Apple opposes gov order to unlock iPhone

[6andcounting]

Apparently court filings by the DoJ confirm that the phone's password was reset after it had been seized by investigators. Had it not been reset, the phone could have been unlocked without needing an Apple encryption key. Official word is that a rogue, low- level employee from the health department reset it by accident.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-tn-apple-fbi-call-20160219-story.html

Apple said that in early January it provided four alternatives to access data from the iPhone besides the controversial method the FBI is now proposing.

But one of the most encouraging options was ruled out because within 24 hours of the shooting rampage, the phone’s owner — possibly gunman Syed Rizwan Farook’s employer, the San Bernardino County public health department — reset the password to Farook’s iCloud account to access data from the backup, according to Apple and federal officials.

That means the iCloud password on the iPhone itself is now wrong, and it won’t back up unless someone can get past the phone’s passcode and change it.

The issue was discovered after Apple engineers sent to Southern California to work with the FBI struggled to trigger an automatic backup, Apple said. When iCloud is enabled, iPhones automatically sync with the cloud if they are charging and are connected to a familiar Wi-Fi network.