FBI bringing in hackers to access terrorist's locked iPhone

Washington

THE Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has come up with a strategy to get out of its messy court case with Apple over accessing a dead terrorist's iPhone: bring in the hackers. Yet, any new method the bureau uses to hack into iPhones may be short-lived - it may be obligated to give Apple the details so the company can fix the security gap.

At the FBI's request, a magistrate judge cancelled a court hearing scheduled for Tuesday to determine whether Apple should be compelled to help the US gain access to a locked iPhone used by an attacker who killed 14 people last year in San Bernardino, California. The bureau said that it was approached on Sunday by an unidentified third party with a possible way to get into the phone without Apple's help.