Home News Department of Justice asks court to suspend order to compel Apple to assist in cracking iPhone

Department of Justice asks court to suspend order to compel Apple to assist in cracking iPhone

by Sia
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The encryption saga between the FBI and Apple has taken a weird turn as the FBI asked a federal judge to vacate a hearing on whether Apple should assist the authorities in bypassing the passcode of the San Bernardino terrorist’s iPhone.

According to the documents filed by the Department of Justice, an outside party has demonstrated a possible method to unlock the iPhone in question to the FBI. The FBI would now test said method to determine if it is viable. Should it be viable, the FBI would no longer need any assistance from Apple to unlock the iPhone. 

One thing to note though is that the Department of Justice has merely asked to suspend the order and not drop it entirely. Should the method in question fail to provide satisfactory results, Apple and the FBI will continue their lawsuit as if nothing happened. The FBI will need to file a status report by the 5th of April.

Meanwhile, Apple’s attorneys have indicated that they would insist on talking to whoever is providing the exploit and wants to know about the vulnerability. 

Source: Engadget, Ars Technica

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