FBI hacked shooter’s phone in just two days

After the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, FBI agents on the scene were unable to hack the attacker’s phone, so it was sent to the FBI labs at Quantico. There, within just two days, the FBI was able to “hack” the phone and gain access to it.

The FBI has not revealed how the phone was hacked, or what it found, but security experts say the incident shows how effective phone hacking tools can be.

Almost every police department in the United States has a device called Cellebrite, which is specifically designed to extract data from phones, and it also has some ability to unlock phones. It makes sense that field agents don’t have some of the more sophisticated technology to hack modern phones that Quantico agents do. I had no doubt that Quantico would be able to hack the phone, either using some of its own technology or with outside help like Cellebrite. – Cooper Quintin, Security Researcher at the Electronic Frontier Foundation

FBI Special Agents have accessed Thomas Matthew Crook’s cell phone and are continuing to analyze his electronic devices. A search of the perpetrator’s home and vehicle has been completed. The FBI has conducted nearly 100 interviews with chapter members, bystanders, and other witnesses and the number is growing. The FBI has received hundreds of pieces of digital media, including photos and videos, from the incident and we are continuing to investigate the information. – FBI Agent

In previous cases, it took the FBI weeks or even months to hack into the perpetrators’ phones. Most of us remember the famous dispute with Apple in 2015 when the company refused to help the FBI unlock the iPhone of the San Bernardino shooter, with Tim Cook saying:

The government is asking Apple to hack its users and undermine decades of security development that protects our customers. While we believe the FBI has good intentions, it would be wrong for the government to force us to put a backdoor into our products. We fear that this demand would undermine the very freedom that the government is supposed to protect.

That was four years ago, and technology has evolved on both sides. It now takes minutes to crack a 4-digit password and hours to crack a 6-digit password. In addition to the FBI’s tools, there are other tools available from third parties, some of which are more transparent about the identity of their clients. The human rights risks are serious when undemocratic governments use phone-tapping technology, but these tools are widely available at a reasonable price. – Riana Pfefferkorn, Security Researcher at Stanford Internet Observatory