Apples near the tree: The resolution of the San Bernardino iPhone standoff is only the beginning

Apple and the FBI have both for the moment stood down in their high-stakes standoff, with the government hacking into a dead San Bernardino terrorist’s iPhone without the recalcitrant tech giant’s help.

 

One down and hundreds more to go . With lives in the balance, the encryption threat still cries out for a comprehensive solution .

FBI agrees to unlock another iPhone in homicide case

The FBI has offered to unlock another iPhone for police after revealing it could access the handset used by San Bernardino killer Syed Farook.

 

Police in Arkansas wish to unlock an iPhone and iPod belonging to two teenagers accused of killing a couple, according to the Associated Press (AP).

FBI-Apple case: Investigators Break into Dead San Bernardino Gunman's iPhone

The FBI has managed to unlock the iPhone of the San Bernardino gunman without Apple's help, ending a court case, the US justice department says.

Apple had been resisting a court order issued last month requiring the firm to write new software to allow officials to access Syed Rizwan Farook's phone.

But officials on Monday said that it had been accessed independently and asked for the order to be withdrawn.

Syed Rizwan Farook, right, and his wife Tashfeen Malik, killed 14 people at an office party on 2 December

Farook and his wife killed 14 in San Bernardino, California, in December.

They were later shot dead by police.

FBI warns on risks of car hacking

The FBI and the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have added their voices to growing concerns about the risk of cars being hacked.

In an advisory note it warns the public to be aware of "cybersecurity threats" related to connected vehicles.

Last year Fiat Chrysler recalled 1.4 million US vehicles after security researchers remotely controlled a Jeep.

People who suspect their car has been hacked were told to get in contact with the FBI.

Apply Battle backed by more online Giants Tech in FBI iPhone unlock battle

More of the biggest names in tech - including eBay, Google and Amazon have joined Twitter and AirBnB in backing Apple in its court battle with the FBI. 

The FBI has a court order demanding Apple helps unlock an iPhone used by the gunman behind the San Bernardino terror attack, Syed Rizwan Farook.

Farook and his wife killed 14 people in the California city last December before police fatally shot them.

Family members of some victims have backed the FBI's order.

Two groups of tech giants have now filed an amicus brief, which allows parties not directly involved in a court case, but who feel they are affected by it, to give their view.

Apple has appealed against the court order, arguing that it should not be forced to weaken the security of its own products.

Security

Apple asks court to reverse FBI iPhone order

Apple has asked a US court to overturn an earlier ruling ordering the company to help the FBI break into a phone used by one of the San Bernardino killers.

In court papers Apple says law enforcement authorities are seeking "dangerous powers" and the move violates its constitutional rights. 

 

The FBI and White House have said the request is limited to one iPhone.

But Apple says the software needed to comply with the FBI's request "simply does not exist".

Instead Apple says it would have to create a new version on the iPhone operating software, containing a back door to the device's encrypted data.

It argues that the lower court did not have the authority to force Apple to do that.

Apple also says no court had ever forced a company to weaken the security of its products to gain access to personal individual information.

CEO Tim Cook, Apple boss respond back at FBI investigation

Apple boss Tim Cook has hit back at the FBI over the handling of a court order to help unlock the iPhone of San Bernardino killer Syed Rizwan Farook.

 

Mr Cook told ABC his company first learned of the controversial request when it was reported in the news media.

"I don't think that's the way the railroad should be run," he said.

"I don't think that something so important to this country should be handled in this way."

However, a source close to the investigation told the BBC Mr Cook's claim was "simply not true", and that Apple's legal team was "the first to know".

Gunman's victims urge Apple to work with FBI

A lawyer representing victims of the San Bernadino killers will file a legal brief telling Apple to cooperate with the FBI in its investigation.

 

Stephen Larson, a former judge, said he intends to file legal paperwork on their behalf next month.

The FBI has ordered Apple to disable the security software

on the killer's handset but the tech giant has refused.

In a new statement FBI Director James Comey said the demand was "about the victims and justice".

Apple Phone rejects order to unlock Gunman's phone onbehlf of FBI

Apple will contest a court order to help FBI investigators access data on the phone belonging to San Bernardino gunman Syed Rizwan Farook.

 

The company had been ordered to help the FBI circumvent security software

on Farook's iPhone, which the FBI said contained crucial information.

In a statement, Apple chief executive Tim Cook said: "The United States government has demanded that Apple take an unprecedented step which threatens the security of our customers."

San Bernardino attack: Police search lake

A lake in California is being searched by police investigating last week's shootings in San Bernardino, in which 14 people were killed.

Divers from the FBI began searching the waters of Seccombe Lake Park, two miles (3km) from the site of the attack.

 

The two suspects are thought to have visited the park on the day of the shooting, an FBI spokesman said.

Wife and Infant Son Held at Gunpoint in Bank Robbery Extortion Plot: FBI

A Tennessee bank executive, along with his wife and infant son, was kidnapped at gunpoint and forced to rob the very Knoxville bank he works at, according to authorities.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is now investigating the brazen plot, which began when two perps armed with handguns and a long gun burst into the family’s home in the Dunbarton Oaks subdivision around 8 a.m. Tuesday.

 

 

Tanner Harris, a vice president and commercial lending officer at SmartBank, along with wife Abbey Harris, was blindfolded and driven in the family car to a bank branch at 202 Advantage Place, according to the Knoxville News Sentinel.