FBI: It's 'Simply Too Early' to Tell if Info on San Bernardino Shooter's iPhone is Valuable
The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation is still working on analyzing the information found on the iPhone of San Bernardino Shooter Syed Farook, reports The Wall Street Journal. FBI general counsel James Baker shared news on the iPhone earlier today at the International Association of Privacy Professionals conference, where he said it's too early to tell if the data on the device is useful.
"We're now doing an analysis of that data, as we would in any other type of criminal terrorism investigation,'' Mr. Baker said, adding: "That means we would follow logical leads." But because the agency has only had access to the data for a short period of time, he said "it's simply too early'' to say whether anything found on the phone has been valuable to investigators.
After a very public legal battle in which the FBI obtained a court order demanding Apple help the government unlock the iPhone used by Farook in a December shooting in San Bernardino, the Justice Department last week announced it had found an alternate method to gain access to the iPhone in question and dropped the lawsuit.
While the FBI has not shared how it was able to unlock the iPhone, nor shared details on what was found, it is believed Israeli mobile software developer Cellebrite, a company that offers "mobile forensic solutions," was enlisted to break into the device.
According to Baker, the FBI has not decided whether or not it will divulge details on what was found on the iPhone and will not make a decision on whether to do so until the full analysis is complete on both the device and the cracking tool used to unlock it.
It remains unclear if the hacking method used to break into the iPhone is only viable for the iPhone 5c used by Farook, but in a previous piece, The Wall Street Journal said the FBI is testing to see if it can be used to unlock other versions of the iPhone.
Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.
Popular Stories
In select U.S. states, residents can add their driver's license or state ID to the Wallet app on the iPhone and Apple Watch, providing a convenient and contactless way to display proof of identity or age at select airports and businesses, and in select apps.
Unfortunately, this feature continues to roll out very slowly since it was announced in 2021, with only nine U.S. states and Puerto...
Last week, we reported that iOS 26 introduces an opt-in Adaptive Power Mode on the iPhone, alongside the existing Low Power Mode.
Apple says that Adaptive Power Mode can make "small performance adjustments" when necessary to extend an iPhone's battery life, including slightly lowering the display brightness or allowing some activities to "take a little longer."
The full description of...
The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices.
Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of June 2025:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone X through iPhone 14 Pro have a...
Apple is hiding a new ringtone within iOS 26.
The new ringtone is an alternative version of the existing Reflection ringtone, which has been the default ringtone since the iPhone X was released in 2017. It was discovered within the code for the first developer beta of iOS 26, but it remains hidden, so you will not find it in the list of ringtones available in the Settings app for now.
It...
Apple will finally deliver the Apple Watch Ultra 3 sometime this year, according to analyst Jeff Pu of GF Securities Hong Kong (via @jukanlosreve).
The analyst expects both the Apple Watch Series 11 and Apple Watch Ultra 3 to arrive this year (likely alongside the new iPhone 17 lineup, if previous launches are anything to go by), according to his latest product roadmap shared with...
Apple today seeded the first betas of upcoming iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 updates to public beta testers, with the betas coming just a few days after Apple provided the betas to developers.
Testers who have signed up for beta updates through Apple's beta site can download iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 from the Settings app on a compatible device by going to General > Software Update.
When the...
Spotify appears to be gearing up to launch its long-awaited lossless music tier.
Chris Messina (via TechCrunch) and Spicetify (via The Verge) spotted new lossless references within the code for Spotify's desktop app and web player.
With assistance from Aaron Perris, MacRumors has confirmed that the latest beta of the Spotify app for the iPhone also contains new lossless-related code....
Apple is running a new promotion that offers free AirPods to qualifying customers.
Now through September 30, college and university students in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and Singapore can receive free AirPods 4 when they purchase an eligible new Mac or iPad from Apple. AirPods Pro 2 are also available at a discount.
If you do not want AirPods, the promotion also offers various other...
Every year between 2015 and 2024, at least one Apple executive agreed to be interviewed by Daring Fireball's John Gruber for a special WWDC episode of his podcast, The Talk Show. Last year, for example, Apple's software engineering chief Craig Federighi, marketing chief Greg Joswiak, and top AI researcher John Giannandrea joined Gruber on stage at the California Theatre in San Jose to discuss...
