Researchers at Johns Hopkins University have found a flaw in Apple's encryption, said Johns Hopkins research leader Matthew Green in a report by
The Washington Post.
The finding is the latest chapter in a case between Apple and the United States Justice Department, who wants Apple to show them a way to see what's on an iPhone found at the terrorist attacks in San Bernardino, California.
The phone belonged to Syed Rizwan Farook, one of the attackers, who was killed after a shooting rampage that left 14 dead on Dec. 2, 2015. The Justice Department has said it just wants in to this device, not a back-door to all Apple encryption.
The bug was found on the Apple platform iMessage. The team reported the bug to Apple, and they will release a paper about their findings after Apple releases a patch for the bug.
Green said the finding shows that the Justice Department doesn't need to force Apple to allow them access to the phone, since his team has shown there are ways to get in already.
"Even Apple, with all their skills — and they have terrific cryptographers — wasn't able to get this quite right," said Green. "So it scares me that we're having this conversation about adding back doors to encryption when we can't even get basic encryption right."
The dispute had been brewing since Apple released its mobile-operating system iOS 8 in June, 2014,
reports Bloomberg. Apple gave the government an early look at the system, when the FBI discovered Apple had closed a way in that agents had frequently used.
Federal prosecutors and Apple will argue their sides of the case before a magistrate judge on March 22.
U.S. District Magistrate Sheri Pym may hear from up to four witnesses, but is not likely to issue a ruling on the same day,
reports The Wall Street Journal.
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