FBI Unlocks iPhone Without Apple
Soon, Apple users might have to face big security threat. As second time FBI has unlocked iPhone without Apple's assistance. Firstly, iPhone discovered in connection with the San Bernardino terror attacks was unlocked last month. Now, FBI has managed to crack a second device – this time, it was an iPhone 5S used by a drug dealer in New York.
Now FBI has drop the case, which involved demanding Apple’s help to open an iPhone used by Syed Rizwan Farook, a gunman in the December shooting in San Bernardino terror attack. The case had become increasingly contentious as Apple refused to help the authorities, inciting a debate about whether privacy or security was more important.
However, unlike the San Bernardino incident in which the agency had to spend over a million dollars to crack the device, the government said in a court filing that it had obtained a passcode that it used to unlock the iPhone in the Brooklyn case. Due to which FBI has withdrew its request for a court order to get Apple’s assistance in the matter.
It’s worth noting that FBI didn't specify "an individual" from which they got passcode. There are still more than 1,000 iPhones in police custody that law enforcement can’t break into US has demanded Apple’s help in at least 10 more cases to break into iOS devices.
While the FBI may indeed have been able to gain access to the data on two iPhones this year, it’s not likely that it will let Apple off the hook in the ongoing legal battle over people’s right to privacy and the company’s duty to grant backdoor access to its devices.
In a statement issued to Reuters, Justice Department spokeswoman Emily Pierce said that the cases have “never been about setting a court precedent; they are about law enforcement’s ability and need to access evidence on devices pursuant to lawful court orders and search warrants.”
Yet law enforcement’s ability to now unlock an iPhone through an alternative method raises new security threats. The development can also creates new conflicts between the government and Apple about the method used to open the device and whether that technique will be disclosed. Lawyers for Apple have previously said the company would want to know the procedure used to crack open the smartphone.
