Back in 2016 there was a standoff between the FBI and Apple over gaining access to a locked phone. The phone belonged to Syed Rizwan Farook one half of a terrorist duo that carried out an attack which killed 14 people in San Bernardino, California. Farook was killed in a shootout with police. The FBI recovered Farook’s phone and got a search warrant to search it but couldn’t crack the password. It was only a 4-digit password but the phone was designed to erase itself after 10 failed attempts.
The NSA attempted to crack the phone and failed. The FBI asked Apple for help, i.e. creating a replacement operating system that could be unlocked and Apple refused. And at this point the FBI actually got a court order to force Apple to assist them whether it wanted to do so or not. This was probably going to result in a major court battle but then a 3rd party came…
