The U.S. government has just announced that they may no longer need the help and assistance of Apple regarding the unlocking of the iPhone 5c of one of the San Bernardino shooters as they might have found a way to get through the mobile without having to damage information. They have also requested to cancel the court hearing regarding the encryption case against Apple set for Tuesday.
In a report by Bloomberg, a magistrate has granted the request of the government to have the hearing postponed. The hearing was about the order sent to Apple requiring the tech giant to help the FBI unlock the phone of Syed Rizwan Farook, who killed 14 and injured 22 together with his wife Tashfeen Malik in San Bernardino last December 2.
According to The Globe And Mail, the court filing last Monday claimed that federal prosecutors have met with an outside party, who has come forward and showed the FBI a possible method to unlock the phone of Farook.
However, authorities will still need time in order to determine whether or not the suggested method will not, in any way, compromise the data that is in the phone of the shooter, Wired reported.
The authorities believe that the data that will be found in the phone of Farook will help them close the time gap hours before the shooting. The court filing also said that if the procedure will be viable, it eliminates the need for "the assistance from Apple." Magistrate Judge Sheri Pym, who granted the request, has ordered the U.S. government to file a status report on or before April 5.
If the third party has indeed found a way to unlock the iPhone, it contradicts the sworn affidavit and other court filings that were submitted last month by the Justice Department. They argued repeatedly in their filings that Apple's help is necessary as they are only one who could provide investigators with the information needed. Apple, on the other hand, has argued in their filings that the government did not exhaust all their possible options standing firm with their statements that they will not risk the security of the public.
Apple was asked by Pym last month to come up with a program that will allow the law enforcement officials to try and unlock the iPhone without deleting data after entering 10 wrong passcodes. It remains unclear what kind of method the U.S. government is testing now as suggested by the third party.
