Full Coverage: Apple’s fight with the FBI

The FBI paid more than $1 million to an unidentified third party to help agents unlock the iPhone of a terrorist involved in last year’s San Bernardino attacks, the bureau’s director, James B.

The Justice Department said Friday it still needs Apple’s help to unlock a convicted drug dealer’s iPhone in a New York City case, despite having successfully employed a third party to access a similar device used by one of the terrorists involved in December’s San Bernardino attacks.

The FBI has not decided whether to share with Apple Inc. details about how the bureau hacked into an iPhone linked to a California terrorism investigation, the bureau’s director said Wednesday.

The FBI has agreed to help prosecutors gain access to an iPhone 6 and an iPod that might hold evidence in an Arkansas murder trial, just days after the agency managed to hack an iPhone linked to the San Bernardino terror attacks, a local prosecutor said Wednesday.

Unlocking the iPhone belonging to one of the San Bernardino shooters might not have the far-reaching effects that some once thought.

Apple Inc. refused to give the FBI software the agency desperately wanted.

The successful hack of a phone linked to the San Bernardino terror attacks is unlikely to help police win greater access to encrypted data in thousands of smartphones sitting in evidence lockers nationwide, legal experts and law enforcement officials say.

A legal battle weighing privacy rights against the government’s need to investigate terrorism came to an end Monday when the FBI said it found a way to gain access to Syed Rizwan Farook’s iPhone 5c.

Federal officials on Monday dropped their legal fight against Apple after unlocking the iPhone used by an assailant in last year’s San Bernardino terror attack, leaving unsettled a vexing debate over privacy and security amid rapid advances in technology.

That legal mess between the FBI and Apple over the last two months?

Federal officials have been tight-lipped about exactly who has offered to help them open the iPhone of San Bernardino shooter Syed Rizwan Farook -- without help from Apple.

In its monthlong fight with the Department of Justice over digital privacy, Apple has insisted it would under no circumstances force its engineers to undermine the company’s security measures.

A top FBI official said it would take at least two weeks to determine whether investigators can open the iPhone of San Bernardino shooter Syed Rizwan Farook without help from Apple.

The U.S. government’s announcement that it might be able to unlock a San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone without Apple’s help is not likely to end the debate over encryption, privacy and national security.

The U.S. government made a dramatic about-face Monday, announcing it may not need Apple’s help unlocking an iPhone belonging to an assailant in last year’s San Bernardino terror attack, bringing an abrupt halt — and possibly an end — to its high-stakes legal showdown with the technology giant.

As Apple Inc. began Monday’s product-launch event, there was an elephant in the room: the company’s legal battle with the U.S. government over an encrypted iPhone used by one of the attackers in the San Bernardino terrorism case.

In its back-and-forth legal wrangling with the FBI over a killer’s locked iPhone, Apple got a final word in Tuesday — arguing again in court papers that forcing the company to help federal officials access the phone would be illegal and dangerous.

Since the 1990s, U.S. law enforcement has expressed concern about “going dark,” defined as an inability to access encrypted communications or data even with a court order.

When Apple sought to promote its music streaming service, it talked to the tech press.

Justice officials on Thursday made the latest move in their high-stakes legal battle with Apple, pushing back against the technology company’s efforts to escape an order compelling it to help unlock a terrorist’s iPhone.

Apple’s top software developer said acceding to the FBI’s request in the San Bernardino terrorism case would cause the iPhone’s defenses “to fall behind” in a digital arms race against hackers.

For years, the fight between Silicon Valley and law enforcement leaders over access to encrypted cellphone data has been largely philosophical, a struggle to balance privacy concerns against the ability of police to stop or investigate criminal acts and terror attacks.

Computer hacker Will Strafach had no trouble seizing control of the original iPhone.

Should the courts order Apple to help the Federal Bureau of Investigation unlock an iPhone seized from a murderous terrorist or a dangerous criminal?

FBI Director James B.

The heated dispute over the FBI effort to force Apple to help unlock an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino killers moved Tuesday to Capitol Hill, where lawmakers appear deeply divided on the issue.

Apple won the latest round in its battle with the U.S. government over accessing iPhones in criminal investigations on Monday when a federal judge said he would not force the technology company to assist in a drug probe.

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Capt.

Apple Inc.

The tussle between Apple and the Federal Bureau of Investigation ratcheted up a notch Thursday, with Apple telling a federal magistrate that she violated the company’s constitutional rights by ordering it to write software that would enable the FBI to hack into a terrorist’s locked iPhone.

Apple Inc. has come out swinging in its pitched battle with the government on its home turf.

It would take Apple Inc. two to four weeks and up to 10 employees to help the FBI unlock the iPhone of San Bernardino shooter Syed Rizwan Farook, an Apple official said in the company’s much-anticipated court filing Thursday.

Apple dug in Thursday for its blockbuster legal battle against the U.S. government, arguing in new court papers that a federal judge overstepped her authority and violated the company’s constitutional rights when she granted an order compelling it to help unlock a terrorist’s iPhone.

The legal fight between the FBI and Apple over unlocking an iPhone in the San Bernardino mass murder case will impact other investigations in which law enforcement is seeking access to encrypted devices, FBI Director James Comey said Thursday.

Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook said the Obama administration should have done more to work out a technical solution with his company before seeking a controversial court order in the San Bernardino terrorism investigation.

Americans stand firmly behind the FBI’s effort to force Apple to unlock their phones, according to the latest polls.

Here’s everything you need to know about the fight between Apple and the FBI in two minutes.

Chinese technology executives are weighing in on the standoff between Apple Inc. and the FBI — and they’re taking Apple’s side.

