Recent months news indicate that FBI has tried to tap Apple Inc. to give information on how to unlock an iPhone owned by a gunman but now, the FBI has found it out. Further, sources indicate that FBI may also withhold the knowledge against Apple.
According to Reuters, the FBI may be allowed to withhold the information despite U.S. government policy of disclosing technology security flaws discovered by federal agencies. This is under U.S. vulnerabilities equities process that the government is supposed to side up in favor of disclosing security issues so companies who made the device could make up fixes to protect data. However, the policy has exceptions on law enforcement, and there are no hard rules on how and when it must be applied.
The Quint reported that Apple Inc has expressed their interest to the government to share how it cracked the iPhone security protections. But the Federal Bureau of Investigation might prefer to keep the secret to their hands as they used it to unlock gunman Syed Farook's iPhone after several frustrations. The arbitrator to this issue could be the group formed by White House during Obama administration that monitors computer security flaws found by law enforcements and whether they should be disclosed. Nonetheless, if a review is conducted, many are expecting that the White House will allow the FBI to keep their information undisclosed. The review will consider whether the information could be easily discovered by others therefore indicating the security vulnerability of Apple can be leaked.
Meanwhile, Thanhnien News wrote that the FBI has said that other law enforcements across the country is assured that it will receive help from the agency in unlocking mobile phones such as iPhones involved in investigations that is required by law and policy. Further, they've stated that they understand other agencies frustrations when they lack the necessary tools to operate and investigate communications in suspects who use encrypted mobile devices.
Apple declined to comment on the case but it did say that they would like the government to share the technique used. Also, several security researches conclude that the Israel-based mobile forensics firm Cellebrite is likely the one who helped FBI but they've declined to comment.
