The U.S. Department of justice has withdrawn a lawsuit against Apple with the requirement to oblige to crack iPhone the terrorist of San Bernardino, stating that the authorities were able to access the data. According to Reuters, the FBI was able to extract data from the device without the help of the company.
In a statement sent to the court, States that the government “no longer required” the help of Apple. The publication says, citing its sources, that the FBI managed to gain access iPhone the terrorist Sayed Farouk using a method that allows you to avoid erasing data.
According to the court’s order of February 16 this year, Apple was obligated to assist law enforcement in unlocking iPhone that belonged to Syed Farouk. On 2 December last year Faruk and his wife Tashfeen Malik made a fire in the building of center for people with disabilities in San Bernardino. As a result of the attack killed 14 people.
According to the FBI statement, the only way to get data from the device without damaging or destroying them, was the creation of a special Apple version of the OS, a deactivation of the safety function (after ten incorrect password attempts are stored on the iPhone data is erased). The company refused to comply with the requirement of the court and contested the suit.
Last Monday, March 21, the day before the hearing the Ministry of justice has announced its intention to postpone the hearing because of new circumstances. As it turned out, their services in unlocking iPhone offered by Israeli company Cellebrite, which specializes in forensic examination of mobile devices.
According to the FBI statement, the Bureau does not intend to disclose the technical details about the method of hacking the iPhone. Earlier, however, information security experts, and among them, and Edward Snowden, described a possible physical attack on the smartphone.
“Those who are concerned about the issue of confidentiality, must remain on the alert. The government managed to get data from one specific device, but this does not mean that it will refuse to fight for the secret keys (encryption – ed.) for our smartphones,” said a member of U.S. Congress Darrell Issa.
If the FBI managed to unlock the iPhone, so the Bureau was able to detect previously unknown to anyone (even Apple) vulnerabilities, and data owners “Apple” devices worldwide are potentially compromised.
