Last week, various tech companies in America supported Apple in its refusal to provide the FBI backdoor access to iOS 8. Today, the FBI is getting support of their own as well, and it comes from the victims of the San Bernardino shooting.
According to Reuters, some victims of the San Bernardino attack will file a legal brief in support of the U.S. government’s attempt to force Apple to unlock the encrypted iPhone belonging to one of the shooters.
Stephen Larson, the lawyer representing the victims of the San Bernardino attack, says that the victims he represents have an interest in the information which goes beyond the Justice Department’s criminal investigation. Larson has said that he would be filing an amicus brief on behalf of the victims by early March.
With this development, the FBI has gained an important ally in its fight to compel Apple to grant them access to the iPhone of one of the shooters. In a letter released on Sunday, FBI Director James Comey has stated that the agency’s request to Apple was so that they could have “the chance, with a search warrant, to try to guess the terrorist’s passcode without the phone essentially self-destructing and without it taking a decade to guess correctly”.
Apple is expected to file its first legal arguments on Friday to contest California’s federal court decision against Apple which ordered Apple to assist the FBI in their investigations.
Source : Reuters, Tech.Mic (Image)
