Unable to unlock Saudi gunner’s iPhone, FBI asks Apple for help

The FBI is asking Apple for help to unlock the two iPhones of the Saudi gunners. It is alleged that Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani, a member of the Saudi Air Force, was suspected of carrying out a shooting attack at the Naval Air Base of Pensacola, Florida last month, which killed three people.

“Bloomington FBI”by Amy Guth is licensed under CC BY 2.0

It is reported that on Monday, the FBI’s general counsel Dana Boente has sent a letter to Apple officials to make this request. Boente said that although FBI investigators had obtained search warrants for cell phone information, they have been unable to guess the password required to unlock and decrypt the contents of the cell phone.

A person in charge of Apple wrote in a statement:

We have the greatest respect for law enforcement and have always worked cooperatively to help in their investigations. When the FBI requested information from us relating to this case a month ago, we gave them all of the data in our possession, and we will continue to support them with the data we have available.

There is no word yet on whether Apple will help unlock the shooter’s iPhone, and perhaps the FBI will again seek Israeli companies to help crack it.

Via: arstechnica