FBI Still Couldn't Unlock Pensacola Shooter's iPhone Despite Known Methods

It was reported last week that the Federal Bureau of Investigation was able to unlock an iPhone 11 Pro Max using a black or gray market tool called GrayKey. The iPhone 11 Pro Max is the newest and, in theory, one of the most secure iPhone models Apple has released. But, a new report claims that the FBI is still unable to unlock the iPhone of the alleged Pensacola mass shooter.

The Pensacola Case

The FBI has not yet unlocked the iPhone of the suspect Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani, according to Bloomberg. Although the team was able to reconstruct the iPhone of the shooter, it still could not access the encrypted data on the device, FBI Director Christopher Wray admitted. The statement came when the director answered the query of Republican Matt Gaetz of Florida.

Wray also revealed at the House Judiciary Committee hearing that the bureau is currently ‘engaged’ with Apple, hoping that the Cupertino tech company could help them access the suspect’s iPhone. Apple took some hit from the US govt, especially from President Trump and US Attorney General William Barr, when it refused to create a backdoor to access the suspect’s iPhone.

FBI Can Unlock The Most Secure iPhone

A report from Forbes revealed that the FBI has the ability to unlock the iPhone 11 Pro Max using a black or gray market tool. FBI investigators in Ohio reportedly used GrayKey to unlock an iPhone 11 Pro Max owned by Baris Ali Koch. The owner was accused of aiding his convicted brother to escape the US by letting him use his passport.

According to Forbes, Koch’s lawyer confirmed that the iPhone 11 Pro Max was locked with a passcode and that no passcode was handed over to the investigators. The lawyer’s confirmation aligns with the site’s report about FBI Ohio, possibly using GrayKey to unlock the iPhone. The GrayKey is a tool sold by Grayshift, a forensics firm tapped by law enforcement and investigators to access locked iPhones.

Despite criticisms from the government, Apple stood firm on its decision of not helping law enforcement create a backdoor to the iPhone of the alleged shooter. But, Apple’s stand on user privacy was also tainted when several reports revealed a few days ago that it dropped its plan of using end to end encryption on its iCloud storage service after it was criticized by the FBI.