Israeli firm who helped hack killer’s phone sees shares rise

The Japanese owner of an Israeli firm which is reported to have helped the FBI hack into a dead terrorist’s iPhone has seen its share price skyrocket, rising 17 per cent in days.

It comes after the U.S. agency purchased equipment worth £150,000 from Cellebrite, the Israeli company owned by Suncorp, after the FBI said a “third party” had successfully accessed the phone. 

Apple, which makes the iPhone, had vigorously defended the FBI’s legal challenges, which sought to force the tech giant to develop software that would allow federal investigators to bypass the phone’s security. 

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The device in question belonged to Syed Farook, one of two terrorists who killed 14 people in San Bernadino in December, and the FBI wanted access to determine who Farook had been in contact with. 

Apple argued that forcing it to develop software that would defeat its password protection system would compromise the security of millions of its products. 

Cellebrite, which describes itself as dealing in “mobile forensics,” was named by several Israeli and U.S. media outlets as the “third party” believed to have successfully accessed the phone, which led to the FBI dropping its pursuit of Apple through the courts.