With barely 3 days between him croaking and the order being filed, maybe he got a little help after all.
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/12/feds-want-apples-help-to-defeat-encrypted-phones-new-legal-case-shows/
The Feds have been taking this road for over a year. The difference is that the earlier motions ordered "reasonable effort" while the current one tells them explicitly what to do and how to go about it. They want something that runs from RAM without modifying iOS, so in essence, an app that can disable the software security features. Good luck keeping that confined to one device.
And, AFAIK, he's plain wrong about the backups. The backup key is also based on the inaccessible hardware key. The only way to avoid brute forcing the lot is to restore them to the same device they originated on.
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/12/feds-want-apples-help-to-defeat-encrypted-phones-new-legal-case-shows/
The Feds have been taking this road for over a year. The difference is that the earlier motions ordered "reasonable effort" while the current one tells them explicitly what to do and how to go about it. They want something that runs from RAM without modifying iOS, so in essence, an app that can disable the software security features. Good luck keeping that confined to one device.
And, AFAIK, he's plain wrong about the backups. The backup key is also based on the inaccessible hardware key. The only way to avoid brute forcing the lot is to restore them to the same device they originated on.