Justice Department says Apple's security claims in fight over terrorist's iPhone are rotten to the core  

The Justice Department isn’t rolling over in its battle with Apple.

The Justice Department continues to tangle with Apple over getting access to a terrorist's cell phone, though information revealed Friday showed that the entire debacle could have been avoided before it started if not for the mistake of a government technology employee.

Federal prosecutors said that in talks with the tech giant, one of the options discussed to get information from San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook's iPhone was having the device auto-backup all its data onto an iCloud storage account.

Investigators have been able to access most data for the phone from the Cloud, but are missing information from the six weeks before the December attacks that killed 14 people at the Inland Regional Center in Southern California.


Tense moments where government workers searched for answers in the immediate aftermath of the shooting may have been what led to investigators' current impasse for the phone, which was owned by Farook's employer, the San Bernardino County Health Department.

A technology employee of the health department was able to reset the phone's iCloud password remotely, but the reset meant that the device could not resync and update to the cloud, which Apple suggests it would have been able to do if it was taken to a location where it would automatically connect to the Wi-Fi.

The Justice Department took aim at Apple for protecting terrorist Syed Farook's iPhone.
The Justice Department took aim at Apple for protecting terrorist Syed Farook's iPhone. (ROLEX DELA PENA/EPA)

It was unclear Friday night whether investigators were behind the password reset or were present at the time.

One federal official told ABC that investigators did not order the effort and did not find out about it until afterwards.

However, another source told the network that federal investigators had possession of the phone at the time when the reset was done, though it could be done remotely.

News of the mistake came as a footnote in the DOJ' sharply worded motion Friday arguing that Apple's cdire warnings about privacy and "unprecedented" FBI overstepping are faulty to the core.

Echoing NYPD Police Commissioner Bill Bratton's statements a day earlier, the filing argues Apple should be forced to comply with a Tuesday court order and find a way to access shooter Syed Farook's iPhone because it's the law.


The filing scoffs at Apple CEO Tim Cook open letter this week that claims the software needed to access Farook's phone doesn't exist yet and – if created – would constitute a skeleton key that could put millions of users at risk.

"The order does not, as Apple's public statement alleges, require Apple to create or provide a 'back door' to every iPhone," the DOJ's filing in Riverside, Calif., states.

"It does not give the government 'the power to reach into anyone's device' without a warrant or court authorization."

To the contrary, the tailored order allows Apple to maintain custody of its software "at all times," the motion argues.


The motion accuses Apple of being more concerned with its bottom line than public safety.


It claims Apple has worked with law enforcement in the past to fulfill similar search warrants based on the same law underpinning the warrant to search Farook's phone. The difference is those warrants related to phones with earlier operating systems lacking the latest security features.

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"Apple's current refusal to comply with the court's orders, despite the technical feasibility of doing so, instead appears to be based on its concern for its business model and public brand marketing strategy," the Justice Department's motion alleges.

The court order issued Tuesday requires Apple to assist the FBI "with respect to this single iPhone" and provide "an opportunity to determine the passcode," the filing states.

Investigators argue they aren't asking Apple to decrypt the phone but simply create a way to disable or bypass the auto-erase function that permanently deletes data after multiple failed passcode attempts.

Apple argues it's not just one phone at issue.


At a press conference Thursday, Bratton and Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance Jr. stood before a table loaded with iPhones running Apple's iOS8 system or higher.

They said the devices were evidence in criminal investigations in the city but couldn't be accessed due to the same security features obstructing access to Farook's phone.

"It's very difficult to explain to a victim of crime that we can't get evidence because of cell phone technology," Vance said.Relatives of at least two victims killed in the San Bernardino terror attack spoke to the Daily News Wednesday and said they hoped a resolution is possible.

"I feel like now there are a whole bunch of terrorists running out and buying iPhones, like the little 'I' in iPhone should be for ISIS," Mandy Pifer, who lost fiancé Shannon Johnson in the rampage, told The News Wednesday.

Pifer, 41, said she read Cook's open letter and knows the issue is complex – but she believed Apple should find a way to meet the court order.

"A lot of these privacy questions are hypothetical. But we know for a fact (shooter) Syed Farook killed 14 and tried to kill a whole bunch more, and there are missing pieces there," Pifer said Wednesday

"This isn't about just bringing peace to the families, this is terrorism. It scares me to death that we can't see if there were other terrorists he communicated with," she said.

Johnson, 45, was hailed a hero after survivor Denise Peraza revealed he shielded her body and said, "I got you," when Farook, 28, and his wife Tashfeen Malik, 29, burst into a San Bernardino County health department gathering Dec. 2 and sprayed the room with bullets.

The brother-in-law of 60-year-old victim Isaac Amanios said his family uses Apple products and supports personal privacy but also sees the urgent need for a full investigation.


"I love my Fourth Amendment as much as anyone, but this is a case of law and order, and I expect Apple to follow the law," Robel Tekleab, who acts as the Amanios family spokesman, told The News.

"I don't have any desire to pick through (Farook's) phone and see whatever life he had, but I want to know how he succeeded in this," Tekleab, 35, said.

"I want to know how we failed and let this person go this many years undiscovered so he could do the damage he did," he said. "We've already lost what we can lose. Isaac is gone. But we don't want anyone to hinder the investigation."

Amanios was a father of three and the cousin of New York Giants safety Nat Berhe.