A federal judge canceled a hearing Tuesday in the legal battle to force Apple to break into an encrypted iPhone used by one of the San Bernadino attackers, after federal officials said in a court filing they may have found another way to access the device.
In a filing late Monday, federal prosecutors said "an outside party" has come forward and shown the FBI a possible method for unlocking the phone used by one of the shooters in the Dec. 2 terror attack.
In a statement, U.S. Justice Department spokeswoman Melanie Newman said the government is "cautiously optimistic" that the possible method will work.
Newman added that the outside party demonstrated to the FBI this past weekend a possible method for unlocking the phone.
"We must first test this method to ensure that it doesn’t destroy the data on the phone, but we remain cautiously optimistic," she said. "That is why we asked the court to give us some time to explore this option."
In a filing late Monday, federal prosecutors said "an outside party" has come forward and shown the FBI a possible method for unlocking the phone used by one of the shooters in the Dec. 2 terror attack.
In a statement, U.S. Justice Department spokeswoman Melanie Newman said the government is "cautiously optimistic" that the possible method will work.
Newman added that the outside party demonstrated to the FBI this past weekend a possible method for unlocking the phone.
"We must first test this method to ensure that it doesn’t destroy the data on the phone, but we remain cautiously optimistic," she said. "That is why we asked the court to give us some time to explore this option."
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