The FBI had access to unprecedented technology to access the phone of Thomas Mathiew Crooks, the man identified as the shooter of former President Donald Trump, according to people familiar with the investigation.
As the FBI struggled to gain access to the phone on Sunday morning, it turned directly to Cellebritean Israeli-founded digital intelligence company that supplies technology to several U.S. federal agencies, according to the people, who requested anonymity to speak freely about the case.
FBI agents wanted extract data from device to help unravel the motives behind the shooting at a rally in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, where Trump suffered an ear injury and a spectator died.
A Cellebrite spokesman declined to comment, as did the FBI.
The FBI’s Pittsburgh field office had a license for Cellebrite software, which allows law enforcement to identify or bypass a phone’s passcode. But it didn’t work with Crooks’ device, according to the people, who said the deceased shooter had a newer Samsung model that runs the Android operating system.
The agents called Cellebrite’s federal team, which communicates with law enforcement and government agencies, according to the people.
Within hours, Cellebrite transferred additional technical support and new software that was still in development to the FBI in Quantico, Virginia. Details about the initial failed attempt to access the phone and the as-yet-unreleased software had not been previously reported.
Once the FBI obtained the software update from Cellebrite, Unlocking the phone took 40 minutes, according to the Washington Post report, which first detailed the FBI’s use of Cellebrite.
Unlocking a mobile phone can take seconds, days or even years, depending on the complexity of the owner’s alphanumeric code. Cellebrite software can access a phone through several methods, including disabling the phone’s built-in mechanisms that block repeated attempts to enter the passcode, while generating millions of passcodes to try to get in. It’s not clear what method the FBI used to unlock Crooks’ phone.
Nasdaq-listed Cellebrite says about one-fifth of its public sector work is for federal clients. The company, which reported annual recurring revenue of $89.6 million for the first quarter of 2024, says it will has worked on more than 5 million casesThe company is looking to expand its business with U.S. federal clients, according to a statement this week.
The company has repeatedly defended itself against criticism from privacy advocates who have argued that the use of such technology amounts to a unethical hacking and has been used by foreign governments against activists. The company told federal regulators in 2021 that it had stopped operating in certain locations, including China and Hong Kong, due to concerns raised by human rights activists. Cellebrite says its software is used to unlock seized phones only in legally sanctioned cases and never for surveillance.
