Surprise: FBI Found Someone Else To Hack iPhones

The FBI tried to get Apple to hack iPhones but they said no, no, no. So what did the FBI do instead? They are allegedly enlisting a company in Israel to help them get past the iPhone’s pin-code. 

Cellebrite is a provider of mobile forensic software and they’re attempted to help the FBI unlock an iPhone used by the San Bernardino shooters. Up until this point Apple has complied with the FBI’s requests, but when they asked to create a software that would bypass the lock screen on any iPhone, Apple refused. If Cellebrite succeeds in getting past the lock screen without causing the phone’s security to completely wipe the phone, Apple’s assistance would no longer be needed. 

Apple and the FBI were headed back to court on Tuesday but after the government said they had a “third party” who could possibly get the job done, the judge agreed to postpone the hearing.

According to YNetNews, Cellebrite has been working with the world’s biggest intelligence, defense and law enforcement authorities for many years. The company provides the FBI with decryption technology as part of a contract signed with the bureau in 2013. Cellebrite’s methods is not one that Apple would like. 

“I promise you that [Apple CEO] Tim Cook and Apple are not going to be happy with the solution that the FBI has come up with,” John McAfee, the controversial technology executive, told CNBC. “Because it is almost as bad as a universal master key.”