FBI may be able to unlock iPhone without Apple thanks to help from 'outside party'

Apple may avoid having to help the FBI unlock the phone of a terror suspect after US officials said they were testing a workaround supplied by an “outside party”.

The US Department of Justice asked for a delay on a court hearing due to take place today in the latest development in the row over the San Bernardino shooter’s phone.

Apple has so far refused to comply with the FBI’s request to unlock the phone belonging to San Bernardino gunman Syed Farook.

Calling the request a “dangerous precedent”, the tech giant has insisted it would “not shrink from its responsibility” of protecting its customers’ data.

Chief Executive Tim Cook said: “We need to decide as a nation how much power the government should have over our data.”

US prosecutors have now said "an outside party" came forward over the weekend and showed the FBI a possible method for unlocking the phone used by gunman Syed Farook in the December 2 terror attack in California. Fourteen people were killed by Farook and his wife before police shot and killed the attackers.

The US authorities said they now needed time to determine "whether it is a viable method that will not compromise data" on the phone. If viable, "it should eliminate the need for the assistance from Apple" according to the filing.

Facebook, Google and Microsoft are among the firms to back Apple's position on not helping the government break into the locked iPhone.