FBI says they may be able to hack San Bernardino shooter's iPhone After
March 22, 2016
LIARS LIARS LIARS and the Americans Still believe them! (FBI that is)
The government has been adamant for weeks: FBI investigators need to unlock an encrypted iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino attackers, and Apple Inc. was the only one that could do it.
In a stunning reversal on Monday, federal prosecutors asked a judge to halt a much-anticipated hearing on their efforts to force Apple to unlock the phone. The FBI may have found another way, and Apple's cooperation may no longer be needed, according to court papers filed late Monday, less than 24 hours before Tuesday's hearing.
'An outside party' came forward over the weekend and showed the FBI a possible method to access the data on Syed Rizwan Farook's encrypted phone, according to the filing.
'Testing is required to determine whether it is a viable method that will not compromise data on Farook's iPhone,' the filing said. 'If the method is viable, it should eliminate the need for the assistance from Apple.'
If it's viable, that also means the government has significantly undermined its arguments against Apple, said Kristen Eichensehr, a visiting law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.
'If they found another way into the phone, that doesn't just weaken their case. 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.
Pym granted the government's request to postpone Tuesday's arguments in the case and stayed her previous order. She ordered the government to file a status report by April 5.
The development raised more questions than it answered. It's unclear who is helping the FBI with the phone and why it took so long for a possible solution to be identified.