iPhone Encryption Hampers Investigation of Texas Shooter, Says FBI (chron.com)

"FBI officials said Tuesday they have been stymied in their efforts to unlock the cellphone of the man who shot and killed at least 26 people at a church here on Sunday," reports the Houston Chronicle. Slashdot reader Anon E. Muss writes: The police obtained a search warrant for the phone, but so far they've been unable to unlock it. The phone has been sent to the FBI, in the hope that they can break in... If it is secure, and the FBI can't open it, expect all hell to break loose. The usual idiots (e.g. politicians) will soon be ranting hysterically about the evil tech industry, and how they're refusing to help law enforcement.
FBI special agent Christopher Combs complained to the Chronicle that "law enforcement increasingly cannot get in to these phones."

A law professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology argues there's other sources of information besides a phone, and police officers might recognize this with better training. As just one example, Apple says the FBI could've simply just used the dead shooter's fingerprint to open his iPhone. But after 48 hours, the iPhone's fingerprint ID stops working.

Comments

Re:If they are such a threat

[mishehu]

Actually that is a strange statistic that I'm kind of curious about - what is the ratio of ownership of iPhones versus Android phones in the hands of people who have perpetrated such crimes.

Re:Try police work not phone unlocking

[Paradise Pete]

hus they don't ask Apple for help since that removes the ability to whine about it.

Not only didn't they ask for help, but Apple reached out to them immediately and they refused the help . Perhaps because they had been waiting for an opportunity to complain about encryption.