LAPD hacked into iPhone 5S belonging to slain wife of 'Shield' actor

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-lapd-locked-iphone-actor-wife-michael-jace-20160504-story.html

by leojfc • 10 years ago

48 28 10 years ago

The killing was 19/05/2014. iOS8 came out on 17/09/2014, and the iPhone 5S launched with iOS7. It’ll have been iOS7, and hence unencrypted by default in a way Apple (and presumably attackers) can access.

ibejoeb• 10 years ago

That sounds right. There are a few unanswered questions.

"[I]n 2015, an Apple technician was ordered by an L.A. judge to help police extract data from the phone's hard drive, according to the search warrant."

So, did Apply comply? If they did, or if they didn't, I don't think this has been reported anywhere.

Perhaps Apple complied and imaged the disk, and afterwards, LA needed a consultant to actually make something of it.

oarsinsync• 10 years ago

There are various statements issued by Apple stating that they do cooperate with law enforcement when they can, and that pre-full-disk-encryption, they generally did.

That said, they sometimes go out of their way to make it inconvenient - if you want data provided on physical media, you have to supply a firewire disk

archildress2• 10 years ago

It's no wonder that Apple is becoming increasingly pushy about updates on iOS. I've noticed in the last few months that the new pop-up options are to either "remind me later" (and it absolutely will) or "update now."

I think a huge part of it is trying to stay ahead of this security curve.

Exploits are going to continue to be found in older versions of iOS (and every other piece of software, for that matter). It's kind of disheartening to think that if the authorities just hold your phone long enough, they'll eventually have an exploit to unlock it with.

a_imho• 10 years ago

It is interesting when Microsoft did the same with Windows most my peers were pretty outraged. Imagine clicking remind me later in the morning, start a long running process when you are just about to go to have lunch and coming back to Windows installing updates after a restart.

I don't think Apple gains anything substantial from pushing security fixes, however eroding user control could be in their interest.

culturestate2• 10 years ago

There's one key difference: iOS doesn't automatically reboot itself at seemingly random times. If you choose "install later," it will make sure you aren't on the phone when it starts the process.

That Windows loves to do it with no warning _while you are actively using the computer_ is what makes it annoying.

Frompo3• 10 years ago

Um, there is a bit of a difference between how you use Windows and how you use iOS.

Notably, there is no real notion of long running process in iOS.

Shivetya• 10 years ago

I am only concerned about the day than a NSL makes them push an update that backdoors or weakens security under the guise of something else.

would Apple be able to resist it? how would it become known they tried?

dsfyu404ed• 10 years ago

Every time I hear about a husband -> wife murder case that doesn't involve a prior violent crime history or some large amount of physical and circumstantial evidence the two words that go through my mind are "tunnel vision," Without leads the cops just latch on to the only thing they have which is "well... ugh... divorce law gives him a monetary incentive to bust a cap in her ass now don't it?"

I'd like to hear what the defense has to say. I think it's really fishy for a journalist to write an article that basically parrots the prosecution. Maybe the defense couldn't be reached for comment...well then say that if it's the case.

ipsin• 10 years ago

This doesn't seem like a case of tunnel vision. The evidence and circumstances of the theory do seem to point towards the husband. Of course, the trial may reveal Jace's innocence, but there seems to be enough evidence that I don't think "lazy police work" applies in this case.

Also: "Jace's attorney and the prosecutor assigned to his case could not be reached for comment."

CiPHPerCoder• 10 years ago

Of course, the trial may reveal Jace's innocence

If it even comes to a trial.

quentusrex• 10 years ago

"the trial may reveal Jace's innocence"

That's unfortunate. The system is suppose to prove his guilt, and assume innocence by default.

jvagner• 10 years ago

"Jace's attorney and the prosecutor assigned to his case could not be reached for comment."

parfe• 10 years ago

Authorities allege about 8:30 p.m. on the day of the killing, a man called police from the actor’s cellphone, saying that he had just shot his wife to death.
A handgun was later recovered in the home.

loeg• 10 years ago

If you were going to murder someone's wife, it would be a good misdirection, wouldn't it?

jessaustin2• 10 years ago

...had no arrest history, according to public records, but divorce papers from a previous marriage include allegations of threats and domestic violence.

Has there been a divorce in California in the last several decades in which child custody was an issue, which has not included such allegations? Are reporters really that ignorant, or do they just assume their readers are?

avs733• 10 years ago

'just the facts' reporting strikes again. The lack of context is not an effective way of eliminating bias.

Frompo3• 10 years ago

Well, in Logan, Walker, Jordan, and Horvath (2002) 40% of cases in Kentucky over a two year period did not mention violence (and the court ruling was largely insensitive to the presence or not of violence allegations).

Using the number "Domestic Violence-Related Calls for Assistance" as reference on how to scale from Kentucky to California, ~60 % of divorce cases will have no mention of violence.

(In 2004 Kentucky had 800 calls per 100 000 inhabitants and California had 500; the assumption is that number of allegations in hearings scale with the calls of assistance).

https://aifs.gov.au/publications/allegations-family-violence...

https://oag.ca.gov/crime/cjsc/stats/domestic-violence

http://www.ncdsv.org/fortcampbell/I-12_Kentucky%20DV%20Facts...

http://www.census.gov/popest/data/state/totals/2004/tables/N...

jessaustin2• 10 years ago

Thank you for confirming my point that the domestic violence rate as reported in divorce proceedings far exceeds that as reported to police, by two orders of magnitude. (Presumably some of the reports to police are false, which lowers the actual rate even further. Many such reports are filed on the advice of divorce attorneys, after all.) Doesn't that seem like a fact that a serious journalist would include?

ericcholis• 10 years ago

Whoa....slightly off-topic. I mis-understood "Shield" as being a reference to "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D", in which Patton Oswalt has starred...whose wife recently passed.

Went too far down the rabbit hole there.

LAPD hacked into iPhone 5S belonging to slain wife of 'Shield' actor

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