Apple INC challenge to the FBI.

The day after the massacre in San Bernardino, Calif., where Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik shot to death 14 people and wounded 22 others at a holiday luncheon for the county department of public health, an FBI Evidence Response Team descended on the couple’s townhouse in nearby Redlands. The two phones in the trash had been crushed by the terrorists, but for whatever reason–maybe an oversight, maybe there was nothing useful on it, who knows–the third phone was intact. It was placed in the care of the Orange County Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory. When investigators booted it up–it was an iPhone 5c running iOS 9, on the Verizon network, serial number FFMNQ3MTG2DJ–the phone asked them for a four-digit pass code.--------suddenly the FBI went clueless. With all the NSA spying going on for years , you would think that the cell phones of every American was hacked by the government (encryption codes),  did really matter anymore . Not the case with (1)>>APPLE'S iOS 9. The government began by saying this case was just about opening this one iPhone. That is by far the weakest argument,I guess even with all the spying on us that has been going on .Even the government has now walked away from that one. Everyone realizes this is a precedent-setting case. BUT it's a bit puzzling that the power to reset the iCloud password, which it did.That iCloud account turned out to contain several full, unencrypted backups of the phone. (2)>>The FBI could not jailbreak it.Edward Snowden, the infamous former contractor for the National Security Agency who leaked thousands of pages of previously classified NSA intelligence documents, reportedly thinks that Apple's iPhone has "special software" that authorities can activate remotely to be able to gather information about the user.It is not clear if the "special software" being referred to in the interview is made up of standard diagnostic tools, or if the NSA whistleblower thinks intelligence agencies from the United States have found a way to compromise the mobile operating system developed by Apple.Apple was among the first companies accused of participating in the PRISM data mining project of the NSA, following the release by (3)>>Snowden of the agency's classified documents. The project reportedly involved extracting video, audio, pictures, documents, emails and connection logs from devices, allowing analysts to track the movement of the device's user and the communications that they are receiving or sending out. Succeeding leaks showed that the NSA developed spyware that would target iPhones, allowing intelligence agencies to access messages, live microphone feeds, data contained in the devices and location data. While it was not made clear whether the program was a success, Apple again denied being involved in the development of such a spyware. So what's the problem ? I often thought the whole showdown between the FBI and APPLE, INC was fishy , since Apple has repeatedly over the years "worked" with the NSA. Apple is stuck in a difficult position because of decisions it made years ago. In 2014 many of the company’s most valuable customers had their nude photos stolen from iCloud, forcing Apple to focus on security. Then Tim Cook crowned himself king of privacy, which is fine when you’re between Google and Microsoft and not the FBI and terrorists. (4)>>Now, Apple has decided to go up against the same obstinate monolith of US national security interests that helped a Bush get reelected and turned the National Security Agency into a mythological all-seeing eye. It’s not clear who’s going to win that fight. The (4.1)>>STRANGE twist to this story was that last year the Islamic State group, also known as ISIL, has banned all Apple products from its self-declared caliphate, asserting that such devices can be used by American intelligence agents to target its forces with airstrikes.The militant group issued a directive banning the use of all Apple products in December via a statement issued by its “general supervisory committee” for distribution throughout each province within its caliphate. Written in Arabic, the statement was disseminated via social media and the online media offices that ISIL operates.The same order also banned the use of all GPS-enabled devices within the caliphate. In the statement, ISIL leaders expressed their concerns that the American-led coalition now conducting airstrikes in Iraq and Syria is pinpointing select targets by monitoring smartphones and tablet computers.

China has already Hacked into Apple....

