked the security for this biometric entry point, exposing another unspeakable privacy breach.

If nothing else, it has caused a sharp debate over this pressing subject.

‘DIGITAL DANGER’ – The battle for consumer privacy hangs in the balance over the recent FBI court order. (Photo vibratingupdate)

Problem, Reaction, Solution

According to the Guardian:

“For months, the FBI searched for a compelling case that would force Apple to weaken iPhone security – and then the San Bernardino shooting happened.”

“This carefully planned legal battle has been months in the making, US officials and tech executives told the Guardian, as the government and Apple try to settle whether national security can dictate how Silicon Valley writes computer code.”

This past December, those of us at 21WIRE, pointed out a number of inconsistencies relating the heavily dramatized San Bernardino shooting attack. In fact, the media driven shooting attack said to have taken place at the Inland Regional Center had a laundry list of details that didn’t add up.

After a week of whitewashed reports regarding the shooting, a media scripted ransacking of the alleged ‘shooters’ home (tampering with a potential crime scene) and eyewitness accounts that directly contradicted the official narrative from law enforcement, we learned that in the very room where 14 people were reportedly killed (along with 21 injured) at the Inland Regional Center, there was an “active-shooter” training drill/rehearsal, involving some of the victims almost a year before December’s attack to place.

Incredibly, a critical component that should be mentioned in the encryption battle involving Apple and the FBI, is that there were multiple eye-witness accounts that directly contradicted the terror-tale blamed solely on Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik. In other words, we have an event largely hinged on a barrage of convoluted and conflicting accounts concerning the San Bernardino attack.

The eye-witness accounts near the scene of the shooting, never mentioned anything about seeing a female shooter, which 21WIRE also noted this past December:

“In fact, authorities did apprehend a third suspect but that aspect of the case, has seemingly gone down the memory hole, as has the very detailed eye-witness testimony from Sally Abdelmageed, (an Inland Regional Center employee) in a CBS interview with Scott Pelley, whichclearly states that there were three white men in tactical gear dressed in black involved in the shooting event.”

“Abdelmageed’s account, echoed that of Juan Hernandez, who was interviewed shortly after the shooting incident by a local NBC affiliate, where it was described that “three white men in military fatigues,” had fled the scene in black Chevy Impala or SUV.”

“Despite all of this, CNN, ABC, FOX and all other media outlets on the scene – all pivoted, in unison, to validate authorities’ (the FBI) revised official ‘Jihadi Bonnie & Clyde’ story of “only 2 shooters – a husband and wife”.”

Additionally, a close colleague from Inland Regional Center, Chris Nwadike, stated that Farook had been acting normal and that “he was quiet,” and that he had not had a disagreement with anyone at the center the day of the shooting. Furthermore, the FBI themselves revealed that both Malik and Farook had not posted radical messages on social media which had previously been reported by authorities (and dutifully repeated across the mainstream media).

Even though the media eventually admitted that there were no ‘radical posts’, the idea of “social media postings” became a central story line suggesting that Malik had somehow influenced Farook into participating in the attack. Regardless of what really happened, it seems that the FBI had the opening it needed to try to force open direct access into personal devices.

Is it also possible the security agency wants access to the encrypted phone so they can plant an additional back story to a shooting case that never made any sense?

Food for thought to chew on in today’s digital age…

As the privacy vs. security battle moves forward, Reuters news agency reports:

“The U.S. Department of Justice filed a motion on Friday seeking to compel Apple Inc (AAPL.O) to comply with a judge’s order to unlock the encrypted iPhone belonging to one of the San Bernardino shooters, portraying the tech giant’s refusal as a “marketing strategy.”

The future of privacy hangs by a thread, as more and more divide and rule policies are being implemented at the expense of public freedoms.

Bulldog11 · Feb 24, 2016

Myco said:
Quite frankly I wouldn't care. We already know those cunts' motivations in the shooting. What will cracking their iPhone really achieve? It's not bringing anyone back, and my guess is that it won't even uncover any valuable information.

If you believe this story, then it's not about that one phone. It's about a back door for all phones, for the small chance one phone needs to be hacked. It's called a huge overstep by the government. The government is actually asking Apple to create a new product......Government can't do that.

This is all a big show for the public anyway.

ABENAKI · Feb 24, 2016

tobh said:
Yeah, this is a slippery slope. Apple made a big move in the fight against encryption with this though.

As for the resources the US Govt. has and them wanting Apple to unlock the phone, well, they can't. Their encryption is unbreakable without the private key the user sets. This private key is only known by the user, never stored anywhere else other than directly on the device. If Apple does this, it will render their encryption essentially useless as then the great minds in the Govt. will have the little seed they need to be able to break into any iPhone.

