FBI unlocks San Bernardino gunman's iPhone

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has successfully unlocked the iPhone of the gunman responsible for the attacks in San Bernardino that left 14 dead in December 2016. The US government had been involved in a court case with Apple that required it to develop software to unlock the phone belonging to Syed Rizwan Farook. The tech firm was resisting the governments request on the grounds that it would set a ‘dangerous precedent’ and could make its encryption software redundant. The FBI claimed that they needed to access the phone to determine whether the attacker and his wife were working with others and if they were linked to terrorist group ISIL. The dispute between Apple and the US government sparked public debate about encryption and privacy, with a number of technology companies coming out in support of Apple’s stance. The US government has now dropped the court case in the wake of the phone being accessed by a ‘third party, which has not been revealed. Eileen Decker, the top federal prosecutor in California, released a statement confirming that the phone had been unlocked, saying: "It remains a priority for the government to ensure that law enforcement can obtain crucial digital information to protect national security and public safety, either with co-operation from relevant parties, or through the court system when co-operation fails.” In response to the news, Apple said: "From the beginning, we objected to the FBI's demand that Apple build a backdoor into the iPhone because we believed it was wrong and would set a dangerous precedent. As a result of the government's dismissal, neither of these occurred. This case should never have been brought." The tech firm has also said it will continue to increase the security capabilities of its products.