Just two days after Attorney General William Barr demanded help from Apple and other technology companies to access older model iPhones used by the Naval Air Station Pensacola shooter, Forbes uncovered a search warrant that strongly indicates the FBI already have access to a tool that can extract data from the latest and most secure iPhones.
If that is the case, it is unclear why Barr and the FBI pressured Apple on Monday to cooperate with the investigation.
The October 2019 warrant stems from a case against Baris Ali Koch, who was accused of helping his convicted brother flee the country by providing him with his own ID documents and lying to the police. According to the warrant, FBI investigators in Ohio used a hacking device called GrayKey to draw data from the latest Apple model, the iPhone 11 Pro Max.
Forbes reports that Senator Ron Wyden’s (D-OR) office has asked the Department of Justice to explain why it is making public demands for backdoors if it has already used GrayKey to access the newest iPhones.
The Pensacola shooter possessed an iPhone 5 and iPhone 7—both younger generation models that are seemingly easier to get into than the newest iPhone 11. However, both phones were damaged, one by deliberate gunfire. It is not clear if the damage has any implication on security or GrayKey’s abilities.
GrayKey is a product of Grayshift, an Atlanta-based company founded by an ex-Apple security engineer. It has gained popularity in the past few years, signing lucrative contracts with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Secret Service.
Since it’s debut, it’s been a cat-and-mouse game between Grayshift and Apple. In October 2018, Forbes reported Apple had the upper hand and was successfully able to stop GrayKey from breaking the passcode of any iPhone running iOS 12 or above. With the patch, GrayKey could only run a partial extraction of data, not a full one. However, the tide may have turned again.
Just about one year ago, Grayshift entered into a distribution partnership with the well-known Magnet Forensics, who offers digital investigation software for mobile, cloud and computer.
“Grayshift and Magnet Forensics share common values,” said Jad Saliba, Founder and CTO at Magnet Forensics, at the time. “This partnership is a direct result of our joint commitment to the mission of law enforcement—of seeking justice and protecting the innocent. The level of data that GrayKey can recover is beyond anything else on the market.”
Photo: Attorney General Barr discusses the results of the investigation into the shooting that occurred on Dec. 6, 2019 at Pensacola Naval Air Station. Credit: DOJ