Apple vs FBI Case Update: FBI Determined To Unlock iPhone Without Apple's Help

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) appeared to have backed down from its standoff with Apple over the controversial access to a San Bernardino attacker's iPhone via hacking. Previously, the feds have been urging the iPhone maker to create a backdoor access so they can tap into the terrorist's smartphone and uncover messages that may help in the terror investigation.

The US Department of Justice recently asked a US magistrate judge to drop the Tuesday court hearing saying that they may have found a workaround without forcing Apple to hack their own security infrastructure.

"An outside party demonstrated to the FBI this past weekend a possible method for unlocking the phone. We must first test this method to ensure that it doesn't destroy the data on the phone, but we remain cautiously optimistic," remarked Justice Department spokeswoman Melanie Newman as quoted by Bloomberg News.

The recent development comes as tension builds over digital privacy war between the US federal government and the Silicon Valley in general. In particular, the jarring turn of events was a temporary respite from weeks of acrimonious Apple-FBI relations. Despite being served with a court order, Apple steadfastly objected to the feds' request of breaking into their own security barriers using backdoor software.

Tim Cook's defiant stand receives support from other tech giants like Facebook and Google in its legal battle with the government. The Apple exec seems to convey the legitimate fears that Silicon Valley has in general over government's purported intrusion on devices 'that has become an extension of ourselves'.

"We need to decide as a nation how much power the government should have over our data and our privacy. We didn't expect ... to be at odds with our government. But we believe we have a responsibility to protect your data, your privacy. We owe it to our customers," said Cook in a statement as quoted by Los Angeles Times.

Meanwhile, the legal tussle is also splitting public opinion. As reported by Forbes, 51% favor unlocking the iPhone while 38% condemn it in a recent Pew Research Center Poll. Statistically speaking, the results of the survey reveal a highly divided public opinion. Polarizing arguments from both sides of the controversy also adds up to the complexity of the privacy-vs-national-security debate.