(5)>>Manufacturing in America has almost completely disappeared. The few manufacturers we have left are struggling to stay open. The main culprit of this all is failed “free trade” agreements. “Free trade” means unrestricted, uncontrolled access to our economy, tariff- and duty-free, for goods made for $4-per-hour or less. We cannot compete with these wages so we are forced to choose between going bankrupt, outsourcing nearly all of our manufacturing or simply selling out.--- Yes, our technology , encryption data was also simply sold out ....except our Government .When Apple went to China it sold out everything to do with "our technology" , we should be worried where our I phone's are made -- makes no sense that Apple is concerned about your privacy . The Question that we should ask is "If the Chinese Govt benefits when a American technology company manufactures items and    what code is being written into the chips/OS of virtually every computer in the world today"? Nearly all of them along with phones & tablets are all built in China. You can't trust anything .Manufacturing an iPhone in the United States would cost about $65 more than manufacturing it in China, where it costs an estimated $8. This additional $65 would dent the profit Apple makes on each iPhone, but it wouldn't eliminate it. (The iPhone average selling price is about $600, and Apple's average gross margin is about 40%. So Apple's gross profit on each iPhone is probably in the neighborhood of $250.) As of last year , 2015 Six Chinese ‘spies’ stole sensitive technology used in iPhones as part of a campaign of economic espionage against Silicon Valley, according to the FBI.The group, which includes three professors, are said to have got jobs at US tech companies in California and passed their secrets to Beijing.They are said to have laughed about the theft in emails as part of the ‘long running’ effort to benefit the Communist nation that dated back to 2006. OF COURSE there is SO MUCH  (5)>>REVERSE ENGINEERING , that APPLE INC may have stolen as well. The Chinese company, Zhizhen Network Technology Co, claimed that Apple 's Siri is a copycat of their voice technology "Xiao i Robot", and accused the US technology giant of technology infringement.The firm claimed it filed a patent for the "Xiao i Robot" software in 2004, which was approved two years later. Apple's Siri, which made its debut with the release of the iPhone 4S in 2011, was first developed in 2007.Zhizhen has demanded that Apple stop making and selling products in China which carry Siri, an "intelligent" personal assistant which responds to a user's commands through voice recognition software. Either case outsourcing has the potentual for revese engineering . 

CONCLUSION .

Regardless of the outcome of the current Apple vs FBI fight over cracking the encryption of a single iPhone, it is important to realize that this is just one of a number of issues involving cyber jihad that concern both the tech/social media companies and the government. These cyber jihad issues also impact public safety and national security.As Apple fights this encryption battle, with the backing of every major tech and social media company, what is missing is a unified statement from them declaring that they oppose terrorist use of their platform, and that they will work to come up with ideas to stop it, at the same time as they protect both privacy and freedom of speech. These groups need to come together to create industry standards for how tech companies and social media should deal with cyber jihad.ISIL has completely secure communications using American technology bought over-the-counter. With friends like Apple we don't need any more enemies.

There is an interesting article regarding Apple products in terrorists hands ( http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/9081.htm ) .  My big question is how all this "technology" end up in ISIL territory , if not a lucrative trade or smuggling . Our government agencies like the FBI and CIA can't even trace not a single object any more is puzzling .

NOTES AND COMMENTS:

