The FBI's potentially iPhone-cracking 3rd party?
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- By the end of 2026, how useful do you think agentic/multi-agent AI systems will actually be in your daily work or personal projects? Posted on March 11th, 2026 | 40 comments
(Thanks to reader bestweasel) (Score:2)
This poll courtesy reader bestweasel [slashdot.org].
Polls are always welcome! Just use the regular submissions system; include a pithy question that lends itself to 8 or fewer pithy answers (sorry, that's the limit; maybe one day it will be expanded to more answers or other kinds of answers). Better, include your own answer choices. (We may tweak them, but it's nice to have a starting point.)
Missing option (Score:4, Interesting)
They've been running probability weighted brute force on a clone since day 1. It just finally worked and/or found some 4 digit codes hidden away in his personal effects.
The real question is, can apple request a court order to force the fbi's mysterious contributer to help them patch a serious security bug putting millions of Americans at risk and increasing the chances of cyber-terrorism?
Re: (Score:1)
Brute force won't work in this case, which is why they wanted apple to do this in the first place. After 10 tries the phone will wipe the key off the flash and you're SOL. It's possible they've backed up the flash and keep rewriting it but it's hard to say they've done anything like that.
China (Score:4, Insightful)
John Mcafee (Score:3, Funny)
He said he could do it
Re: (Score:1)
he then stated he lied
Re: (Score:2)
CowboyNeal (Score:1)
ISIS (Score:3)
Can only be (Score:5, Funny)
Abby Sciuto
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:1)
One small problem with your theory: this only works if Tobias Fornell convinces Leroy Jethro Gibbs to ask Abby to do it, but Tobias owes Gibbs bigtime, and Abby doesn't like Fornell.
Re: (Score:2)
Aliens (Score:2)
None of the Above (Score:1)
Just before the deadline, the FBI backs off of a widely controversial case, citing a mysterious third party who will take care of everything, no you can't know who. They probably were just hoping to strongarm Apple into it, and don't want to set precedent if they lose the case. Since Apple isn't backing down, the FBI is "delaying the trial" to let them avoid a loss and give them more time to get Apple to do it.
Re: (Score:2)
This. I wish you mod points dear AC.
Re: (Score:2)
Why does it have to be "The NSA or other US government entity" or a ploy? Why can't it be a contractor that smells money? I don't understand the need to contribute it to anything else when greed is just as easily a motivator.
poll still between stories (Score:2)
weren't polls supposed to be sidebar only again?
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
that's good to hear, I'll do that if I see it again (it's currently not showing that way)
Stanley Jobson. (Score:2)
Either him or Axl Torvalds.
We've been down this path before (Score:1)
Possibly some one remembered the debacle with the clipper chip?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
Apple's compilers are open source so you could A) verify this claim and B) they have shifted a lot of code to Swift now which is again an open source toolchain.
Not quite. Never trust the toolchain Ken Tompson Hack [c2.com]
So this is a very dangerous hack, even to open source from over 30 years ago. Very VERY hard to detect
Re: (Score:2)
Cynical option (Score:2)
Specifying Magic Crystals (Score:3)
I can 'crack' the iPhone... (Score:1)
and the plus models are easier to crack than the non-plus models.
You just bend them until... ***crack***
#bendgate
The obvious source is (Score:2)
You forgot the Cowboy Neal option!! (Score:2)
1) Cowboy Neal's Secret Decoder Ring
2) Impossible Mission Force, starring Cowboy Neal as Tom Cruise
Re: (Score:2)
Just so, or including option 0, Cowboy Neal himself. Not sure if duress (as mentioned in the other post) would be required. Isn't he always under high stress?
The first option is obviously correct, but with the proviso that the NSA can't trust the FBI enough to do it directly. Therefore it was almost surely disguised to look like Option #5, the lone wolf hacker.
Having said that, the motive is the next question (or poll). Why would the NSA want to shut them up? Obviously to protect the hidden reality that the
Figment of FIB's imagination (Score:3)
The FIB is worried that it is losing this battle both in the public, and next in court. They don't want a precedent that goes the other way. This was never about gaining access to this particular phone. (already admitted by the FIB) It was always about gaining unfettered access, any time, any where without any kind of supervision to any phone or other device.
The FIB wants to re grope and work on it's next attempt at getting unlimited access. Perhaps more secretly than in public next time.
The Correct Answer Is Israel (Score:2)
Cowboy Neal (Score:1)
... under extreme duress.
CSI can do it in seconds (Score:2)
Cowboy Neal (Score:2)
This is really missing... Who else (besides Chuck Norris) ?
Not Abby but (Score:2)
Timothy McGee
If not him some government employee who regularly cracks their way into any source of information that might help their current actions - just like the Probie!
iPhone Cracking (Score:1)
Ars says it's Cellebrite per Yedioth Ahronoth (Score:3)
The rumors about FBI cracking Iphone are correct.. (Score:2)