Battle lines continued to be drawn in the dispute between Apple Inc. and the FBI as attorneys for the tech giant offered a clearer sense of their strategy to fight efforts to make them assist federal agents in the San Bernardino terror investigation.

In Apple’s fight to knock down a court order requiring it to help FBI agents unlock a killer’s iPhone, the tech giant plans to argue that the judge in the case has overreached in her use of an obscure law and infringed on the company’s 1st Amendment rights, an Apple attorney said Tuesday.

The FBI hasn’t made any headway in its standoff with Apple Inc., and the bitter feud isn’t changing minds at competitors either.

It is a battle for public opinion almost as much as it is for the law.

Among those debating Apple’s stance against the Justice Department are a handful of people who know from experience what it is like to have a terrorist’s gun aimed at them or their loved ones.

Amid the tense standoff between the FBI and Apple, a Los Angeles congressman on Tuesday urged FBI Director James Comey to drop the demand the tech giant help the agency unlock the iPhone of one of the San Bernardino terrorists.

Microsoft Corp. cofounder Bill Gates has jumped into the debate over Apple Inc.’

Apple, which is battling a legal order to help the FBI open a terrorist’s encrypted iPhone, urged the government to back down Monday, calling instead for a panel of experts to study encryption and privacy concerns.

More than half of Americans say Apple should unlock an iPhone at the center of a escalating battle with the government, a new Pew Resarch Center survey found.

The struggle between Apple Inc. and federal officials over unlocking an iPhone used by one of the shooters in the San Bernardino terror attack is a legal battle, but for Apple, it’s also a battle to stay in its customers’ good graces.

The public battle between Apple and the FBI over a court order requiring the tech giant to unlock the San Bernardino gunman’s iPhone continued to heat up Monday.

The FBI is resorting to the courts to force Apple to unlock the San Bernardino gunman’s iPhone not to “set a precedent or send any kind of message,” but to conduct a complete investigation, FBI Director James Comey said Sunday.

To comply with the FBI’s demand to unlock mass shooter Syed Rizwan Farook’s iPhone would spring open “Pandora’s box,” endangering the privacy of millions of Apple customers here and abroad, an Apple attorney said Sunday.

The battle between the FBI and Apple Inc. over whether the tech giant should help open the locked cellphone of one of the San Bernardino shooters took a decidedly more heated tone Friday.

Senior Apple executives underscored Friday that they have no intention of backing down in a high-stakes fight with the FBI over an iPhone used by one of the shooters in December’s San Bernardino terror attack.

The battle over Apple’s refusal to give the FBI the tools to unlock a terrorist’s smartphone escalated sharply Friday when the government urged a federal judge to immediately compel the tech giant to comply, arguing that it appears more concerned with marketing strategy than national security.

Any hope that the Obama administration might try to de-escalate the fight with Apple evaporated Friday when the Justice Department asked a federal magistrate to compel the company to help the FBI crack the iPhone used by one of the terrorists who killed 14 people in San Bernardino in December.

In a stinging rebuke to Apple, federal prosecutors contended Friday that the tech giant is “not above the law” and could easily help the government unlock a terrorist’s iPhone without undermining anyone else’s privacy.

When Apple objected to an order by a federal judge to build software to help unlock an iPhone that belonged to one the San Bernardino terrorists, it set-off a heated national debate about privacy and the responsibilities of Silicon Valley.

A court order requiring Apple to create a way to help law enforcement get access to a terrorist’s smartphone amounts to an “unprecedented” stretch of an antiquated law — one that is likely to spark an epic fight pitting privacy against national security, legal scholars said Thursday.

As hackers prove time and again that they can and will invade our digital lives, Apple Inc. has strengthened its security system to make its services nearly impossible to penetrate — even for top cops.

It’s a battle that on its face appears to pit one of the biggest tech companies in the U.S. against the country’s most powerful law enforcement agency.

Setting up a pitched battle between Silicon Valley and the counter-terrorism community, Apple’s chief executive said Wednesday that his company would fight a court order demanding the tech giant’s help in the San Bernardino attack investigation, turning what had been a philosophical dispute into a legal skirmish that could have major ramifications for the tech industry.

Eleven weeks after the terrorist attack that left 14 dead in San Bernardino, the Federal Bureau of Investigation is still trying to answer some nagging questions about the actions and motives of the shooters, Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik.

In the locked-iPhone battle between the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Apple, the feds may have the judiciary on their side, but the tech giant has the better argument.

Legal titan Ted Olson has signed on to help Apple Inc. fight a court order requiring the tech giant to assist the FBI in unlocking a phone belonging to one of the San Bernardino terrorists, court records show.

Legal experts say the battle between the federal government and Apple Inc. over unlocking the contents of an iPhone is about more than simply helping investigate the San Bernardino terrorist attack.

Texas Sen.

Four numbers hardly seem like a foolproof way to protect a smartphone.

The terrorist attack that left 14 people dead in San Bernardino in December changed Rudy Garcia’s sense of the world.

Cybersecurity experts warned Wednesday that the battle over a court order requiring Apple to help the FBI access encrypted data on a cellphone belonging to the couple who killed 14 people in San Bernardino will have far-reaching consequences for the tech industry.

Apple Inc.

Apple Inc.

Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook has issued a detailed statement explaining his company’s reasons for declining to help federal investigators unlock encrypted data hidden in a phone used by one of the San Bernardino terror suspects.

FBI technicians have been unable to unlock encrypted data on a cellphone that belonged to the terrorist couple who killed 14 people in San Bernardino on Dec. 2, the FBI director said Tuesday.