US Demands Apple Unlock 2 iPhones From Pensacola Shooter

The US government fired another salvo in the encryption debate by pressing Apple to help the FBI unlock two iPhones that belonged to the Pensacola naval base shooter.

Federal investigators are hoping to gain access to both iPhones to learn who the shooter, Saudi military cadet Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani, had been speaking to prior to last month's attack, which killed three people. In a Monday press conference, US Attorney General William Barr called the mass shooting an "act of terrorism" motivated by "jihadist ideology."

The FBI recovered two damaged iPhones that belonged to Alshamrani, who shot one of the devices on the floor with a single round. Although investigators repaired both handsets, Apple's onboard encryption is preventing the FBI from accessing the content of the iPhones unless the correct password is provided.

"We have asked Apple for their help in unlocking the shooter's iPhones. So far Apple has not given us any substantive assistance," said Barr, noting the FBI had obtained warrants to search the devices.

"This situation 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," he added. "We call on Apple and other technology companies to help us find a solution so that we can better protect the lives of Americans and prevent future attacks."

Apple Disagrees

However, Apple paints a different picture; the company says it's been helping the FBI on the investigation since Dec. 6 when the shooting took place. This has included complying with seven legal requests regarding "iCloud backups, account information and transactional data for multiple accounts," Apple said in a lengthy statement.

"We reject the characterization that Apple has not provided substantive assistance in the Pensacola investigation. Our responses to their many requests since the attack have been timely, thorough, and are ongoing," the company added.

The legal requests resulted in Apple handing over "many gigabytes of data" to investigators. "The FBI only notified us on January 6th that they needed additional assistance—a month after the attack occurred. Only then did we learn about the existence of a second iPhone associated with the investigation and the FBI's inability to access either iPhone. It was not until January 8th that we received a subpoena for information related to the second iPhone, which we responded to within hours."

Apple has stopped short on helping the FBI unlock iPhones on fears the company would end up creating a backdoor into iOS, which could threaten the software's security for all. Back in 2016, the company famously refused to assist federal investigators unlock a separate iPhone that belonged to the San Bernardino terrorist shooter. "In the wrong hands, this (backdoor) software—which does not exist today—would have the potential to unlock any iPhone in someone's physical possession," Apple said at the time.

On Monday, Apple reiterated the same argument. "We have always maintained there is no such thing as a backdoor just for the good guys. Backdoors can also be exploited by those who threaten our national security and the data security of our customers. Today, law enforcement has access to more data than ever before in history, so Americans do not have to choose between weakening encryption and solving investigations," the company said.

Possible Next Steps

Barr declined to comment on whether the Justice Department would try to take Apple to court, like it did back in 2016, to force the company to unlock the iPhones. In the San Bernardino shooter's case, federal prosecutors eventually withdrew the lawsuit after the FBI hired an anonymous third party, likely a professional hacker, to help them unlock the iPhone. So it's possible federal investigators may resort to the same method to unlock the two iPhones that belonged to Alshamrani.

As for Apple, the company said: "We are continuing to work with the FBI, and our engineering teams recently had a call to provide additional technical assistance. Apple has great respect for the Bureau's work, and we will work tirelessly to help them investigate this tragic attack on our nation."

Outside of Apple, Barr has also been pressing Facebook to reverse the company's plan to expand end-to-end encryption across its messaging services. The US Attorney General claims the encyrption will prevent law enforcement from tracking the activities of terrorists and criminals, including child sex offenders. However, Facebook has refused to comply. "The 'backdoor' access you are demanding for law enforcement would be a gift to criminals, hackers, and repressive regimes," WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger executives wrote last month.

Editor's note: This story has been updated with Apple's statement.

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