There's a simple fix for people like us. Don't use the standard messaging app on the phone (use Signal or Wickr instead), don't view or save anything illegal on your phone (common sense, imo you're a fool if you're viewing legally questionable content on your phone), and use good, secure passwords. Studies have shown that passwords with a combo of numbers, letters (upper and lower case) and symbols are the best passwords. Make sure to make them at least 15 characters long (it takes only a few hours to crack a 12 digit password with modern technology, a 15 digit password extends this to hundreds of years).

Fingers crossed Apple stays firm and lets the FBI fuck up again. They've already fucked up that phone by trying to circumvent the encryption by essentially jail-breaking the phone, hence them pressuring Apple for assistance. All this is, is ammunition for them to restrict encryption (which is their biggest digital concern now). Last time I checked, the US is not the UK, and US citizens have a right to privacy. It's bad enough our govt constantly monitors us and already has more data than they know how to handle; they don't need a key into our phones either.

Slippery slope indeed.

Myco · Feb 24, 2016

Bulldog11 said:
If you believe this story, then it's not about that one phone. It's about a back door for all phones, for the small chance one phone needs to be hacked. It's called a huge overstep by the government. The government is actually asking Apple to create a new product......Government can't do that.

This is all a big show for the public anyway.

Yes, I understand that. I was specifically responding to @Smokey503ski regarding the victims' families' point of view.

Why exactly do you think it's a big show for the public? I'm not going to sit here and say the government doesn't do all kinds of shit simply for public perception - but, court orders simply for public perception? Meanwhile, there are in fact 12 other iPhones the government has been trying to get Apple to work with them on and pursuing court orders, just now becoming public.

The fact that it's not about one phone is exactly the reason why I'm against it.

Bulldog11 · Feb 24, 2016

I misunderstood then, thanks for clearing that up.

It's more complicated than court orders. Apple designed a phone that can't be hacked due to a pw limit. You can only type in 10 times, before the phone become locked forever. The court order is asking for apple to do something they can't do, because of this program. So in turn, the government in now asking for all phones to have a back door, and apple should now create a new program (product) on all their phones. Making every phone vulnerable. All in the name of safty.

I think we both understand all this at this point. You asked, "Why do I think this is a big show for the public?" Well, one, they are using a terrorist attack to justify taking away American's rights. Two, Macafee already stated they can crack the phone. For all this to not be an act, you would have to assume Macafee is more capable than the US government....... Three, putting this all in the public eye, with safety in mind, making people emotional, can lead down a bad road, even in the courts. ext ext

xavier7995 · Feb 25, 2016

I should point out that Mcafee is rather well known for being totally bonkers and just making up crazy stuff; I seriously doubt he has the skill to do what he claims. Is he still in his jungle bunker being all Apocalypse Now?

LocalGrowGuy · Feb 25, 2016

xavier7995 said:
I should point out that Mcafee is rather well known for being totally bonkers and just making up crazy stuff; I seriously doubt he has the skill to do what he claims. Is he still in his jungle bunker being all Apocalypse Now?

'Jungle bunker' sounds extremely racist. That's all.

motz · Feb 25, 2016

He may have said that to make the government look stupid, which wouldn't take much

xavier7995 · Feb 25, 2016

LocalGrowGuy said:
'Jungle bunker' sounds extremely racist. That's all.

The guy really does live in a bunker in the jungle though cause he is afraid of aliens getting through his tinfoil helmet and preventing him from doing whatever weirdo crap to the indigenous population he has planned to live out his captain of industry fantasy.

Damn governments trying to take him down for a murder he may or may not have committed.

shemshemet · Feb 25, 2016

Lol honestly he sounds crazy enough to be able to do it though...

Plus he made antivirus and then said it sucks

LocalGrowGuy · Feb 25, 2016

xavier7995 said:
The guy really does live in a bunker in the jungle though cause he is afraid of aliens getting through his tinfoil helmet and preventing him from doing whatever weirdo crap to the indigenous population he has planned to live out his captain of industry fantasy.

Damn governments trying to take him down for a murder he may or may not have committed.

I thought you said you wouldn't be mean to bullydoggy you dick. NO LIKE FOR YOU

LocalGrowGuy · Feb 29, 2016

Related Update:
Judge sides with Apple over feds in New York
A federal magistrate-judge in New York City has ruled that the U.S. government can't force Apple to hack an iPhone to investigate a drug dealer.
It's a win for Apple, which is being pressured by federal law enforcement agents to help it break into iPhones in at least 13 instances across the country. Apple says doing the federal government's bidding would undermine the security features in hundreds of millions of iPhones around the world.

