The iPhone used by a terrorist in the San Bernardino shooting reportedly was unlocked for the FBI in 2016 by a small Australian hacking firm now facing a lawsuit from Apple.
The identification of the company and the lawsuit represent a new chapter in the battle that began between Apple and the FBI five years ago, with major implications for privacy policies.
Azimuth Security, a little-known hacking firm that sells cybersecurity research to democratic governments, secretly found a way into the iPhone at the request of the FBI, according to the Washington Post.
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The identity of the firm has remained a secret for five years. The FBI reportedly spent more than $1.3 million to hack into the San Bernardino shooter’s phone.
The FBI demanded that Apple help it access the shooter’s phone to investigate the terrorist attack and its causes fully, but Apple refused, saying that creating a backdoor into the iPhone could create a dangerous precedent, weaken phone security, and empower bad actors in the future.
Weeks later, the FBI successfully hacked into the phone, with Azimuth’s help, after Apple CEO Tim Cook announced that his company would not turn over requested FBI information on the phone and would instead challenge the court order that said the company must help.
In 2019, Apple sued former Azimuth researcher David Wang’s security research company Corellium for copyright violation, alleging that Wang shared phone hacking techniques that may have helped governments and agencies such as the FBI.
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In December, a U.S. District Judge dismissed Apple’s copyright claims against Corellium, but the fight continues as Apple can appeal the ruling, and the tech giant has filed another suit alleging that Corellium has the ability to bypass Apple’s security measures using its special hacking tools.
