Prosecutor: iPhone could ID unknown San Bernardino attacker
ASSOCIATED PRESS / DEC. 2015
In this file photo, San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan takes a question at a news conference near the site of yesterday’s mass shooting in San Bernardino, Calif. Burguan said today that all evidence points to two shooters, but that the possibility of a third attacker hasn’t been completely eliminated.
In this Sept. 1, 2015 file photo, San Bernardino County District Attorney Mike Ramos, right, joined by Sheriff John McMahon, speaks during a news conference in San Bernardino, Calif. In a brief filed in federal court Thursday by DA Ramos’ Office cites two 911 calls reporting three perpetrators during the attack.
U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION VIA AP / JULY 2014
This file photo provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection shows Tashfeen Malik, left, and Syed Farook, as they passed through O’Hare International Airport in Chicago.
LOS ANGELES » Information contained in an encrypted iPhone could help finally answer whether there was a third assailant in the San Bernardino terror attack that killed 14 people, according to court papers filed by the county’s district attorney.
San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan said today that the question of a third attacker has nagged investigators despite no supporting evidence.
“We’ve never been able to completely eliminate it,” he said. “We know we have some witnesses that said they thought they saw three … some saw two, some saw one. The majority said two, and the evidence we have up to this point only supports two.”
Still, he said investigators would like to definitively answer the question, and unlocking the phone could help do that.
Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, opened fire Dec. 2 at an annual training of his San Bernardino County co-workers. They died hours later in a shootout with police. The 14 people killed marked the deadliest terror attack on U.S. soil since Sept. 11, 2001.
In a brief filed in federal court Thursday, San Bernardino County District Attorney Michael Ramos cited two 911 calls reporting three perpetrators during the attack.
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“The information contained solely on the seized iPhone could provide evidence to identify as of yet unknown co-conspirators …” according to Ramos’ brief.
The brief also suggested that the county-owned iPhone used by Farook may have introduced a “lying-dormant cyber pathogen” endangering the county’s computer network.
Burguan said he’s never heard that theory and knew of no problems.
Such a breech is technically possible but unlikely, said David Meltzer, a computer security expert and chief research officer at TripWire, a commercial IT security firm.
If an employee wanted to introduce malicious software into the county’s network, Meltzer said they would be more likely to use a desktop or laptop PC because it’s easier to download and manipulate malicious code on a PC’s operating system.
The district attorney is among many weighing in on the fight between Apple and the government ahead of a March 22 hearing in which Apple is asking a judge to reverse an order requiring the company to create a software program that overrides iPhone security features.
Apple says unlocking Farook’s phone would make all other iPhones more vulnerable to future attacks.
In a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook cited in another court brief, Mark Sandefur — the father of one of the men killed in the terror attack — also cited reports of three attackers, saying the phone must be unlocked.
“Several of the survivors tell me bone-chilling stories of where they were, and what they saw,” Sandefur wrote. “Some of them describe in precise detail, laying on the floor, hiding under furniture and the bodies of their co-workers, that they saw three assailants, not two, walking around in heavy boots as they carried out their murders.
“What if there is evidence pointing to a third shooter?” Sandefur wrote. “What if it leads to an unknown terrorist cell? What if others are attacked, and you and I did nothing to prevent it?”
Among those backing Apple are civil liberties advocates and some of the company’s biggest competitors, including Google, Microsoft and Facebook.
The last of the 22 surviving victims of the attack was released from the hospital Thursday, the Press Enterprise reported.
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Associated Press writer Brandon Bailey contributed to this report from San Francisco.
9 responses to “Prosecutor: iPhone could ID unknown San Bernardino attacker”
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IT professionals on specialty forums have asked why San Bernardino IT people didn’t simply activate the MDM (Mobile Device Management) software on the county owned device. The answer is easy but frustrating: The county IT people purchased the MDM software but never put it on the devices they deployed. As far as the “Ramos Voldemort Demon” goes (which btw was a key part of the amicus brief but strangely downplayed by the SA article) Nobody in Computer Science or IT has ever heard of or seen such a beast.
Can’t they get a court order and open up the phone? Lives may be at stake. Apple is no hero in this incident.
Strange, no comments! Myself if doable let the courts decide who is right? One time and need be each time if there is another similar situation.
Maybe when some terrorists maniacs go into an Apple business office and kill a couple dozen of their employees then Apple will see the light. Until then it is not important to them to find out the total truth behind the San Bernadino shootings. National security is not high on their priority list…making money and protecting their clientele is. Even if some of those clientele are murderous terrorists.
Their clientele are over 100 million people across the globe who rely upon Apple’s encryption to maintain the security of their devices. These people also need security for their confidential information. The damage of the attack has already been done. Trying to destroy encryption will only make it worse.
Yes, the phone could identify a third shooter. It could also identify the location of missing da Vinci manuscripts, or maybe an original copy of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. It COULD lead to an infinite number of things. Is this the best the government has? A “could”? While they think decrypting the phone “could” ID a third shooter, we know doing so will permanently compromise the security of everyone’s mobile devices.
Don’t forget, according to a lawyer, the terrorist may have hidden a devil unicorn on it and it could jump out and kill the internet any time now.
Apple probably made their encryption software so good and complicated no one can break it. I think Apple doesn’t trust the government or anybody to keep their secrets secret. SamSung or China could swipe it because some stupid government worker gets seduced by a Korean or Chinese prostitutte along with lots of money. This may not be about civil or privacy rights. It’s been suggested in the past. Can they just give the phone to Apple and let them decode it to uncover any co-conspirators? This case is probably important because of future terrorists who will have important info in their phones. Makes me uncomfortable that Isis and Al Queda are reading about this trouble on the Internet.
FBI screwed this up by asking San Bernardino police to reset the iCloud password, thereby making a backup of the phone’s data impossible and rendering information on the phone inaccessible. If, before doing that, the FBI had asked Apple how to proceed they might have the information they’re seeking, if it exists.