The FBI has revealed that it was able to break through the encryption on the iPhone that was used by one of the shooters in the San Bernardino incident in December 2015.
A request was sent in by the FBI to postpone the scheduled hearing with Apple on March 22, as the agency claimed that it no longer needed Apple's assistance in infiltrating the iPhone owned by Syed Farook. According to the FBI, it has enlisted the help of a third party to crack the smartphone's security.
The FBI was successful in its attempt, with the government now able to access the data on Farook's iPhone. This has led to its decision to withdraw the case against Apple, in which the bureau wants to create a new version of the iOS or a backdoor to bypass the iPhone's encryption.
The FBI, however, is not revealing what it did to break through the iPhone's security.
In essence, Apple won the legal battle when the FBI withdrew the case. However, does this mean that the battle on user data security between tech companies and government agencies is over?
Apparently, it is not. With the case dropped and not moving forward to a resolution, uncertainty surrounds more than 1,000 locked mobile devices held by law enforcement agencies.
"We were hoping this decision, which could have gone to the Supreme Court, would have been a road map and now it's not," said Steptoe & Johnson partner, Stewart Baker.
Authorities have been unable to access the contents of the held devices, as they are likewise protected by encryption technology as in the iPhone. The devices could contain important evidence that can be used in investigations, and with FBI dropping the case means there is still no precedent on whether these devices should be cracked open or disregarded.
The sudden end of the legal battle could also further intensify the struggle between tech companies and law enforcement authorities. Tech companies would be looking to make further improvements to their security systems, while authorities would be fighting for its right to access the data protected by security measures.
For what it's worth, the FBI did say that the means it developed to break into Farook's iPhone may not be able to work on other kinds of devices, and due to the lack of scalability, it may not be viable to use such methods in most cases.
