Cellebrite Phone Unlocking Tool Helps Brazilian Police Arrest Murder Suspects

There is quite a lot of controversy surrounding tools like Cellebrite that is said to be capable of unlocking a locked smartphone, like an iPhone. This tool is mostly used by law enforcement as a way to unlock a smartphone and retrieve potential evidence in cases, but the argument is that this should not be allowed.

Regardless of where you stand on the topic, it seems that over in Brazil, the tool was used to help crack the iPhones belonging to two people suspected of murdering a 4-year old. The case was being investigated since last month, but police only managed to arrest the suspects after being able to access the iPhones and the messages stored on them.

According to the exchange of messages between the suspects, it revealed that the child’s stepfather seemingly admitted that he had beaten the child to death, and that the mother knew everything. This was crucial evidence that allowed police to move forwards in the case and with the arrest of the suspects.

That being said, there is controversy surrounding the use of the tool because it has been suggested that despite the company claiming to only sell their tools to law enforcement agencies, who’s to say that this exploit won’t be used by others for more nefarious purposes?

Tyler Lee
Categories: Apple, Cellphones
Tags: Hack, iPhone, Legal, Security