(1)>>APPLE'S iOS 9.This Tuesday, Apple will face off against the United States government at a hearing in federal court in Riverside, Calif., over whether it must help law enforcement break into an iPhone used by a gunman in last year’s San Bernardino, Calif., terrorist attack. Since Apple does not, and on devices running iOS 8 cannot, readily hand over decrypted user data, a terrorist might leverage the company's messaging products to hide their agenda from government security agencies. And to deadly effect.  Inside Apple this idea is nicknamed, not affectionately, GovtOS. “We had long discussions about that internally, when they asked us,” Cook says. “Lots of people were involved. It wasn’t just me sitting in a room somewhere deciding that way, it was a labored decision. We thought about all the things you would think we would think about.” The decision, when it came, was no.Cook actually thought that might be the end of it. It wasn’t: on Feb. 16 the FBI both escalated and went public, obtaining a court order from a federal judge that required Apple to create GovtOS under something called the All Writs Act. Cook took deep, Alabaman umbrage at the manner in which he learned about the court order, which was in the press: “If I’m working with you for several months on things, if I have a relationship with you, and I decide one day I’m going to sue you, I’m a country boy at the end of the day: I’m going to pick up the phone and tell you I’m going to sue you.” (2)>>The FBI could not jailbreak it. Law enforcement has long been accustomed to obtaining warrants to search almost anything it wants, subject to the limits spelled out in the Fourth Amendment. (That’s the one about “unreasonable searches and seizures.”) But encryption creates a new kind of warrant-proof space, a virtual bolt-hole in which private citizens can put the vast amounts of sensitive personal data they generate. It’s still accessible to law enforcement in theory, but in practice it’s impenetrable without a pass code. (3)>>Snowden of the agency's classified documents.When Edward Snowden revealed that the NSA had been collecting everyone’s phone records, the US government rushed to discredit him and brand him as a traitor, and the public followed. He said the FBI is attempting to compel Apple to help unlock the iPhone out of convenience, not necessity, because it would take a long time for the agency to develop the tools and expertise to crack the phone itself. (The FBI has said in its legal arguments that only Apple can unlock the iPhone, which has a passcode.)“ (4)>>Now, Apple has decided to go up against . Under the civil remedies provision of the Antiterrorism Act (18 U.S. Code §2333), victims of international terrorism can sue, Lawfare explains, adding that an act violating criminal law is required to meet section definitions. Courts have found material support crimes satisfy this criteria. Because Apple was previously warned of potential threats to national security, specifically the danger of loss of life, it could be found to have provided material support to the theoretical terrorist. The authors point out that Apple would most likely be open liability under §2333 for violating 18 USC §2339A, which makes it a crime to "provide[] material support or resources ... knowing or intending that they are to be used in preparation for, or in carrying out" a terrorist attack or other listed criminal activity. Communications equipment is specifically mentioned in the statute.  (4.1)>>STRANGE. Smoking, drinking alcohol and having music on your iPod or iPhone also can get you thrown into an ISIL prison. For that matter, even having an iPhone, iPad or iPod, in fact all Apple products, can get you busted, because the terrorist group fears it can be tracked and used to vector in bombing or drone attacks, International Business Times reports.  If you're caught listening to music, puffing on a cigarette or wearing too-tight pants, ISIL will toss you in jail for 10 days while you take an "Islamic course," the Daily Mail reports. There will be quiz at the end, and you don't get out of jail until you pass it. (5)>>Manufacturing. The manufacturing processes of Apple and other electronics companies have come into sharp focus of late, with the revelation of more details about what life is like for the Chinese workers who make the world's gadgets.China is already the world’s largest manufacturer, accounting for nearly a quarter of global value added in this sector. Research by Morris Cohen of the Wharton Business School finds that the country leads in many industries and that “reshoring to the developed economies is not happening on a large scale.” Even though some production is moving to countries nearer its consumers, China remains at the heart of a network known as Factory Asia.  (5)>>REVERSE ENGINEERING. Back in 1970s, Chinese Govt were thirsty for American Technology. They offered their souls and even 10,000 women to Nixon administration in return for some work. Now in comes the great MBA revolution of 1980s which created fluff out of thin air like derivatives and outsourcing. Result was the intermixing of great corporate Greed and a communist nation ready to provide labor for food. Human rights and Environmental regulation was non existent in China, so the great American CEOs looked the other way and created Billions for their company and kept Millions for themselves. Result is Millions of trade and apprentice from blue collar USA just vanished....It created a new breed of American Oligarchy.  you look at the good being manufactured in China, of course, you'll find that a large percentage of crap, knock off products ARE manufactured in China. But likewise, if you take a look at good products made by good companies, you might find that they're ALSO made in China.Essentially, a large proportion of products - of every quality and innovation level - are made in China.