How the hell could the FBI hack into that iPhone?

Experts have lots of theories, but the one that seems likeliest would be a grind.


On Monday, forensic scientist Jonathan Zdziarski wrote his own explanation of NAND mirroring and argued that it was the FBI's most likely tool.

Still, there are other possibilities.
Exploiting a software flaw

The feds could conceivably hack Apple's software running the iPhone through a software flaw, according to Johnson. That vulnerability might affect the way the phone works over wireless Internet, Bluetooth or cellular communications, or investigators might find a flawed app on the phone they could use to their advantage.

Whatever it is, the flaw would have to be severe to let investigators all the way into the phone's core and tell it to open. The biggest problem with this theory is that security researchers are constantly on the hunt for these sorts of weak spots. If flaws exist, we'd probably know about them.

"It's not really possible with so much attention being paid," Johnson said.

It wouldn't necessarily be surprising if a hacker went to the FBI to offer assistance, rather than to Apple. Where companies including Microsoft, Google and Facebook routinely offer "bug bounties" to outsiders who report flaws they've discovered, Apple has largely kept its own counsel on security matters. An unintended consequence of that reluctance to embrace outsiders is that those finding flaws in Apple software can now fetch a good payday from less scrupulous sources.

"Apple ... is never going to be able to compete with what is going on behind the scenes in the black market," Jay Kaplan, a former NSA analyst and co-founder of security firm Synack, told The New York Times.
Acid and lasers

Finally, the FBI could look at the chip that's storing the passcode.

As Zdziarski describes it, investigators could remove the microprocessor from the iPhone and run it through a chemical treatment before hitting it with a laser. But like Dr. Evil's plan to put lasers on sharks, this one is pretty risky. One wrong move, Zdziarski said, and the chip would be ruined. Not only would the data be lost, there would no longer be any point in forcing Apple to write new software.

The Justice Department said in its court filing Monday that it's been working on a technical solution during the entire legal dustup.

Johnson compared the behind-the-scenes machinations to a football game, saying investigators have probably moved the ball as far forward as they can.

"Maybe the FBI could get to fourth and one, but they need help [at that point]," he said.

Their solution might take investigators all the way into the end zone, where they decrypt the phone, or it might stall out completely.

On April 5, we'll know if it doesn't work. That's when the feds would come back and ask the court to force Apple to write that software.