FBI pledges help with iPhone 6 cracking in murder case

The FBI has pledged its assistance in gaining access to an iPhone 6 and an iPod. These are important in a murder case in the US state of Arkansas. Recently, the FBI managed to gain access to an iPhone 5c with the help of an unknown third party.

It’s unclear what technique the FBI plans to use to gain access to the devices, or whether it’s the same technique used on the iPhone in the San Bernardino attacks earlier this week. The federal investigative service did not want to release anything about this either. The prosecutor charged with prosecuting the murder case asked for the case to be adjourned when the FBI came out with the news. The iPhone and iPod belong to two suspects.

It is not known which version of iOS is installed on the iPhone 6. The difference with the iPhone 6 is that it is equipped with a fingerprint scanner and an extra layer of security in the form of a ‘Secure Enclave’. This is a co-processor that uses encrypted memory and has a random number generator on board. When the device boots up, a key is created based on an unknown UID, with which the processor encrypts files that it writes to the file system.

According to iOS expert Jonathan Zdziarksi, the presence of this co-processor would make access to the iPhone more difficult if a technique such as nand mirroring is used. He suspected it was used to gain access to the iPhone 5c in the San Bernardino case. He also speaks of the possibility of a software method, which in principle should also work on devices with Secure Enclave.

Earlier, an FBI agent told the LA Times that it is unlikely that the technology that provided access to the iPhone 5c could be used for other models. The technique would also not be used in criminal cases, because there is a chance that it will become public.