Federal prosecutors may have found the holy grail in their battle with Apple over an encrypted iPhone used in the San Bernardino terror attack.
In a late Monday filing, the Justice Department said that a new technique to gain access into the phone came to light on Sunday, but it provided no further details on who or how they would accomplish it.
“As the FBI continued to conduct its own research, and as a result of the worldwide publicity and attention on this case, others outside the US government have continued to contact the US government offering avenues of possible research,” the filing states.
“If the method is viable,” the government writes, “it should eliminate the need for the assistance from Apple.”
“Testing is required to determine whether it is a viable method that will not compromise data on the iPhone,” Justice Department lawyers wrote in the motion.
“[W]e remain cautiously optimistic,” a Justice Department spokeswoman said. “That is why we asked the court to give us some time to explore this option. If this solution works, it will allow us to search the phone and continue our investigation.”
The Justice Department also said the court ordered it to file a status report on its progress on the terrorist’s iPhone by April 5.
Apple attorneys said during a conference call Monday evening it was too early to call the hearing’s cancellation a legal victory.
The government had obtained a court order in January requiring Apple to write new software to disable pass-code protections encrypted on a phone used by one of the shooters in the December attack.
With Post wires