Federal prosecutors filed court documents on March 21, Monday claiming that the FBI has discovered a method to unlock the iPhone 5c of a shooter involved in the San Bernardino terrorist attack last December. This new development happened less than 24 hours before the federal bureau and tech giant were to face each other in a federal court. The feds requested that the judge drop the hearing's date and delay the court order for Apple to hack its own smartphone after the FBI changed the mobile device's Apple ID password.
The delay of the court hearing is a short-term victory for Apple as it would not have to create a custom-built version of iOS for the federal government. However, it also brings up new issues such as the government's ability to build encryption backdoors.
Department of Justice (DOJ) spokeswoman Melanie Newman claims that the government learned about the new unlocking method this weekend, according to Ars Technica. She explains that the DOJ asked for more time to test if he hacking method would destroy the iPhone's data.
Apple shared it is interested to learn what the security vulnerability is. It also wants the federal court to know everything about the unlocking technique if the Apple v. FBI case continues.
The tech company had formed a legal team led by a former solicitor general of the US, while the federal government also had top-notch prosecutors including one involved in a recent sextortion case.
Andres Crocker is an Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) attorney. He notes that although the public does not know what decryption abilities the FBI has, federal agencies have "zero day" vulnerability tools to hack computer systems or networks.
Crocker thinks the DOJ could try a similar case in the future. However, it announced it was testing new hacking techniques in order to claim that it had tried all possible methods to unlock the iPhone 5c.
In related news NorthBit security researchers have developed a new Stagefright exploit called Metaphor that can affect any Android phone in 20 seconds, according to The Indian Express. It hacks the Android media library from a web browser.
This video explains why Apple is fighting the FBI court order: