FBI director James B. Comey told the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday that bureau technicians have been unable to unlock encrypted data on a cellphone that belonged to Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik, the shooters who killed 14 people in San Bernardino, California, on Dec. 2.
The locked data could help explain why the shooters left a bag with pipe bombs inside the conference room at the Inland Regional Center, whether they planned any additional attacks, or if anyone else knew about their plan beforehand, the Los Angeles Times reports. Comey said that encrypted cellphones and text messaging apps make it difficult for investigators to trace locations or track active plots after they have a suspect's phone. Encryption algorithms scramble the data once a PIN code is set, and many companies say they don't have the capability to unscramble the memory, arguing such capacity would weaken security and privacy, the Times says.
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