The mysterious third-party has successfully “hacked” the iPhone at the heart of the much-publicised FBI v Apple saga. Accordingly, the FBI has officially dropped the case. 

Over the past few months, the world has watched as Apple and the US Justice Department have traded blows in relation to the FBI’s request for Apple to unlock the iPhone used by the gunman in last year’s San Bernadino shootings. For further information on the case click here.

The latest news on the case is that the US Justice Department has now asked the Court to vacate its previous order commanding Apple to create a software tool to help authorities break into the phone, stating:

Our decision to conclude the litigation was based solely on the fact that, with the recent assistance of a third party, we are now able to unlock that iPhone without compromising any information on the phone

Unsurprisingly details of the “hack” and the “hacker” have not been provided. Nor has the US Justice Department confirmed whether or not any useful information was retrieved from the iPhone.

While this particular case is now over, the questions that were being asked will, no doubt, be asked again. In fact, Apple has recently stated that the US Justice Department has sought access to iPhones under the same piece of law at least 11 times since September 2015.

And, we have another interesting question added to the mix: should the FBI cooperate with Apple to allow Apple to fix the apparent vulnerability in iOS.