The battle between two immovable entities, the FBI and Apple Inc., is now over, but not in the way many have assumed it will end. However, nothing about the legality of breaking encryption codes was resolved therefore we can assume that this issue will still haunt the protagonist.
The case was supposed to be the biggest that Silicon Valley has faced. Nearly all companies in the tech industry and other sectors presented legal briefs supporting the position of the Cupertino-based company.
Fierce rivals in the tech industry have set aside their differences to make a unified stand and supported Apple in a very public way against one of the fiercest agencies of the United States with tentacles spread all over the union.
One final cry was heard from Tim Cook, Apple CEO on Monday before a court hearing. And then nothing was heard from the two protagonist right after regarding their battle.
The U.S. Justice Department notified Apple that the FBI wanted to postpone the hearing since it has found a way to hack the iPhone's content. A third party, presumably an Israeli software firm is helping the agency.
Now, the latest reports say that the FBI is gingerly trying another method of breaking the San Bernardino shooter's iPhone and does not need the help of the tech giant.
FBI officials stated that the latest effort of the agency is still what it asked the tech firm to do - stop the automatic deletion of the iPhone's content after maxing the attempts to guess its passcode.
James Comey, the FBI Director, dismissed the rumor that the agency is trying to do it by removing the iPhone's chip and use thousands of copies of the encrypted data hoping they'll find the one which will do it. He said that it doesn't work.
As to how the agency will do it still remains a mystery. The public may not know how the FBI did it if it succeeds in breaking open the iPhone's encryption code.
Meanwhile, there were no comments from the many tech firms who supported Apple in the conflict after it was notified of the FBI's decision to postpone the hearing.
