After the FBI raided a Washington Post reporter’s home and seized multiple devices, Lockdown Mode prevented them from accessing her iPhone. Here are the details.
FBI unable to access data from reporter’s iPhone
As reported by 404 Media, the FBI raided the home of Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson earlier this year, “as part of an investigation into leaks of classified information.”
Natanson’s profile page on The Washington Post’s website states that she has been “covering Trump’s reshaping of the federal government and its effects,” and that “was part of a team of Post journalists awarded the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for coverage of the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.”
During the FBI’s raid last January, agents seized multiple electronic devices at Natanson’s home, including a MacBook Pro and an iPhone 13.
However, the FBI’s Computer Analysis Response Team (CART) was unable to extract data from the iPhone thanks to the system’s Lockdown Mode, which “helps protect devices against extremely rare and highly sophisticated cyber attacks,” per Apple’s description.
Here’s 404 Media:
“Because the iPhone was in Lockdown mode, CART could not extract that device,” the court record reads, referring to the FBI’s Computer Analysis Response Team, a unit focused on performing forensic analyses of seized devices. The document is written by the government, and is opposing the return of Natanson’s devices.
And
The court record mentioning Lockdown Mode was filed on January 30th, around two weeks after the FBI raided Natanson’s residence, indicating the FBI has not been able to access the iPhone during that time.
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