The Hacker News - Cybersecurity News and Analysis: Cellphone unlocking

Now no more fight with Apple or any smartphone maker, as federal authorities have discovered a new tool for unlocking phones, as far as your phone is using any biometric sensor… 3D Printing! Yes, Police in Michigan is considering 3D printing a dead man's fingers so they could unlock smartphones in investigation crimes using their biometric sensors. A new report published today from Flash Forward creator Rose Eveleth revealed that the police recently approached professors at the University of Michigan to reproduce a dead man's fingerprint from a prerecorded scan. Once reproduced, the 3D print would be used to create a false fingerprint of the dead man, which could then be used to unlock his smartphone using its biometric sensors. The man was a murder victim, and law enforcement investigators believed that his phone might contain some useful information relevant to the case. Why Police Can't 3D-Print Themselves? Because... Since smartphone biometric sensors used

There's more coming to the high-profile Apple vs. FBI case. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) might not need Apple's assistance to unlock iPhone 5C  that belonged to San Bernardino shooter, Syed Rizwan Farook. If you have followed the San Bernardino case closely, you probably know everything about the ongoing encryption battle between the FBI and Apple. In short, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) wants Apple to help the FBI create a backdoored version of its iOS operating system that could let it access data on Farook's locked iPhone 5C. Apple, meanwhile, is evident on its part , saying that the FBI wants the company to effectively create the " software equivalent of cancer " that would likely open up all iPhones to malicious hackers. FBI to Apple: We'll Unlock iPhone by Our Own Now the Feds say they may be able to crack the iPhone without the Apple's assistance after all. In a court filing [ PDF ] submitted on Mo

President Barack Obama signed a bill into law Friday that aims to make it legal for consumers to "unlock" their cell phones in order to change their cell phone service providers without paying for a new phone. The bill is known as the Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act , which orders the U.S. Library of Congress (LoC) to allow cell phone owners to " unlock " their devices – typically " locked ," to a specific service provider like AT&T or Verizon – for its use on other networks without the permission of their service provider. " As long as their phone is compatible and they have complied with their contracts, consumers will now be able to enjoy the freedom of taking their mobile service - and a phone they already own - to the carrier that best fits their needs, " the White House said in a statement . UNLOCKING Vs. JAILBREAKING Unlocking means the device can only access the network of a particular telecomm, like AT&T or Veriz