The FBI has let it be known that it has another Apple iPhone it is looking to break into. This brings two thoughts to mind. The first thought is that the Apple iPhone, due to its secure features, has become a weapon of choice for those who would do us harm. The second thought is that the FBI now has a work around and it should be a breeze this time. They do not need a judge to order Apple do get involved. Score two for the good guys.
As Written By Inland Home Security:
FBI Wants Access To Another ISIS-Linked iPhone; Will It Demand Apple Aid?
Just as the feds back down from one fight to unlock an Apple iPhone linked to terrorist activity, another is ongoing. It revolves around another man suspected of links to terrorist group ISIS, though this time the alleged perp, Aws Mohammed Younis Al-Jayab, is alive.
A warrant filed on March 1 and found by FORBES shows the FBI was granted access to data on an iPhone 6S and a Samsung Galaxy S5 belonging to 23-year-old Al-Jayab, who was indicted in Chicago on 17 March for allegedly attempting to provide material support to violent terrorists overseas. Previous charges filed in Sacramento this January had claimed Al-Jayab in Sacremento made false statements in 2014 to immigration services about his support of extremist groups in Syria.
The warrant, filed in Sacramento, shows the police bypassed protections on the Samsung device, having already acquired access to a number of Facebook accounts linked to Al-Jayab. But there’s no indication the FBI has managed to break the passcode of the iPhone.
Whilst the filing FBI agent wrote the government believed access to the phones was authorized in an previous “omnibus affidavit” that included a request to search Al-Jayab’s person for digital devices, the government wrote up a new warrant “out of an abundance of caution”. That second warrant contained the details of the specific phones.
Al-Jayab’s legal representative, assistant federal defender Ben Galloway, told FORBES over email his team did not yet know whether the data has been retrieved from the devices and didn’t have any information about the phones beyond what’s in the filings.
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