Los Angeles: The US government said it may have found a way to crack the iPhone of one of the San Bernardino attackers without Apple’s help, possibly avoiding a showdown with the tech giant.
In a court filing, federal prosecutors said that on Sunday, an unidentified “outside party” had demonstrated to the FBI a possible way to unlock Syed Farook’s iPhone.
“Our top priority has always been gaining access into the phone used by the terrorist in San Bernardino,” Justice Department spokeswoman Melanie Newman said in a statement.
“With this goal in mind, the FBI has continued in its efforts to gain access to the phone without Apple’s assistance, even during a month- long period of litigation with the company.”She said the government was “cautiously optimistic” that the latest option to recover data from the iPhone would work.
A California federal judge who was set to preside over a hearing in the contentious case on Tuesday granted the government’s request for a delay and asked that a status report be filed by April 5. The new development may help avert — at least for now — a full- blown showdown between the US government and Apple.
