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FBI 'may be able to unlock San Bernardino iPhone' FBI 'may be able to unlock San Bernardino iPhone'
(35 minutes later)
The FBI says it may have found a way to unlock the San Bernardino attacker's iPhone without Apple's assistance.The FBI says it may have found a way to unlock the San Bernardino attacker's iPhone without Apple's assistance.
The US Justice Department (DOJ) has filed a request to postpone a hearing with Apple scheduled for Tuesday, citing new leads in the case. A court hearing with Apple scheduled for tomorrow has been cancelled at the request of the US Justice Department (DOJ), Apple has confirmed.
Prosecutors said "an outside party" had demonstrated a possible way of unlocking the iPhone.
The DOJ had ordered Apple to help unlock the phone used by San Bernardino gunman Rizwan Farook.The DOJ had ordered Apple to help unlock the phone used by San Bernardino gunman Rizwan Farook.
But Apple has continued to fight the order, saying it would set a "dangerous precedent".But Apple has continued to fight the order, saying it would set a "dangerous precedent".
Rizwan Farook and his wife killed 14 people in San Bernardino, California, last December before police fatally shot them.
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Prosecutors said "an outside party" had demonstrated a possible way of unlocking the iPhone without the need to seek Apple's help.
DOJ spokeswoman Melanie Newman said in a statement that the government was "cautiously optimistic" that the possible method to unlock the phone would work.
In a court filing, prosecutors said testing was needed "to determine whether it is a viable method that will not compromise date on Farook's iPhone.
"If the method is viable, it should eliminate the need for the assistance from Apple," they said.
The FBI says Farook's iPhone may contain crucial evidence. It wants to access the data but the encrypted device can only be unlocked by entering the correct passcode, which was set by the user a security measure.
Guessing the code incorrectly too many times could permanently delete all data on the phone, so the FBI had asked Apple to develop a new version of its operating system that circumvents some of its security features.
Apple has repeatedly stated that creating a compromised version of the system would have security implications for millions of iPhone users and would set a precedent.