The FBI may not need Apple's help in opening the iPhone of San Bernardino shooter Syed Rizwan Farook after all, as a mobile forensics firm in Irsael has apparently stepped in to unlock the device.
The agency put its case with the tech giant on halt after it was notified by a "third party" over the weekend claiming that it could unlock the iPhone and actually showed its ability to do so in testing, David Bowdich, assistant director of the FBI's Los Angeles field office, said in a recent interview. Unnamed industry sources revealed on Wednesday to Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth that this third party goes by the name Cellebrite.
The company, owned by Japan's Sun Corp., makes its money through a forensics system used by law enforcement to obtain data hidden inside mobile devices, as well as technology made for mobile businesses.
Details about the situation remain scarce, as federal officials said that they won't provide specifics on who is helping the FBI get into the device.
The case between the FBI and Apple, in which federal prosecutors have been arguing for why a judge should force Apple to help open the phone up, originally had a court hearing scheduled for Tuesday, but it was postponed on Monday after Cellebrite apparently demonstrated its ability to hack into the device.
U.S. Justice Department officials have demanded that Apple create a new computer program that can disable passcode protection on Farook's iPhone so that the FBI can access its information, but the company has refused, leading to a broad debate over privacy in the U.S. and the role of tech companies in helping law enforcement officials in criminal investigations.
Federal officials have claimed that they have exhausted all possible methods of getting into the device without Apple's help, adding that none of them have worked so far.
The supposed involvement of Cellebrite in the case could bring the standoff between Apple and the FBI to an end. However, despite Apple's attempts at keep customers' privacy safe through security buffers and new encryption, the ability of an unknown firm to hack into its iPhones presents a huge problem for the company.
Apple attorneys told reporters in a recent call, on the condition of anonymity, that the company would ask the government to share the security weakness that it recently discovered following this third party's claim, adding that they are still unsure if there is actually a way to hack the iPhone.
