Tuesday's House Judiciary Committee hearing on encryption issues was a five hour rollercoaster of questions, answers, and arguments. TMO's Jeff Gamet picked five interesting points that stood out from testimony presented by Apple's General Counsel Bruce Sewell, Worcester Polytechnic Institute Professor Susan Landau, and FBI Director James Comey.
FBI Director Comey testifying at House Judiciary Committee hearing on encryption
Today's hearing was spurred by the debate over the legality of an FBI obtained court order requiring Apple to create a password hackable version of the iPhone's operating system. The FBI wants the tool so it can find the passcode on an iPhone related to last December's mass shooting in San Bernardino, California.
Apple helped officials try to locate lost Malaysia Airlines flight 370
Bruce Sewell: "When the Malaysia Airline went down, within one hour of that plane being declared missing, we had Apple operators cooperating with telephone providers all over the world—with the airlines and with the FBI to try to find a ping. To try to find some way we could locate where that plane was."
The NSA doesn't have tools that can crack iPhone security
Directory Comey said the FBI consulted with other Federal agencies looking for ways to hack into the iPhone without Apple's help. When asked about the NSA specifically, he said the agency doesn't have any tools that can break through the iPhone's encryption
James Comey: "If we could have done this quietly and privately, we would have done it."
Other U.S. government agencies can crack iPhone security
Contradicting Director Comey's assertion that no one has tools to hack through iPhone security, Worcester Polytechnic Institute Professor and security expert Susan Landau said the NSA does, in fact have that capability.
Susan Landau: "The FBI needs to take a page from the NSA."
The tools the FBI wants will work on modern iPhones, not just the 5c
Bruce Sewell: "There's no distinction between a 5C and 6 in this context. The tool we're being asked to create will work on any iPhone in use today."
Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA) has no problem schooling the FBI on encryption
Congressman Issa hammered Director Comey with a string of questions about the steps the FBI took to recover data from Syed Farook's iPhone 5c. He wanted to know if the FBI asked Apple for the device's source code, if they tried duplicating the device's stored data.
Darrell Issa: "I'm doing this because I came out of the security business and this befuddles me that you haven't looked at the source code, and you don't really understand the disk drive... How can you come before this committee—before a Federal Judge—and demand someone else invent something if you can't answer the questions that your people have tried this?
James Comey: "I don't know." (repeatedly)
Today's hearing is only a part in the bigger discussion surrounding privacy, digital security, and criminal investigations. Apple is fighting the FBI's court order and it's possible that could lead all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.