If you have in your possession a regular inkjet printer, a certain type of compatible ink, and fifteen minutes of spare time, then you could be well on your way to bypassing the biometric security on a smartphone. A recently conducted research has concluded that using a certain technique, it is in fact possible to gain unofficial access to a smartphone protected by a fingerprint scanner. How? By printing an image that uses a specialized conductive ink. Here's how this trick works.
John Miller, the New York Police Department's Counter-Terrorism Chief, has added to the Apple encryption drama by claiming that the Cupertino-based company is providing aid to various criminal elements by producing an iPhone that cannot be accessed by LEAs. Speaking at a radio show, Miller took the opportunity to offer his own personal thoughts on the encryption scandal that has rocked the technology industry over the last month or so.
Apple's decision to contest a legal order that tries to force it to provide a backdoor into the iPhone for the FBI has dramatically divided public and professional opinion over the last few weeks. A federal order has requested Apple to work in conjunction with the FBI in order to build what Tim Cook has referred to as "the software equivalent of cancer" in San Bernardino shooting case. Apple has made a formal appeal against that order, which will be heard on March 22nd. While most tech companies, both in and out of Silicon Valley, are in full support of Apple on the issue, and have now also filed amicus brief in support of Apple, one rival company Samsung has decided to take a neutral stance, of sorts, on it.
Apple today has officially filed a formal objection to the court order that effectively tried to force the company into assisting the FBI with unlocking an iPhone 5c that belonged to one of the San Bernardino shooters. Apple's General Counsel, Bruce Sewell, had previously filed a statement prior to the congressional hearing yesterday that outlined the reasons why the company believes the original court order should never have been granted.
In a separate iPhone unlocking case, a New York judge has ruled in favor of Apple, concluding that the U.S. Justice Department/FBI can't force Apple to hack its own iPhones to provide data based on All Writs Act.
Apple plans to put forth an argument before Congress tomorrow afternoon that if it were to comply with court order to crack open a smartphone for FBI used in the San Bernardino shooting, it would set an extremely "dangerous precedent" for the future. Apple's statement prepared by Bruce Sewell has already been submitted to the panel ahead of the appearance, and can now be read below.
Report compares security on iOS, the mobile operating system on Apple's iPhone, vs Google's Android. Just how secure is the smartphone in your pocket?
As the Apple vs FBI iPhone unlocking case moves forward, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter and other tech companies have come together to support the company in court.
It is being reported that Apple is working extremely hard internally on building an iPhone that nobody can hack into. Attention has recently been lavished onto Apple in the wake of the San Bernardino shooting in California, with law enforcement agencies applying pressure on the company to create a new version of iOS that introduces a backdoor to bypass security. This latest report suggests that Apple is responding to the security storm by trying to build an even more secure device and ecosystem that would make it impossible to break into iPhones, even for Apple. In other words, this would effectively make FBI's current requests useless.
In an interview conducted today by ABC’s David Muir, Apple CEO Tim Cook explained his and Apple's stance in their ongoing fight with the FBI where the company is asked to create backdoor access to iPhone for the law enforcement agencies. You can watch the full interview here.














