 The Apple ID passcode for the San Bernardino shooter's iPhone was changed less than 24 hours after authorities took possession of the device, a senior Apple executive said today.
And Apple could have recovered information from the phone had the Apple ID passcode not been changed, Apple said. If the phone was taken to a location where it recognized the Wi-Fi network, such as the San Bernardino shooters' home, it could have been backed up to the cloud, Apple suggested.
| If the "Sync this iPhone over Wi-Fi" had been checked in the backup options in iTunes, that is... |
The Justice Department acknowledged in its court filing that the passcode of Syed Farook's iCloud account had been reset. The filing states, "the owner [San Bernardino County Department of Public Health], in an attempt to gain access to some information in the hours after the attack, was able to reset the password remotely, but that had the effect of eliminating the possibility of an auto-backup."
| It's just a comfort to see our government agents being their usual, competent, reliable selves, isn't it... |
The auto reset was executed by a county information technology employee, according to a federal official. Federal investigators only found out about the reset after it had occurred and that the county employee acted on his own, not on the orders of federal authorities, the source said.
| So who told him to do it? |
Apple executives say the phone was in the possession of the government when that passcode was reset. A federal official familiar with the investigation confirmed that federal investigators were indeed in possession of the phone when the reset occurred.
Missing the opportunity for a backup was crucial because some of the information stored on the phone would have been backed up to the iCloud and could have potentially been retrieved.
| Correct, according to the Apple help file in iTunes. |
According to court records, the iPhone had not been backed up since Oct. 19, 2015, one-and-a-half months before the attack and that this “indicates to the FBI that Farook may have disabled the automatic iCloud backup function to hide evidence.”
| Or he's like the 50% plus iPhone owners who have no clue what back-up is... |
The government got a warrant to search the car and get the phone in the early morning hours of Dec. 3, 2015, at 2:27 a.m. -- the day after the attack.
The development comes as the Justice Department is pushing forward with its legal fight against Apple, urging a federal judge to compel the tech giant to help the FBI crack open a cellphone left behind by one of the San Bernardino, California, shooters.
| Apple at this point is justified to point out government stupidity, roll their eyes, look to the heavens and tell the judge that there isn't much they can do. |
|