Exclusive: U.S. Cops Have Wide Access to Phone Cracking Software, New Documents Reveal
While the FBI requests ‘backdoor’ iPhone access, documents indicate law enforcement already has easy access to encrypted devices
Apple is once again facing pressure to give officials a “backdoor” into locked iPhones implicated in an act of domestic terrorism. Last week, Attorney General William Barr held a press conference asking the tech company to unlock and pull data from two iPhones belonging to a Saudi Air Force second lieutenant who opened fire at a Pensacola, Florida, military base in December.
The situation echoes another high profile case involving an iPhone used by a shooter in the 2015 terrorist attack in San Bernardino, California. In both cases, Apple has refused to provide a means for investigators to break through the encryption on its devices.
Barr recently complained that Apple had not provided “any substantive assistance” to officials and that the Pensacola case “perfectly illustrates why it is critical that investigators be able to get access to digital evidence once they have obtained a court order based on probable cause.” The Department of Justice (DOJ) insists that it has been unable to open the phones of the Pensacola shooter.
