FBI reveals it might have a way to unlock San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone, postpones hearing for forcing Apple to unlock device

A much-awaited court hearing on the federal government's effort to force Apple Inc to unlock the iPhone used by one of the shooters in the San Bernardino terror attack was abruptly cancelled yesterday after the FBI revealed it might have a way to access data without the company's help.

The surprising announcement was made by federal prosecutors on the eve of Tuesday's hearing in US District Court in Riverside, California. They said in court papers that the FBI had been working on ways to access the data on Syed Rizwan Farook's encrypted phone since obtaining it on 3 December, the day after the attack.

"An outside party" came forward over weekend and showed the FBI a possible method, according to court papers filed by the government, requesting postponement of the hearing. The government submitted that the authorities needed time to determine "whether it is a viable method that will not compromise data" on the phone.

According to the filing, if viable, "it should eliminate the need for the assistance from Apple."

The third party was not identified in the submission nor was any explanation offered as about the proposed method.

Granting the request, magistrate judge Sheri Pym ordered the government to file a status report by 5 April.

According to Kristen Eichensehr, a visiting law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, it the method was viable, it also meant that the government had significantly undermined its arguments against Apple, AP reported.

"If they found another way into the phone, that doesn't just weaken their case. It means they can't satisfy the legal standard to sustain the court's order," said Eichensehr, referring to magistrate judge Sheri Pym's 16 February ruling compelling Apple to create software that would disable security features on the phone.

According to a former US Department of Justice attorney who handles cyber-security cases for the Dorsey & Whitney law firm, what was clear was that the government would likely not have disclosed it had found another possible way to unlock the phone unless it was almost certain the method would work, AP reported.