Cellebrite, an Israeli company that provides software forensics specializing in retrieving data hidden inside mobile devices, has been identified in reports as the outfit helping the Federal Bureau of Investigation to hack the iPhone used by one of the terrorists in the San Bernardino attack. “It means they can’t satisfy the legal standard to sustain the court’s order”, said Eichensehr, referring to Magistrate Judge Sheri Pym’s February 16 ruling compelling Apple to create software that would disable security features on the phone.
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The Vice President of Cellebrite’s forensics division, Leeor Ben-Peretz, wouldn’t comment on the Apple case when speaking to Isreali news outlet Haaretz, but he did indicate his belief that all devices can be broken into, no matter how hack-proof they may seem. Here’s how Cellebrite describes its mobile forensic capabilities: Cellebrite mobile forensics solutions give access to and unlock the intelligence of mobile data sources to extend investigative capabilities, accelerate investigations, unify investigative teams and produce solid evidence.
A federal judge in California delayed a hearing scheduled for Tuesday that would have addressed the ongoing dispute between and Apple and the FBI in order to afford the agency the time needed to test the new potential alternative. Moreover, the Cellebrite site boasts that the company can obtain data from Apple phones that use the iPhone’s most recent operating system.
The US government unexpectedly asked for and received a postponement on the eve of the court date, saying an unidentified “outside party” had just shown it a possible way to unlock the iPhone without Apple’s help.
While in theory it’s possible that investigators could go with some kind of brute-force attack, Kaplan thinks it’s more likely that the FBI’s mystery assistant found a zero day instead.
“We expect that at most one-quarter of the U.S. Android switchers will buy the iPhone SE, accounting for 1-2 million units in a year”, Levin said.
There’s no word on what solution Cellebrite may have come up with, but if its method is successful, the agency will no longer need Apple to unlock the phone.
So the government had to justify that only Apple could unlock this iPhone. This method involves desoldering the NAND chip, copying all its data using a device capable of reading/writing NAND flash, replacing the chip, and then guessing passcodes.
“It is definitely a legal win for Apple if this case goes away because some other party can go ahead and get into the phone”, Bartholomew said.
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Users who had those complaints may be tempted to pick up the iPhone SE next time they upgrade, especially if Apple keeps updating it with newer technology.
