Trump’s shooter used a Samsung phone — FBI «hacked» it in 40 minutes

The FBI has gained access to the latest technology to unlock the phone of a man identified as the attacker on former US President Donald Trump.

FBI agents contacted Cellebrite, an Israel-based company that develops digital intelligence technologies for US federal agencies, directly. This happened on Sunday morning when investigators were unable to access the suspect’s phone. The goal was to extract data from the device to find out the motives for the attack at the July 13 rally in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, where Trump suffered an ear injury. Authorities identified the dead attacker as Thomas Matthew Crooks.

The FBI’s Pittsburgh field office was licensed for Cellebrite software, which allows law enforcement to identify or bypass phone passwords. However, it didn’t work with Crooks’ device, which was a newer Samsung model running the Android operating system. The agents contacted Cellebrite’s federal team, which works with law enforcement and government agencies.

Within hours, Cellebrite provided the FBI in Quantico, Virginia, with additional technical support and new software that was still under development. After receiving Cellebrite’s software update, it took 40 minutes to unlock the phone, as reports Washington Post.

Cellebrite, a Nasdaq-listed company, says about a fifth of its public sector work comes from federal clients. For the first quarter of 2024, the company reported annual recurring revenue of $89.6 million and says it worked on more than 5 million cases. Cellebrite is looking to expand its business with US federal clients.

The company has repeatedly defended itself against criticism from privacy advocates who claimedThe report said that the use of such technology is unethical hacking and has been used by foreign governments against activists.

In 2021, Cellebrite informed federal regulators that it had ceased operations in certain regions, including China and Hong Kong, due to concerns raised by human rights activists. The company claims that its software is used to unlock seized phones only in legally authorized cases and never for surveillance.

Source: Bloomberg