So far, the Department of Justice is relying on the All Writs Act, passed in 1789, which basically says that judges can tell all people to follow the law.
[more at link]
http://money.cnn.com/2016/02/29/technology/judge-apple-feds/index.html

xavier7995 · Feb 29, 2016

Glad scalia died, otherwise I bet they would have just run it up the line until they got to a friendly court.

I am curious how big business vs. Big government would have played out since I just sort of assume those are the two sides that always win against their opponents. Would have liked to see citizens united twisted into some bizarre argument where apple used it's person status to apply ....the 4th and 5th amendments combined maybe?

cemchris · Feb 29, 2016

You have to ask yourself. Do you think the NSA has broken 256 bit AES (which is what the iphone uses)?

I think this is just a dog and pony show so they don't let the cat out of the bag that they have. They put a back door in RSA (which is 1024 - 4096 bit - also if you arent familiar with this read up on how they changed the key right after the Snowden stuff dropped cause the old key was "compromised" LOL - In a nut shell your keys have to be approved by the NIST which is how and where the NSA is putting the weakness in the key. I mean they are also a gov agency). It's not a far stretch that they did the same thing to AES (since AES is used in almost everything online that isn't RSA, which btw, was hacked big time by the Chinese for about 3 years until they figured it out. Google, Lockheed, Banks ect but for some reason you didn't hear about that). This is one of those things you will have to make a decision for yourself. Thinking that Apple has the best thing in mind for you is a Joke. They are the biggest tax dodger in the US.

What Apple is saying is they can't brute force the key. Which yeah that's great in theory since you really cant brute force it and it would take forever but that's not how they break it anyways so its a good slight of hand.

Think about this. Apple gives the middle finger to the US government. "No we can and wont unlock the phone." "I need a new phone to do shady stuff on." I'm going to buy an iphone cause they protect me and I don't have to be safe on it cause the government can't look at it." Knock Knock Knock.

That's just my opinion but I should also state I hate Apple and always will. Wish their overpriced bullshit would die in a fire.

cemchris · Feb 29, 2016

Link for the RSA hack if ya want it. Pretty crazy. Chinese accessed Google earth satalites to look at restricted areas in the US. Also stole plans for the Joint Strike Fighter and made their own

Basically hacking at this level and you think an Iphone is safe with a 4 digit pin? Giggle Giggle.

xavier7995 · Feb 29, 2016

shemshemet said:
Lol honestly he sounds crazy enough to be able to do it though...

Plus he made antivirus and then said it sucks

Totally being a butthole, but sir, I disavow this post. While I love crazy dudes doing crazy things, this is not one of those cases. This is a crazy guy who happened to strike it rich and is now using that money to peddle his crazy shit ideas. He is paying a bunch of people to yes man him...and well, i can't help but think he is taking advantage. The big downfall of anyone that advocates the faux libertarian ideals is that they base their entire ideas on the everyone is born on a level playing field, they assume everyone was born as heir apparent to at least railroad empire; it just glosses over the massive amount of people that claw their goddamn existence out just to reach a middle class status.

What can I say, rich kids claiming they worked their way up or whatever just infuriates me and as soon as I see them apply some Ayn Rand rationale to it, I am going to attack the hell out of it and try to make them cry.

edit for dude above me: exactly..friggin lol at anyone that can't be assed to at least hide themselves to the extent of guys on The Wire.

shemshemet · Mar 1, 2016

@xavier7995

Is that like the Trump "I disavow! .....OK!?!?"

I'm just talking shit man...I don't know nearly as much about this as you do...

Bulldog11 · Mar 1, 2016

xavier7995 said:
Glad scalia died, ?

Total douche bag comment.

LocalGrowGuy · Mar 1, 2016

Bulldog11 said:
Total douche bag comment.

Implications For Farmers And The Apple Letter 'dispute'

Implications For Farmers And The Apple Letter 'dispute'

Myco

jumpincactus

Premium Member

Bulldog11

ABENAKI

Myco

Bulldog11

xavier7995

LocalGrowGuy

motz

xavier7995

shemshemet

LocalGrowGuy

LocalGrowGuy

xavier7995

cemchris

cemchris

xavier7995

shemshemet

Bulldog11

LocalGrowGuy

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Implications For Farmers And The Apple Letter 'dispute'

Implications For Farmers And The Apple Letter 'dispute'

Myco

jumpincactus

Premium Member

Bulldog11

ABENAKI

Myco

Bulldog11

xavier7995

LocalGrowGuy

motz

xavier7995

shemshemet

LocalGrowGuy

LocalGrowGuy

xavier7995

cemchris

cemchris

xavier7995

shemshemet

Bulldog11

LocalGrowGuy

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Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency