Apple “jerks” have been labeled “evil geniuses” by an FBI forensics expert. Stephen Flatley slammed the iPhone-maker this week for making it even more difficult to hack into iOS devices.
Apple’s strict stance on privacy means that we can be confident our data is safe when we use an iPhone.
Strong encryption prevents law enforcement agencies from obtaining our messages, call logs, and other sensitive information, while Apple’s refusal to create a software backdoor means the likes of the FBI cannot crack into our devices without a passcode.
The FBI doesn’t like Apple security
The FBI doesn’t like this — as one might expect. Flatley told attendees at the International Conference on Cyber Security in Manhattan on Wednesday that it’s now even more difficult for the FBI to carry out investigative work due to Apple’s security implementations.
Flatley was particularly upset that Apple “jerks” recently increased the time between passcode guesses. Its decision to change hash iterations from 10,000 to 10,000,000 means it now takes longer than ever for brute force tools to find the correct passcode.
“Password attempts speed went from 45 passwords a second to one every 18 seconds,” Flatley complained. “Your crack time just went from two days to two months.”
“At what point is it just trying to one up things and at what point is it to thwart law enforcement?” Flatley asked. “Apple is pretty good at evil genius stuff.”
FBI fights encryption
Flatley’s comments came a day after FBI director Christopher Wray called encryption an “urgent public safety issue.” Wray, like his predecessor James Comey, is fighting against companies like Apple who use encryption to protect our most sensitive data.
Via: PatentlyApple
