“If the U.S. Department of Justice asks a New York court to force Apple Inc to unlock an iPhone, the technology company could push the government to reveal how it accessed the phone which belonged to a shooter in San Bernardino, a source familiar with the situation said,” Dan Levine reports for Reuters.
“The Justice Department will disclose over the next two weeks whether it will continue with its bid to compel Apple to help access an iPhone in a Brooklyn drug case, according to a court filing on Tuesday,” Levine reports. “Prosecutors have not said whether the San Bernardino technique would work for other seized iPhones, including the one at issue in Brooklyn. Should the Brooklyn case continue, Apple could pursue legal discovery that would potentially force the FBI to reveal what technique it used on the San Bernardino phone, the source said.”
Levine reports, “In a statement, Apple said ‘we don’t know’ the FBI’s technical solution, which vendor developed it or ‘what it allegedly achieves.'”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: In order to restore trust in iPhone security, Apple will have to find out the undisclosed method (NAND-mirroring) from the undisclosed third party vendor (Cellebrite) and either defeat it or explain why it won’t work on iPhones newer than the Islamic terrorist’s San Bernardino County-issued iPhone 5C (which lacks the Secure Enclave).
SEE ALSO:
Apple’s new challenge: Learning how the U.S. cracked terrorist’s iPhone – March 29, 2016
Did the FBI just unleash a hacker army on Apple? – March 29, 2016
Apple declares victory in battle with FBI, but the war continues – March 29, 2016
Apple vows to increase security as FBI claims to break into terrorist’s iPhone – March 29, 2016
U.S. government drops Apple case after claiming hack of terrorist’s iPhone – March 29, 2016
Meet Cellebrite, the Israeli company reportedly cracking iPhones for the FBI – March 24, 2016