"Locked" iPhone in Terrorist case - meaning same as "locked" bootloader in Android?

[koam]

"Locked" iPhone in Terrorist case - meaning same as "locked" bootloader in Android?

There are lots of news stories today about Apple defying a judge's order to unlock a "locked" iPhone that was owned by one of the San Bernardino terrorists.

My question is: When they refer to the "locked" (encrypted) iPhone is that the same use of the word "locked" as when we have an "unlocked bootloader" on an Android?

And is the use of "unlocked" meaning an Android phone that's not tied to a carrier another separate use of the term?


[Edit by Mod] -- Adding Articles for Context

Apple opposes court order, says it won't create a backdoor to unlock the iPhone | iMore

Apple, the FBI, and your privacy under siege | iMore

 

[SpookDroid]

re:

Not familiar with the terrorist case, but I doubt it's the same. If anything, I'm guessing the iPhone in question is encrypted (or just password-protected, which would make me weep if Federal Agents can't bypass that without the help of an Apple 'Genius').

To the terms you are referring, here we usually refer to a 'locked' phone when you can't use a SIM card from another carrier or region than what it was originally intended for. Or, also, a phone that is password-protected and cannot be accessed without the proper credentials.

The unlocked bootloader means that you can tinker with the software that your device boots to, which is necessary for more in-depth OS customization, and this alongside 'root' would be more akin to an iPhone's jailbreaking process. It's just a way to access and tinker with the system, not necessarily the data that's in it.

 

[randall2580]

re:

iOS uses encryption to secure the contents of your phone. It uses the password as the encryption key to unlock the contents. Without the key, anyone who had access to your phone would not be able to make any uses of the content, it would be complete jibberish. Some Android phones allow you to do this as well, I believe starting with Lollipop. Some phones come like this out of the box, some allow you the choice of whether you want encryption on your phone or not.

 

[OceanView]

Re:

iOS uses encryption to secure the contents of your phone. It uses the password as the encryption key to unlock the contents. Without the key, anyone who had access to your phone would not be able to make any uses of the content, it would be complete jibberish. Some Android phones allow you to do this as well, I believe starting with Lollipop. Some phones come like this out of the box, some allow you the choice of whether you want encryption on your phone or not.

Is there a way to determine which Android phones come out of the box this way?
Samsung phones by chance?

 

[koam]

Re:

thanks to all for the replies.

In Android we can go to Settings, Security and turn on various "device security" options (Marshmallow 6.0.1). These are Swipe, Pattern, PIN, or Password.

Also, separately, on the Security Settings page, mine says "encryption: Encrypt phone: Encrypted" - and tapping that does not give me choices. I don't recall ever choosing to Encrypt the phone. I think it may have just come that way.

My phone is Nexus 6, purchased new, "unlocked" from Best Buy. I subsequently unlocked the bootloader on it and flashed stock android 6.0.1 because AT&T was not pushing the upgrade from Android 5.

 

[SpookDroid]

Re: "Locked" iPhone in Terrorist case - meaning same as "locked" bootloader in Android?

It would be the 'encrypted' part that's most likely what the government is asking help from Apple. In theory you should be able to Decrypt your device (and leave it un-encrypted), but not sure where that option is or if you have to do it at boot.

 

[randall2580]

Re:

Is there a way to determine which Android phones come out of the box this way?
Samsung phones by chance?

I think Nexus devices come encrypted out of the box, I am certain my Nexus 6 did. I am certain BlackBerry's Priv does. When I look at the Galaxy Note 5 it's an option that can be toggled, at least on my Verizon model. Same for the One Plus Two.

koam above shows where to look to see if your phone is encrypted.

 

[sting7k]

Re:

Any iDevice running iOS 8.0 or later that has a passcode enabled to lock the device is encrypted by default. So without the passcode the FBI has no way to get data off the phone.

It has nothing to do with being SIM unlocked, boot loader unlocked, etc.

 

[lephils]

Re: "Locked" iPhone in Terrorist case - meaning same as "locked" bootloader in Android?

It would be the 'encrypted' part that's most likely what the government is asking help from Apple. In theory you should be able to Decrypt your device (and leave it un-encrypted), but not sure where that option is or if you have to do it at boot.

I'm pretty sure you gotta flash a kernel that doesn't force encryption, at least for nexus devices since the n6. Think that's the only way to decrypt those devices, and I believe you have also to format userdata. I'm not certain about the data though.

 

[koam]

Re: "Locked" iPhone in Terrorist case - meaning same as "locked" bootloader in Android?

When I flashed Android 6 to this Nexus 6 I did flash it to be unencrypted.... to speed it up.