The FBI wants to help state and local law enforcement agencies strike while the iron is still hot. After a third-party quietly stepped in and helped the bureau unlock the San Bernardino iPhone, the FBI is now willing to share the technique with other law enforcement agencies that have found themselves on the locked out suspect's personal data due to iOS' encryption.
The FBI recently announced that it had finally found a way into the iPhone 5C that belonged to Syed Rizwan Farook, one of the shooters in the office party slaying in San Bernardino, California last December.
The bureau declined to reveal who helped it finally get past the iPhone's encryption, but it surely wasn't Apple — there are some speculations that it might have been Cellebrite, of Israel.
Apple and the FBI had exchanged legal blows for months, with the tech firm attempting to preserve the security of one of its most prized possession, iOS, and the bureau attempting to continue its investigation into the shooter and trying to set precedence with tech companies on encryption.
Earlier statements from the FBI expressed hesitancy in revealing the technique to other law enforcement agencies, but now it appears that the bureau is pivoting toward aiding state and local department while the window is still open — and there's no telling exactly how much of an opening there is.
"As has been our longstanding policy, the FBI will of course consider any tool that might be helpful to our partners," the FBI said in a letter. "Please know that we will continue to do everything we can to help you consistent with our legal and policy constraints."
The bureau stated that it is committed to keeping dialogue open between itself and local law enforcement agencies because "we are in this together."
Whatever way in whoever is assisting the FBI has found, it's exploiting vulnerability in iOS. And for a company which uses security as a major talking point, especially in keeping customers away from Android, there is zero tolerance for vulnerabilities.
"As has been our longstanding policy, the FBI will of course consider any tool that might be helpful to our partners," the FBI said. "Please know that we will continue to do everything we can to help you consistent with our legal and policy constraints."
Whenever Apple finds out what vulnerability the FBI is using, the company is sure to patch it straight away.
