Apple extended an olive branch to the feds this week, in the hopes the company could assist with the investigation into the man who shot and murdered at least 26 in a rural baptist church of Sutherland Springs, Texas, on Sunday. But the FBI appears to be blanking the tech titan.
The Cupertino company claimed that shortly after it heard of special agent Christopher Combs's remarks that his team was struggling to get data from an unnamed phone, Apple was in touch with the FBI offering assistance via liaison officers. Not long after, the feds told Apple it was an iPhone, but didn't name the model, nor did they accept the company's offer, a source with knowledge of the investigation told Forbes.
Just what did Apple offer? On the one hand, the company promised to expedite any legal request that came in, according to a statement from Apple. And if the offer of technical assistance had been accepted, Apple would have given investigators a check list of techniques to try out to get information from the device, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous as they weren't permitted to speak on the record. Those techniques could have included applying the killer's fingerprints to the device if it had Touch ID enabled (as long as it was within 48 hours of the iPhone last being unlocked). As Forbes has previously detailed, the FBI has repeatedly tried that path into suspects' phones with little to zero success. Numerous search warrants note the 48-hour limit too, indicating the feds are well versed in how TouchID works.
Apple could also have recommended checking the suspect's PC, in case an iTunes backup of the iPhone's data was available. Or they might have found the shooter's iCloud username and put in a request for a backup there, going through the typical use case. At the time of publication, though, there has been no legal request for data nor any further response on the offer of assistance, according to the source.
The FBI said it had no further comment on the matter. Apple's full statement read: "We were shocked and saddened by the violence in Texas last Sunday, and we join the world in grieving for the families and community that lost so many loved ones.
"Our team immediately reached out to the FBI after learning from their press conference on Tuesday that investigators were trying to access a mobile phone. We offered assistance and said we would expedite our response to any legal process they send us.
"We work with law enforcement every day. We offer training to thousands of agents so they understand our devices and how they can quickly request information from Apple."
Apple more proactive?
This is something of a turnaround for a company that was doing battle with the FBI for much of last year over the latter's request for access to the San Bernardino shooter's iPhone 5C. Indeed, it appears Apple's offer of expedition and its proactive approach were an attempt to avoid another protracted and costly legal battle with the feds after the San Bernardino debacle, in which investigators were criticized for failing to take swifter action on retrieving information from the terrorist's device.
But with the state of the Texas investigation, another court battle could be imminent. Either that, or the feds will rely on hackers similar to those who were paid more than $1 million to unlock the San Bernadino phone. In that case, all the FBI retrieved little of use to its investigation.
Even if they do make it into the Texas killer's iPhone, it may reveal little of his motives or details on how and why he carried out his appalling crimes.
