While owners of new iPhone 6 handsets worry their phones could fold under pressure, law enforcement agencies are disturbed by the smartphones' encryption software and its potential to lock out forensic probes for over five years.
Though Apple is still reeling from the security breaches its iCloud has been suffering, the tech firm has placed a lot of effort into raising security standards with its latest mobile operating system and its last two generations of hardware. The Touch ID fingerprint reader, introduced back with the iPhone 5, combined with iOS 8's unprecedented level of encryption, is a nightmare for criminal investigators.
Ronald T. Hosko, former FBI criminal investigative division assistant director, has been one of the loudest voices speaking out against iOS 8's enhanced encryption. Google's Android L promises consumers the same level of security.
"Encrypting a phone doesn't make it any harder to tap, or 'lawfully intercept' calls," says Hosko. "But it does limit law enforcement's access to data, contacts, photos and email stored on the phone itself. That kind information can help law enforcement officials solve big cases quickly."
iOS 8's encryption is so tight, Apple says serving the company with a warrant for data stored on a smart phone is essentially a waste of resources. They can't help and iOS 8 was designed without any backdoors to exploit.
IOS 8's passcode system makes it especially difficult for forensics investigators to access data stored on a secured Apple device. The only way for an unauthorized individual to access iOS 8 data is by brute force, with each incorrect entry escalating the amount of time the mobile OS will allow between attempts.
"A large iteration count is used to make each attempt slower," Apple states. "The iteration count is calibrated so that one attempt takes approximately 80 milliseconds. This means it would take more than five and a half years to try all combinations of a six-character alphanumeric passcode with lowercase letters and numbers."
Hosko says he has little interest in the government collecting his personal data. Google and Apple are simply capitalizing on the consumer fears that have been heightened by the Edward Snowden revelations, but they're protecting criminals in the process, says Hosko.
"[Apple's] and Android's new protections will protect many thousands of criminals who seek to do us great harm, physically or financially," says Hosko. "They will protect those who desperately need to be stopped from lawful, authorized, and entirely necessary safety and security efforts. And they will make it impossible for police to access crucial information, even with a warrant."
