San Bernardino DA says seized iPhone may hold “dormant cyber pathogen”

Is this plan C, D or E to get Apple involved.

The San Bernardino District Attorney told a federal judge late Thursday that Apple must assist the authorities in unlocking the iPhone used by Syed Farook, one of the two San Bernardino shooters that killed 14 people in a killing rampage in December. The phone, which was a county work phone issued to Farook as part of his Health Department duties, may have been the trigger to unleash a "cyber pathogen," county prosecutors said in a brief court filing.

"The iPhone is a county owned telephone that may have connected to the San Bernardino County computer network. The seized iPhone may contain evidence that can only be found on the seized phone that it was used as a weapon to introduce a lying dormant cyber pathogen that endangers San Bernardino's infrastructure," according to a court filing (PDF) by Michael Ramos, the San Bernardino County District Attorney.
...
Jonathan Zdziarski, a prominent iPhone forensics expert, said in a telephone interview that the district attorney is suggesting that a "magical unicorn might exist on this phone."

"The world has never seen what he is describing coming from an iPhone," Zdziarski said. "I would expect, I would demand, in order to make that statement at all, he should make some kind of proof."

Link

When all else fails, go with more terrorism. Wonder what is next after this one. They are persistent.

Someone should suggest that unlocking the phone might trigger this mythical cyber weapon.

a reply to: roadgravel

Unlocking this phone will release a cyber weapon of such magnitude we must avoid the physical device at all costs. I say to you, do not even turn it on. Leave it be, bury it in 100ft of used kitty litter! Pandora will loath such efforts!



they, so obviously, think we are just soo stupid.



They really need that legal precedent.

a reply to: roadgravel

The whole SB "event" was full of unicorns.

lying dormant cyber pathogen that endangers San Bernardino's infrastructure,"

Oh noes! That phone might have HIV! We need to open it up and see if we can catch it before it's too late!

What the HELL is a "dormant cyber pathogen"???? I spent over 30 years in IT and I have never heard that term.

originally posted by: schuyler

lying dormant cyber pathogen that endangers San Bernardino's infrastructure,"

Oh noes! That phone might have HIV! We need to open it up and see if we can catch it before it's too late!

What the HELL is a "dormant cyber pathogen"???? I spent over 30 years in IT and I have never heard that term.

hahahahahaa.

I am in IT and have been for 13 years. I concur

I will just add this lil piece, I am a tier 2 technical analyst. almost half my life I have spent working in IT in a professional capacity not just fixing computers for people off the books.


Schuyler, u da man! humble n00b here!

originally posted by: akira131

originally posted by: schuyler

lying dormant cyber pathogen that endangers San Bernardino's infrastructure,"

Oh noes! That phone might have HIV! We need to open it up and see if we can catch it before it's too late!

What the HELL is a "dormant cyber pathogen"???? I spent over 30 years in IT and I have never heard that term.

hahahahahaa.

I am in IT and have been for 13 years. I concur

In cyber security a pathogen is something that is meant to disable a particular aervice . it came from cyber security journals. For example the one that that disabled the centrifuges in Iran. It was written to target a specific item. Cyber pathogens are mostly written by states trying to effect services in another. They can even precede an invasion like in Iraq where the US made cyber attacks to effect communications and power plants.

This means if they think their is a cyber pathogen on the phone they believe that it has information on a cyber attack to a service. Sounds like a load of bull to me since I find it unlikely it be on an apple phone but than again stranger things have happened I guess.

I had a friend of mine who got the cyber ebola. His hands melted off. They melted off!

Cyber Ebola, not even once.

a reply to: dragonridr

something like that would take top notch programmers. something only a state (as you said) would have the resources and time to create. why put something of such a sensitive nature on a single device? and if the device is encrypted so heavily not even the communications can be retrieved how would said agencies know there is a dormant, hidden code of such a level? maybe on the thumb drive of a double agent working within an enemy organization, but on the phone of a throw away martyr?

I don't have to work in gov. to smell the stink from their claim. stuxnet wasn't delivered by using itunes. conventional security measures would prevent such obvious delivery methods.

a reply to: dragonridr

That was stuxnet, a virus, wasn't it? So now viruses are called cyber pathogens? Cool, can't think how to make something sound worse than it is? Give it a more scary sounding name!

a reply to: watchitburn

lol!

Riiiiight.... Of course, because this doesn't sound totally made up. FUD, works every time. Thanks 9/11.

originally posted by: dragonridr

originally posted by: akira131

originally posted by: schuyler

lying dormant cyber pathogen that endangers San Bernardino's infrastructure,"

Oh noes! That phone might have HIV! We need to open it up and see if we can catch it before it's too late!

What the HELL is a "dormant cyber pathogen"???? I spent over 30 years in IT and I have never heard that term.

hahahahahaa.

I am in IT and have been for 13 years. I concur

In cyber security a pathogen is something that is meant to disable a particular aervice . it came from cyber security journals. For example the one that that disabled the centrifuges in Iran. It was written to target a specific item. Cyber pathogens are mostly written by states trying to effect services in another. They can even precede an invasion like in Iraq where the US made cyber attacks to effect communications and power plants.

This means if they think their is a cyber pathogen on the phone they believe that it has information on a cyber attack to a service. Sounds like a load of bull to me since I find it unlikely it be on an apple phone but than again stranger things have happened I guess.

Did you just say that a douche nobody has the equivalent of " stuxnet" on an iPhone5?

You know, a program so sweet in lulz factor it makes all programs tell you it is all running fine while in fact " all your base are belong to me"?

That is 1337!!! And " h4x0rz"

Wasn't it the first virus to rewrite firmware?

a reply to: Sargeras

first software to cause physical failures (admitted newayz). yesssss it was

I think someone in government has been watching too much Doctor Who.

a reply to: roadgravel

OK...I gotta give them a full point for "dormant cyber pathogen". Dats Wachowski Brothers level dialog there.

a reply to: roadgravel

You have no chance to survive. Make your time!

a reply to: dragonridr

I thought that was a virus called Stuxnet?
'Cyber pathogen' seems like a fancy word for virus. Seems like fear mongering to me.

a reply to: roadgravel

Please don't turn it on, we don't want Samaritan running loose again.

originally posted by: akira131
a reply to: Sargeras

first software to cause physical failures (admitted newayz). yesssss it was

This is false actually, there have been virus's in the wild that can damage a physical hard disk.

Thanks Obama.