Security News > 2020 > January > FBI Asks Apple For Access to Saudi Shooter's iPhones

The FBI has sent a letter to Apple asking for help in accessing encrypted data stored on two iPhones belonging to a deceased shooter.

The FBI has told Apple that Alshamrani's devices are encrypted and that efforts to guess his passwords have been unsuccessful, NBC News reports.

The FBI confirmed to Information Security Media Group that it sent a letter to Apple but declined to comment further.

The FBI's letter so far marks a softer approach than in 2016, when it went to federal court in an attempt to access encrypted data from an iPhone 5C. The phone belonged to one of the perpetrators of a December 2015 mass shooting in San Bernardino, California.

The U.K. has legal instruments that the government can use to require technology companies to secretly give it access to data or systems, although the law stops short of mandating that organizations include the ability to break encryption in any system they build.

News URL

https://www.inforisktoday.com/fbi-asks-apple-for-access-to-saudi-shooters-iphones-a-13586