Israeli Forensics Company Cellebrite is Helping the FBI Unlock Shooter's iPhone

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Posted March 23, 2016 at 3:38pm by iClarified

Israeli mobile forensics company Cellebrite is the 'third party' helping the FBI unlock the iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino shooters, reports the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper via Reuters.

Just hours before the Justice Department was set to face off against Apple in court, they requested the hearing be postponed after a third party demonstrated a method that could be used to unlock the iPhone.

If Cellebrite succeeds, then the FBI would no longer need Apple's help, possibly putting an end to the battle over encryption and backdoors into the iPhone, at least for now.

Here's how Cellebrite describes its mobile forensic capabilities:

Cellebrite mobile forensics solutions give access to and unlock the intelligence of mobile data sources to extend investigative capabilities, accelerate investigations, unify investigative teams and produce solid evidence. Cellebrite's range of mobile forensic products, the UFED Series, enable the bit-for-bit extraction and in-depth decoding and analysis of data from thousands of mobile devices, including feature phones, smartphones, portable GPS devices, tablets and phones manufactured with Chinese chipsets. In addition to mobile device data, UFED Cloud Analyzer provides extraction, preservation and analysis of private data residing in cloud environments such as social media accounts. Cellebrite's UFED Series is the prime choice of forensic specialists in law enforcement, military, intelligence, corporate security and eDiscovery agencies, with more than 30,000 UFED units deployed in more than 100 countries.

Notably, Edward Snowden and other security researchers have repeatedly said that unlocking this device is possible without Apple's help. It's unclear why the NSA hasn't assisted the FBI in this matter or why the FBI has claimed that only Apple can unlock the device.

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Israeli Forensics Company Cellebrite is Helping the FBI Unlock Shooter's iPhone

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clown - March 24, 2016 at 12:19am

That's exactly the video shown about a company in china. They take the chip out of the phone, copy the contents and replace it with a larger chip. They take a 32 gb iphone and update it to 128 gb , or even possible a 256 gb iphone. The question is can this bypass the passcode or sensor on the device. The fingerprint sensor option was bypassed in many video with something don't remember. Photos can still be gained by ifunbox or something like that ?

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SnowMe - March 23, 2016 at 10:22pm

It's because it would be EASIER, and open up the legal world to being able to utilize the "backdoor" any time they request to if Apple does it for them. It's called a "PRECEDENT". Once Apple does it for the FBI in this case, suddenly every local PD with a locked iPhone (confiscated for whatever reason) will be able to cite this case. If it's done by LiteBrite or whatever third party, it won't involve a process that every Joe Blow can utilize/afford. If Apple just "builds a backdoor for free" it'd be exactly that. Free.

Awesome - March 23, 2016 at 8:06pm

When Apple finds the defect they'll patch it eventually...the cat and mouse game extends not just with Hackers but with NSA and Feds :-\

qba - March 23, 2016 at 4:11pm

That's what the government ones to know who in the world is capable of doing this kind of penetrations. Very smart move if you ask me!!!!

curtixman - March 23, 2016 at 4:56pm

Celebrity is a well known company in this type of tech. They work with law enforcement all over the world and likely work with the FBI almost daily. They probably offered to do this several times. Again, as is obviously the case, the FBI isn't looking to get access to the phone as much as they are looking to set a legal precedent. They thought this terrible tragedy would be a great opportunity to bully Apple into compliance. They thought that the public would pressure Apple and that Apple would buckle. They were beginning to see that they were likely going to lose this case and so they are backtracking because losing would set the opposite precedent. Watch. And Mark my words. They will wait till the people begin to forget and the next tragic opportunity presents itself and they will attack a company with less resolve and resources and they will get their legal precedent.

Sorkin - March 23, 2016 at 3:43pm

Can't trust the Feds.

JoshvanHulst - March 31, 2016 at 3:41pm

You can say that again!