FBI signals it has new iPhone-unlocking powers, and plans to use them: Xeni on KCRW's 'Press Play'

On today’s edition of the KCRW daily news program Press Play, I speak with host Madeleine Brand about what we know, as of today, about any new capabilities the FBI may have acquired in its quest to bypass the security features on Apple iOS devices in various investigations.

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After suddenly dropping the so-called ‘FBI vs. Apple’ case involving the San Bernardino terrorist’s iPhone, reports indicate that the FBI is newly able to defeat security on iPhones and iOS devices in other cases. They’re not telling Apple, or anyone else who’s talking, how they did it.

The FBI insisted that if Apple unlocked the iPhone in the San Bernardino terrorism case that it would be a one-time deal. Now it’s been reported that they’ll help unlock an iPhone and iPod in an Arkansas murder case. And in another case, the LAPD was issued a warrant earlier this year that would have allowed them to use a murder suspect’s finger to unlock their iPhone. That and more in this week’s web roundup.

Tune in to the show every Thursday for my internet news roundup for Boing Boing on KCRW’s Press Play.

PHOTO: A man displays a protest message on his iPhone at a small rally in support of Apple’s refusal to help the FBI access the cell phone of a gunman involved in the killings of 14 people in San Bernardino, in Santa Monica, California, United States, February 23, 2016. [REUTERS]

Hunter John Drexler, one of the two teens accused of murdering a couple who were grandparents in Arkansas.