The U.S. Justice Department aounced Monday it has successfully accessed data stored on the iPhone that belonged to the San Beardino gunman without Apple's help, ending the court case against the tech company.
The surprise development effectively ends a pitched court battle between Apple and the Obama administration.
The govement asked a federal judge to vacate a disputed order forcing Apple to help the FBI break into the iPhone, saying it was no longer necessary.
The court filing in U.S. District Court for the Central District of Califoia provided no details about how the FBI did it or who showed it how. Apple did not immediately comment on the development.
“As the govement noted in its filing today, the FBI has now successfully retrieved the data stored on the San Beardino terrorist’s iPhone and therefore no longer requires the assistance from Apple required by this Court Order," DOJ spokeswoman Melaine Newman said in a statement. "The FBI is currently reviewing the information on the phone, consistent with standard investigatory procedures."
The surprise development also punctured the temporary perception that Apple's security might have been good enough to keep consumers' personal information safe even from the U.S. govement — with the tremendous resources it can expend when it wants to uncover something.
The FBI used the technique to access data on an iPhone used by gunman Syed Farook, who died with his wife in a gun battle with police after they killed 14 people in San Beardino, Califoia, in December.
U.S. magistrate Sheri Pym of Califoia last month ordered Apple to provide the FBI with software to help it hack into Farook's work-issued iPhone. The order touched off a debate pitting digital privacy rights against national security conces.
Apple was headed for a courtroom showdown with the govement last week, until federal prosecutors abruptly asked for a postponement so they could test a potential solution that was brought to them by an unidentified party the previous weekend.
Technical experts had said there might be a few ways an outsider could gain access to the phone, although the FBI had insisted repeatedly until then that only Apple had the ability to override the iPhone's security.
The case drew inteational attention and highlighted a growing friction between govements and the tech industry. Apple and other tech companies have said they feel increasing need to protect their customers' data from hackers and unfriendly intruders, while police and other govement authorities have waed that encryption and other data-protection measures are making it more difficult for investigators to track criminals and dangerous extremists.
The withdrawal of court process also takes away Apple's ability to legally request details on the method the FBI used. Apple attoeys said last week that they hoped the govement would share that information with them if it proved successful.
The encrypted phone was protected by a passcode that included security protocols: a time delay and self-destruct feature that erased the phone's data after 10 tries. The two features made it impossible for the govement to repeatedly and continuously test passcodes in what's known as a brute-force attack.
Fox News' Matt Dean and The Associated Press contributed to this report.