The Federal Bureau of Investigation is testing software that would enable them to bypass the security on an iPhone 5C, according to a report on Thursday.
Speaking to the Washington Post on the condition of anonymity, officials reported that the software being used was identical to what they agency had been asking Apple to create. Specifically, it would disable a mechanism that erases the contents of a phone when an incorrect password has been entered more than 10 times.
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The officials said they wanted to ensure that it worked on other devices before attempting to open an iPhone used by the perpetrators of December’s terrorist attack in San Bernardino, Calif.
On Monday, the FBI asked for a delay in a court hearing over whether Apple should be forced to help the agency, saying it had found an “outside party” that may be able to take care of the issue. Since then, FBI Director James Comey has been engaged in a public relations campaign to explain the agency’s position.
Writing in the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, Comey said it was “simply wrong to assert that the FBI and the Justice Department lied” about their ability to access the device on their own. Though tech experts said it was something that could be done, those agencies consistently said they didn’t have the capability to do so on their own.
However, Comey added that as a result of the case, “creative people around the world” came to the agency offering their services. “Lots of folks have come to us with potential ideas — it looks like we now have one that may work out. We’re optimistic and we’ll see,” he said.
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In a press conference on Thursday, Comey told reporters that had not been the case a month ago. “We tried everything we could think of, asked everybody we thought might be able to help inside and outside the government, before bringing the litigation in San Bernardino,” Comey said.
