The FBI says that on Sunday, an “outside party” demonstrated to the FBI a “possible method for unlocking” Syed Rizwan Farook’s iPhone. The hearing was postponed as the government authorities would need time to know whether the viable method wouldn’t compromise the data on the phone.
Advertisement
“From a purely technical perspective, one of the most fragile parts of the government’s case is the claim that Apple’s help is required to unlock the phone”, said Matt Blaze, a professor and computer security expert at the University of Pennsylvania. The FBI has until April 5 to report back to federal Magistrate Judge Sheri Pym.
In a statement, U.S. Justice Department spokeswoman Melanie Newman says the government is “cautiously optimistic” that the possible method will work. The FBI had previously ordered Apple to create a backdoor into the phone, which the company has continuously refused to do. In court papers, federal prosecutors said that the FBI has found an outside party that could hack the subject’s phone data.
The FBI has been researching methods to access the data on Farook’s encrypted phone since obtaining it on December 3, the day after the attack which killed 14 people.
You would think if you were losing sales and trying to sell a three-year-old phone design with an undersized screen in a competitive market you might like to at least try to make it a bit cheaper. This hearing is about the government’s effort to compel the tech giant to unlock its iPhone, which was owned by one of the shooters in the San Bernardino terror attack.
“For us to seek a continuance, we felt it was a good shot”, he said. “We will not shrink from this responsibility”.
Late Monday, Apple attorneys said they first learned about the FBI’s potential solution early Monday afternoon.
It’s unknown if that’s the method the government now plans to use, and other techniques may have been suggested to it as well.
Apple had then rejected the court’s demands, citing the potential misuse of any such “govtOS” created to decrypt an iPhone’s security protocol, after which the matter was taken to court.
At a recent congressional hearing, Comey said authorities would consider ideas from the outside if they were made known to authorities.
On Monday, the U.S. Justice Department did a 180.
Advertisement
The central conflict over whether law enforcement should be able to access protected data if it could help in criminal investigations or if the principle of digital privacy trumps that investigation, still exists even if the FBI does have a way into this particular iPhone. While the heated battle taking place in California has been fought before a global audience, it’s only one of hundreds of cases involving iPhones that law enforcement wants unlocked.
