Security News > 2024 > July > Cellebrite got into Trump shooter's Samsung device in just 40 minutes

Infosec in brief Unable to access the Samsung smartphone of the deceased Trump shooter for clues, the FBI turned to a familiar - if controversial - source to achieve its goal: digital forensics tools vendor Cellebrite.

Cellebrite has been used for years by law enforcement to break into locked smartphones.

Apple famously faced off against the US Attorney General in early 2020, refusing to allow the FBI access to a mass shooter's device because it would require Apple to develop a backdoor that would inevitably find its way into the darker corners of the internet.

With cooperation refused by smartphone-makers, Cellebrite relies zero-days and undiscovered vulnerabilities in devices to break through systems without vendor permission.

404 Media reported it had obtained internal Cellebrite documents from April 2024 indicating that the biz was unable to access any Apple device running iOS 17.4 or later, and most devices running iOS 17.1 to 17.3.1 - with the exception of the iPhone XR and 11.

It's not clear which particular model the Trump shooter owned but, given the fact pre-release Cellebrite software could crack it, it's safe to assume this privacy arms race is ongoing.

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/07/22/infosec_in_brief/