Justice Department Withdraws Request in Apple iPhone Encryption Case
Source: Justin Sullivan
The Justice Department is expected to withdraw a legal action asking Apple to help unlock an encrypted iPhone belonging to one of the San Bernardino shooters, according to an official.
The move comes one week after federal officials revealed a third party had come forward and “demonstrated” a “possible method” to cracking into a locked iPhone, prompting the U.S. government to postpone a court hearing scheduled for last Tuesday.
Apple has been fighting a government order compelling Apple to help create a way for officials to unlock an iPhone belonging to one of the San Bernardino, California, shooters.
“Encryption is meant to be difficult, it is meant to be scrambled,” online safety expert Robert Siciliano of Intel Security told ABC News. “However, we are dealing with computer science — and science of any kind can be reverse engineered. If it can be built by putting together various technology, it can also be taken apart and its roots exposed.”
Law enforcement officials did not detail the “possible method” used by the third party or discuss whether it was an individual computer scientist or company that came forward to offer assistance.
Melanie Newman, spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Justice, said in a statement Monday that “it remains a priority for the government to ensure that law enforcement can obtain crucial digital information to protect national security and public safety.”
“As the government noted in its filing today, the FBI has now successfully retrieved the data stored on the San Bernardino terrorist’s iPhone and therefore no longer requires the assistance from Apple required by this Court Order. The FBI is currently reviewing the information on the phone, consistent with standard investigatory procedures,” Newman said Monday.
Apple has been staunch in its position that creating a backdoor for government officials would undermine the security of millions of users. CEO Tim Cook kicked off the company’s iPhone SE launch event last week discussing the encryption fight, adding the company never expected to be “at odds with our own government.”
“We did not expect to be in this position, at odds with our own government. But we believe strongly that we have a responsibility to help you protect your data and protect your privacy. We owe it to our customers and we owe it to our country,” Cook said.
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