FBI, Apple Hearing Over iPhone Encryption Halted

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FBI, Apple Hearing Over iPhone Encryption Halted

By CircleID Reporter
March 22, 2016, 1:12 am PDT Views: 4,544 Add Comment

FBI says it may have found a way to unlock Syed Rizwan’s iPhone without Apple’s help and while exploring this option, a federal judge has postponed tomorrow’s hearing. According to the government’s court filing, an outside party has demonstrated a “possible method for unlocking” the iPhone:

”[S]ince recovering Farook’s iPhone on December 3, 2015, the FBI has continued to research methods to gain access to the data stored on it. The FBI did not cease its efforts after this litigation began. As the FBI continued to conduct its own research, and as a result of the worldwide publicity and attention on this case, others outside the U.S. government have continued to contact the U.S. government offering avenues of possible research.

On Sunday, March 20, 2016, an outside party demonstrated to the FBI a possible method for unlocking Farook’s iPhone. Testing is required to determine whether it is a viable method that will not compromise data on Farook’s iPhone. If the method is viable, it should eliminate the need for the assistance from Apple Inc. (“Apple”) set forth in the All Writs Act Order in this case.

Accordingly, to provide time for testing the method, the government hereby requests that the hearing set for March 22, 2016 be vacated. The government proposes filing a status report with the Court by April 5, 2016.”

By CircleID Reporter

CircleID’s internal staff reporting on news tips and developing stories. Do you have information the professional Internet community should be aware of? Contact us.

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