In spite of all the controversy and kerfuffle surrounding the San Bernadino iPhone and the steps taken to unlock it, sources are indicating that the FBI is getting some useful information and leads from the device.
Investigators are now more confident that terrorist Syed Farook didn’t make contact with another plotter during an 18-minute gap that the FBI said was missing from their time line of the attackers’ whereabouts after the mass shooting, the officials said. The phone has helped investigators address lingering concern that the two may have help, perhaps from friends and family.
While the unlocked iPhone 5c didn’t contain evidence of ISIS-associated contacts or the use of encrypted communications during the period the FBI was concerned about, officials are saying that it helps them narrow the search and exclude certain possibilities.
Private sector hackers hired by the FBI helped investigators gain access to the phone, which was at the center of a legal dispute between the government and Apple.
Apple was fighting a judge’s order to help the FBI get past security features to get access to the phone’s data.
The data is still being analyzed and more leads are being followed, the officials said. Much of the mystery of the missing 18 minutes, and why the terrorists drove seemingly aimlessly around the San Bernardino area following the attack, remains unsolved.
Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.
Via CNN
One reply on “Unlocked San Bernadino iPhone providing some leads in investigation”
As I understand it, the couple had personal cell phones which they destroyed. I doubt you can make any assumptions based on what was not found on his work supplied iPhone.