The high-profile public and legal dispute between the government and Apple is officially over after the FBI managed to unlock the iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino terrorists without Apple’s help.
The Justice Department says it has successfully retrieved the data from the phone and is asking the court to vacate its order for Apple’s assistance.
The Apple-FBI Debate Over Encryption:
The government is not saying exactly what data were found on the phone. DOJ spokeswoman Melanie Newman says the FBI is currently reviewing the information on the phone, consistent with standard investigatory procedures.
This means it took FBI experts about a week to test the third-party tool that allowed them to crack the iPhone passcode. For weeks, the FBI had said only Apple could help investigators lift the iPhone security features that stood in the way of its guessing the passcode. But last week, the government said a third party showed the FBI a new method that didn’t require Apple’s help.
Apple CEO Tim Cook introduces the latest version of the iPhone on Monday in Cupertino, Calif. The company’s legal fight with the FBI may be at an end, or at least a detente, if a third party’s suggestion lets the agency hack into the San Bernardino shooters’ encrypted iPhone.
Apple has not yet commented on the development, but its lawyers have previously said they would push for the government to disclose the third-party tool.
As reported before, the government may have unlocked the password on the phone by tinkering with the hardware — given that the investigators have the physical phone — or by exploiting an obscure flaw in the iPhone software. A discovery of a software vulnerability would be a major reason for the FBI to keep the tool secret and reuse it in other investigations involving older versions of iPhones, like the iPhone 5C at stake here.
