Last year, Apple was ordered by the FBI to crack the iPhone 5c, which was owned by one of the shooters of the 2015 attacks in San Bernardino, Syed Farook. Apple strictly refused due to their confidentiality policy. The FBI instead worked with an Israeli mobile security company that specializes in mobile security, Cellebrite.
Last month one of Cellebrite legacy servers had been breached by a hacker. The hacker just didn’t stop there. He released some of the data as a warning to the FBI. The data released included codes pertaining to the Universal Forensic Extraction Device (UFED). These codes can apparently crack older phones like iPhone 5’s, Androids, and Blackberry’s.
The hacker explained anonymously to Motherboard, that creating these tools, can ruffle a lot of feathers. More importantly, anyone will be to have access to it, namely, oppressive regimes.
“It’s important to demonstrate that when you create these tools, they will make it out. History should make that clear,” the hacker told Motherboard.
The hacker has also stated that he and his team were able to procure the files and post them on Pastebin. He claims to have taken them from Cellebrite’s own servers. Some of the code came from publically accessible jailbreaking code, also.
Someone from the company informed Motherboard that the files did not include source code. It was only the packaging information. The CEO of Apple, Tim Cook cautiously said creating backdoor software is “Terrible for public safety.”
After a while, the public usually gets their hands on confidential information. In other words, nothing stays private for too long, especially access codes and tools to find access codes.
