Pierluigi Paganini March 23, 2016

The court filing doesn’t provide technical details on the technique, but confirmed that an independent party demonstrated to the US authorities a technique for unlocking the controversial iPhone.

“On Sunday, March 20, 2016, an outside party demonstrated to the FBI a possible method for unlocking Farook’s iPhone,” revealed the lawyers for the US Government in a court filing Monday afternoon. “Testing is required to determine whether it is a viable method that will not compromise data on Farook’s iPhone. If the method is viable, it should eliminate the need for the assistance from Apple set forth in the All Writs Act Order in this case,” 

Now the name of the company is circulating on the Internet, it is the Israeli mobile forensics firm Cellebrite that is one of the leading companies in the world in the field of digital forensics. The company already works with the principal law enforcement and intelligence agencies worldwide.

Cellebrite provides the FBI with decryption technology as part of a contract signed in 2013, its technology allows investigators to extract information from mobile devices.

“Cellebrite’s technology is able to extract valuable information from cellular devices that could be used in criminal and intelligence investigations, even if the phone and the information it contains are locked and secure.” states a blog post published on the Israeli YNetNews.

If Cellebrite will be able to crack the San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone, the FBI will no longer need the Apple’s help.

According to public documents, the FBI Feds committed to a $15,278 “action obligation” with Cellebrite.

At the time I was writing there were no details of the contract between the FBI and the Cellebrite firm.