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Apple pledges to continue to upgrade the security of its products.
The U.S. government on Monday revealed it has successfully hacked into the iPhone belonging to San Bernardino gunman Syed Farook, and has therefore dropped a court order compelling Apple to help it access the device.
Authorities recovered the iPhone 5C after December’s terror attack, and requested Apple’s help to override its security settings. Apple refused, resulting in an order from the California Central District Court requiring Apple’s assistance.
Still Apple refused, arguing that it would set a dangerous precedent that jeopardises the security and privacy of its customers.
"The government has now successfully accessed the data stored on Farook’s iPhone and therefore no longer requires the assistance from Apple," said the Department of Justice (DoJ), in a court filing on Monday.
"The FBI is currently reviewing the information on the phone, consistent with standard investigatory procedures," the DoJ said, in a separate statement.
According to numerous reports, a third party helped the government to overcome the iPhone’s security settings.
"From the beginning, we objected to the FBI’s demand that Apple build a backdoor into the iPhone because we believed it was wrong and would set a dangerous precedent. As a result of the government’s dismissal, neither of these occurred. This case should never have been brought," said a statement from Apple.
"We will continue to help law enforcement with their investigations, as we have done all along, and we will continue to increase the security of our products as the threats and attacks on our data become more frequent and more sophisticated," the company said. "Apple believes deeply that people in the United States and around the world deserve data protection, security and privacy. Sacrificing one for the other only puts people and countries at greater risk."
This story was updated at 15:10 to include statements obtained from the Department of Justice and Apple.
