Judge: Apple must help government break into San Bernardino shooter's iPhone

The U.S. Attorney's Office believes the phone used by Syed Farook contains "relevant, critical ... data," but that information has remained out of reach for investigators because of the phone's encryption.

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Prosecutors say "Apple has the exclusive technical means which would assist the government in completing its search, but has declined to provide that assistance voluntarily." The judge agreed and ruled the tech giant must provide "reasonable technical assistance."


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The judge ruled Tuesday that the Cupertino-based company had to provide "reasonable technical assistance" to the government in recovering data from the iPhone 5c, including bypassing the auto-erase function and allowing investigators to submit an unlimited number of passwords in their attempts to unlock the phone. Apple has five days to respond to the court if it believes that compliance would be "unreasonably burdensome."

In a statement, United States Attorney Eileen M. Decker called the move an "important step."



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