Apple isn't off the hook just yet when it comes to its ongoing court battle with the FBI.
After the FBI got help from Israeli mobile software firm Cellebrite, the iPhone that belonged to the San Bernardino shooter remains unlocked. The federal agency might still need Apple's help after all.
Things looked promising for Apple when the FBI filed a motion to delay the encryption hearing that was supposed to take place on Tuesday, March 22 in California. The agency wanted to hold off on facing Apple in court after a third-party informed it that it had a way to grant it access into the locked smartphone.
Reports then surfaced that Cellebrite reached out to help the FBI with finally unlocking the device. The company has not yet commented.
According to its website, the firm provides "mobile forensics solutions" that helps "give access to and unlock the intelligence of mobile data sources to extend investigative capabilities, accelerate investigations, unify investigative teams and produce solid evidence."
However, then, just a few short days after postponing the court hearing, U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch raised doubts that Cellebrite would be able to help the Department of Justice.
"At this point it's really too early to say how that's going to work out," Lynch said at a press conference on Thursday.
Why did it really take the FBI so long to find an outside company that could potentially hack into the phone? Lynch said that there were no other solutions besides asking the court to require Apple to write software that would allow the government agency access into encrypted iPhones, adding that there still may not be any other avenues of assistance.
"We tried everything we could think of, asked everybody we thought might be able to help — inside and outside the government — before bringing the litigation in San Bernardino," FBI Director James Comey reiterated.
The FBI has a few more days to get this outside company's hacking method to work before heading back to court to report to U.S. Magistrate Judge Sheri Pym on April 5.
iOS forensics and security expert Jonathan Zdziarski believes the outside party could be using an approach known as "NAND mirroring," which uses code copies to find the right password that will unlock the device.
Even if the outside party is unsuccessful, we are sure the saga will continue. Apple CEO Tim Cook opened the company's spring launch press event addressing the issue, saying that it will continue to fight for its users' data privacy.
Source: BuzzFeed
Photo: Dru Bloomfield | Flickr
